The Dragon' Son (19 page)

The children excitedly began to point at the two riders, and the old woman began to hurry toward the house. Keegan and the stranger both rode past them all and right up to the door. Keegan quickly slipped off Ardor and moved up to the stranger’s horse. He reached up and took Susun into his arms then carried her to the house.

Jormand opened the door before Keegan reached it, and his face went pale as his looked at the two of them. “Susun! What happened?” he cried, flinging the door open, helping Keegan to carry Susun in.

The tall man came in behind them. “She needs to be near the fire,” he declared and grabbed the wooden table, moving it close to the fire and knocking the cups from it. “Set her here,” he commanded.

Keegan and Jormand obliged, and as soon as she was laid down, Jormand was stroking his face with his trembling fingers. “Susun? My daughter? Speak to me,” he begged.

The little, old woman came bustling in then, huffing and puffing. “All of you men folk out! I will take care of the matter at hand,” she ordered in a screechy voice.

The tall stranger let his eyes linger on Susun for a moment, and then he exited the house.

Keegan, however, stared at the little woman. “Who are you?” he asked.

The little white haired woman glared at him and said mockingly, “Who am I? I am the village healer, you bum!” She kicked him in the leg. “Now, take her father and get OUT!”

Keegan cringed slightly at the pain in his leg, and he watched as Jormand moved around the table and started walking toward the door.

“But…but who sent for you?” Keegan asked the old woman as she moved toward Susun.

“Some strange old man with a long beard in the village said I was needed!” She put her hands on her hips and glared at Keegan. “How many stupid questions must I answer?” she demanded.

Jormand grabbed Keegan by the shoulders and pushed him out the door. “Please let us know when you are finished,” he said before closing the door.

Keegan was stunned. “Strange old man…with a long beard?” he repeated the words.

Jormand ran his fingers through his hair. “Keegan, you are chilled to the bone. Sit here in the sun,” he commanded. Keegan did as he was told and sat down on a tree stump directly in the sunlight, his mind racing with many questions.

Jormand hugged the children when they all came up, then he sent the two little girls inside to help the healer. The twin boys hurried off to the barn with Ardor and the bay mare before their father could give them a job. Arden walked up beside Keegan and put a hand on his shoulder. “Keegan…?” he began, his question seeming to lodge in his throat.

Keegan looked at Arden and saw worry embedded on the boy’s face. Fear and confusion were clearly written in his diamond blue eyes.

Keegan put his hand on Arden’s. “She’ll be okay,” he reassured Arden.

Arden nodded then glanced at the stranger who stood a few feet away. “Who is he?” he asked.

Keegan snapped his head toward the tall man and stood to his feet, his eyes flickering to the man’s right shoulder where the tattoo still resided. “I am wondering the same thing,” he said.

The tall man crossed his arms and looked at Keegan with a weary expression. “Keegan. I think you know who I am,” he said. “I haven’t changed as much as you have, and I can certainly tell who you are.”

Keegan stared at the man for a long moment, taking in his straggly black hair, his deep blue eyes, his angled face, and especially his tall height.

“Saul?” muttered Keegan. The name fell from his lips quietly as he remembered the tall boy he had once played with before his life was turned upside down. The tall man nodded, moving no other muscles.

Keegan stared at him, trying to process the information. “How did you know who I was?” he asked.

“I first suspected when I heard your name called through the trees. My suspicion grew when I saw you charge after the girl and try to save her,” Saul said as he glanced at the ring on Keegan’s hand. “But they were finally settled as fact when I saw your ring.” He nodded. “I couldn’t forget that ring. I’ve never seen another like it.”

Keegan glanced at his silver ring. The red dragon stone glowed slightly, and the two gold dragons on either side of it stood out against the silver.

He looked back up at Saul and asked, “What were you doing in this area? How did you…?” He paused.

Saul raised his eyebrows and finished the question, “Escape the massacre? I’m not sure. Luck, perhaps. I was, after all, already as tall as most men and very fast.”

Keegan narrowed his eyes. “And you just left? You didn’t go back?” he asked. “What about the families in the mountains? Did you find them?”

Saul shook his head. “No. I never searched for them,” he answered then shrugged. “And as for going back to the village, I thought about it but never did. Never saw a need to,” he replied dismissively.

Keegan balled his hands into fists at Saul’s dismissive tone. “You thought about it? That’s it? Years of hard work, our families and our homes destroyed, and you just THOUGHT about returning?” he said through gritted teeth.

Saul dropped his arms to his side, squaring his shoulders, his muscles tightening. “And what about you? Where were you all this time?” he threw back.

Keegan’s shoulder muscles tightened with his reply, “I went back. I buried over two hundred of our people. Then I went in search of the men responsible for the death of those people.”

Saul’s muscles went lax. “Two hundred? You buried two hundred people…alone?” he asked.

Keegan glared at Saul, “I couldn’t walk away and leave them to rot like you so obviously could.”

Saul returned Keegan’s glare, instantly becoming tense again. “You think I did not want to return? You think that I am as cold hearted as the men who killed our families?” he asked as he balled his fists.

“Well? What am I left to think?” Keegan shouted, taking a step toward Saul. “I was left to face the ghosts of my family, your family, and others, for thirteen years, and where are you? Obviously not sharing my pain!”

Saul growled. “You selfish twerp!” he roared and lunged forward, knocking his fist up under Keegan’s jaw.

Keegan fell to the ground with a groan, his jaw throbbing, the pain feeding his rage. He rolled to the side as Saul stormed up to him, trying to kick him. Keegan then kicked his foot out and jammed it into Saul’s knee. Saul howled in anger, falling to his hands and knees.

Keegan stood to his feet, and Saul followed his example, despite his obvious pain. Keegan raised his fists and glared at the taller man who left his hands down and his face exposed. He took a swing at Saul’s face, but the taller man caught Keegan by the wrist and twisted his arm around, wrapped his big arm around Keegan’s head, and put him in a headlock. The two of them struggled together for a moment, Keegan trying to free himself from Saul’s grasp and Saul holding tightly to Keegan.

“ENOUGH!” Jormand hollered as he stepped up next to them both and boxed Saul on his exposed left ear. Saul instantly released Keegan and staggered from the sudden shock. Keegan jumped away from Saul with a snarl, raising his fists again to throw another punch at the faltering, taller man.

Jormand planted his palm into Keegan’s face and harshly kicked him in the shin with the toe of his boot, then, because of Keegan’s uneven balance, he pushed Keegan to the ground. Keegan pulled his injured leg up close to him and held it for a moment, trying not to writhe on the ground in pain like a weakling.

“Now you two stop this foolishness!” Jormand demanded, stepping between the two and shooting a cold glare at each of them. “You are brothers. You come from the same people, a people that are rare and hard to find. You have found each other under impossible circumstances, and all you can do is fight?” Jormand paused then began to cough harshly, his whole body shaking from the fierceness of his cough.

Arden hurried up and grabbed his father by the arm, helping him to sit down on the stump. Keegan pushed himself up to a sitting position and looked at Jormand with concern. “Jormand, you are not well. Why have you not told me about this?” he demanded, forcing himself to his feet, cringing in pain. He limped up to Jormand and placed his hand on the older man’s shoulder. Jormand waved dismissively at Keegan but continued to cough, gasping for air.

Arden ran his fingers through his hair and looked at Keegan with an expression of helplessness. “It doesn’t happen often, but…” he tapered off. He paused when Jormand reached up and gripped his son’s shoulder, breaking off his words. His coughing subsided almost as quickly as it had begun, and his shoulders slumped forward as he gasped for air.

Keegan knelt down to look at Jormand. “I’m sorry,” he apologized, feeling responsible for the sudden coughing fit.

Jormand shook his hand and rested it on Keegan’s shoulder. “Ah, no lad. It wasn’t your fault,” he gasped and looked up at Saul, who was now standing erect and looking at Jormand with the same expression of concern that everyone else wore. “Though, it would have helped if you two blaggards hadn’t been fighting over nothing.”

Keegan glanced at Saul, his expression hardening as he exclaimed, “Fighting over nothing? Jormand, he fled and abandoned our people!”

Jormand shook his head and looked at Keegan “Lad. You rush into things too quickly,” he said. Keegan cocked his head, trying to understand what Jormand meant.

Jormand sighed. “You didn’t give the man a chance to tell his story,” he explained. “I suspect that there is more to it than cowardice and abandonment.”

Keegan looked back at Saul, his face questioning. “Is there more to it?” he asked.

Saul looked down at the ground and shrugged, keeping the weight off his knee where Keegan had kicked him. “Well…more to it than what you were thinking,” he replied glancing back at Keegan with a sad expression.

Keegan stood, crossing his arms. “Explain,” he said.

Saul sighed and walked over to the hitching post where he leaned his weight against it. “Mainly, I could sum it up in two names: Brainna and…your sister, Alia,” he almost whispered.

Keegan let his arms drop as a strange wave of emotion came over him. He took a step toward Saul, making the tall man tense, expecting another attack.

“Alia? Alia is alive?” Keegan asked.

Saul nodded, “She and Brainna both live.” Slowly, a soft, but weary smile came to his face. “They are both grown women now. Not the little girls you once knew.”

Keegan looked down as he tried to imagine his sister as a grown woman. He remembered the last time he saw her. She was but 9 years old, always trying to act like a grown up. Keegan looked back at Saul, remembering Brainna, the girl with the long, brown braids that had been sweet on him as children. “I led Brainna out of the village with her baby brother then went back to find Alia.”

Saul nodded his head. “Yes. I led Alia out just as you went back to find her,” he said.

Keegan stared at Saul and cocked his head. “You mentioned Brainna and Alia, but not Brainna’s brother. Where is he?” he asked.

Saul sighed and looked down at the ground. “Dead. Only a few months after the whole thing happened,” he said.

Keegan slowly sank to a crouched position on the ground as he let Saul’s words sink in. “How?” he asked as he looked up at Saul.

Saul sighed again and crossed his arms. “The girls and the boy were not strong enough to make the trek toward the mountains, so we hid in a cave at the mountain’s roots for several months. The child grew sick and died. The girls became sick after that,” He said. He paused and let out another sigh. “I tried to make their living environments better, but if a certain prospector hadn’t found us, I think we would all be dead now. The man took care of us, helped the girls to get better, and he and his son helped me to build a house,” Saul added. “He left his son, who was my age, with us and went away into the mountains. He never came back, so his son became a permanent resident, and…” he paused and smiled slightly, looking back at Keegan, “and he married Alia.”

Keegan sat up straight and blinked his eyes “What? Alia is married?”

Saul’s face grew grim again and he shook his head. “Not anymore. Baylin, her husband, died six months ago, and…” he hesitated and rubbed the back of his neck, obviously struggling with something.

Keegan tensed. “And? And what, Saul?” he pressured.

Saul sighed. “Baylin died when Alia was heavy with child. She had the baby, but…” he said as he looked down at the ground. “The baby died three months after his father.”

Keegan felt like he had been stabbed in the gut. The heartbreak that his sister had gone through was tremendous, and it pained him to know that he had not been there for her.

“Oh, Alia,” he sighed and looked down at his hands in his lap.

“Don’t pity her, Keegan. She wouldn’t want that,” Saul said quickly. “She has been remarkable through the whole thing. She mourned for them both for a little while, but…when I last saw her, she was pulling through and moving on.”

Keegan looked back up at Saul. “Left her? Why did you leave her? Where are they at?” he asked, rising from his sitting position slightly.

Saul waved his hand at Keegan to calm him down. “Don’t worry! I didn’t leave her alone. Brainna is with her…and nobody, not even a stone, could be lonely with Brainna around,” he said, smiling weakly. “We live to the far northeast of Lake Anuran, just on the edge of the wilds. I was offered a short time job at the seaports of Kwasta from a man in Kirnan. I was just returning home from it,” he finished.