The Troven (Kingdom of Denall Book 1) (3 page)

Garin felt like there was more he needed to say and do, but he couldn't think of anything that would make the situation better. Leaning in to continue their kiss seemed completely out of the question after the interruption.

“Yeah, I'd better go.”

“Fine,” Fenn said abruptly, then turned and quickly left the barn. Garin stood still, holding a pitchfork, dumbfounded at how agreeing with her had made her so upset. He returned the pitchfork and left to find his brother.

* * * * *

The sun stood high in the sky as Farin and Garin silently searched in the underbrush for the runaway lamb. On their father's farm they were always the ones sent to find the missing livestock because they were the best listeners. They squinted to see as far as they could for the stray animal, but to better play to their strength they would, from time to time, stop and listen. Having enhanced hearing was often considered the most versatile ability because it was always active. Listeners could, with sharp concentration, hear almost twice as far as they could see, however, this made their hearing so narrow that, much like a tunnel, they lost the sense of their surroundings. To maintain an awareness of their immediate area while straining to hear farther distances, the twins took turns focusing their hearing. They had searched for stray livestock, or played in the dark so often, they alternated seamlessly without needing to speak a word.

After putting some distance between themselves and the farmyard, Farin twisted his walking stick in his hand and held it out like a sword. He swung the stick in a few practice strokes, then turned to face Garin.

“So, what was that I walked in on?” he asked with an expectant look. Catching his brother in an embarrassing situation was something he couldn’t let go.

“I'm sure you can figure it out,” Garin replied curtly and continued to walk past his brother.

Farin swung the stick around and stopped it in front of his brother. “I covered for you; I think I deserve more of an explanation than that,” he responded.

Garin rolled his eyes and pushed the stick away. “Covering for me once doesn't even come close to how many times I've had your back,” he replied, holding his index finger in the air for emphasis.

Farin's face split into a smile. “Well I guess you do have a point,” he regretfully conceded. “But I'd still like to know the details.”

Looking deflated, Garin stopped and concentrated on the ground. “What you saw was all that happened.”

“What?” Farin asked in complete shock, “You're leaving tomorrow and you didn't even give her a kiss goodbye?”

Garin threw his arms up in frustration. “Well if you’d given me another minute or two,” he countered. Garin began walking again, searching through the woods for the stray.

Shaking his head, Farin responded, “You waited until the last possible minute on the last possible day to do something you've wanted to do for years. I can't believe you!”

“Thanks for rubbing it in.” Releasing a breath, Garin continued, “At least we'll be back in a year.”

“Back in a year? I can't believe what you're saying. It's just a good thing you have me as an older and wiser brother, or else I don't know what you would do,” Farin said with a grin. He started formulating a plan to get them together for a secret rendezvous.

Garin rolled his eyes at his brother, who constantly rubbed in the two minutes that made him Garin’s senior. “What are you talking about?” he asked, looking back out into the woods.

“We'll find a way for you to get to your dearest love.”

Clearly tempted by the prospect, Garin paused for a moment to consider, then shook his head. “You know we can't sneak out tonight. It's the night before the Summer Festival; we're the guests of honor, and Mom would never forgive us. Besides, we'll need all our energy for tomorrow. We can’t be out all night.”

Farin held his hands up in a sign of surrender. “Fine, Garin. If that's what you want.” Although he acted disappointed, Garin was probably right. Getting out that night would be nearly impossible.

“I'm not saying it's what I want,” he replied angrily. “I'm saying it is the right thing to do.”

“You really do have a talent for ruining all my fun,” Farin replied.

They continued to search for the lost animal in silence. From time to time, Farin glanced over mischievously at Garin who consistently looked back with a stern, serious face. These exchanges spoke louder than words between the twins who had a strong bond, and often carried on entire conversations without needing to speak at all.

While searching for the lost lamp, Farin snagged his hand on a briar and immediately placed his fresh wound in his mouth. “If I don't find that four-legged-good-for-nothing beast soon, I'll break its neck.”

“Probably wouldn't help much,” Garin countered. “A dead lamb can't grow into a full-sized meal.”

“Well, at least I wouldn't have to search for it again and again. Besides, I'm not going to be here to enjoy it when it is full-grown.” He pulled his finger out of his mouth and looked to see if it was bleeding.

“Shhh! Do you hear that?”

As Farin strained his heightened sense of hearing, the two marks on his ear lobe deepened to a maroon red. It was faint, but he could hear the sound of bleating in the distance. “Over there.” He pointed to their right.

Farin led the way down the hill, but stopped short when he saw his friend coming with the runaway in his arms. Even at this distance he knew it was Kaz. Kaz was one of the few people in town who always had a longbow strung and slung over his shoulder, and he was taller than most men.

Kaz's kind face brightened into a boyish grin as he saw his friends. “I saw her coming over from your farm and I thought I'd save you some time.”

“Thanks, Eagle Eye,” Garin said as he took the lamb from Kaz. “With you on guard we'll always be safe from bandits, forest fires, or wandering sheep. But your keen eyes missed that it's a male.”

“Guess I didn’t concentrate on looking between its hind legs. I'll leave that to you,” Kaz said jokingly. “Farin, what about you? No thanks? I just saved you wandering all the way to the village.”

“Thanks a lot! Now we'll be back to work in the fields with those brainless, walking muscles Dad hired from out east.” Kaz and Garin exchanged a confused look, but Kaz just shrugged and let Farin continue his rant. “Did you see that strongarm Dad hired? He's a level four. What a monster.”

“I'm a level four,” Kaz interrupted.

“It's not his level, it's his… I don't even know.” Farin started walking briskly through the small stand of trees back to the farm, not sure how to explain his frustration, not even sure if he fully understood it. “Well, for one thing, none of his shirts have sleeves and he's always flexing when anyone walks past. Just to show off, he pulled a full grown tree right out of the ground without needing a horse team, and yesterday he pulled out that rock in the south field we've been trying to remove for years. It's not that he is a level four, it's that he wants us to always remember the strength of his gift.” Farin's friends jogged to keep up with his determined gait as he continued to moan about his father's hired laborers.

Finally Garin interrupted. “Far, can you stop complaining? I don't think I've had a moment of silence since the day we were born. You complain about farming, you complain about sheep herding, then you complain that Dad hired people to do the farming, next you'll complain if he gets someone to gather the sheep.”

Farin stopped walking and turned to look at his brother. He knew farm life was important to Garin, and hadn’t meant to offend him, but now that it was time to leave, the things that had once seemed annoying were unbearable. Before he could apologize, Kaz interrupted with a mischievous smile.

“He was quiet once. You remember don't you, Garin? He concentrated so hard to hear if the girls in the…”

“Seriously, do you have to bring this up?” Farin responded as he playfully punched Kaz in the gut a little harder than he needed to. “Every time we talk you have to remind me.”

Half coughing, half laughing Kaz continued. “You were concentrating so hard on those girls three hundred paces away that you didn't notice the stinger land on your lip. You looked so funny; your mouth swelled up so big you couldn't talk for a week!” Kaz puffed his lips out trying to imitate what Farin had looked like, but stopped when Garin did not join with him in the joke.

Farin did not feel like joking around, and he appreciated that Garin sensed his mood and had not encouraged Kaz. Farin glanced at Garin and gave a slight nod of his head. Garin returned the gesture.

“I'm just messing around,” Kaz began, oblivious of their unspoken communication. “Come on Farin, you've never let me live down the fir tree incident.” Now Farin did crack a smile, even if it was somewhat forced.

“It's not the girls, or the stinger, or even the muscle heads Dad hired, and it's certainly not your inability to climb trees in your birthday suit. I'm just ready to be out of here. The only thing I'm going to miss about this place is you two.” He continued in a lighter tone, “And you'll have plenty of silence when I set my back to this village, because I'm never coming back.”

“I think you're forgetting we're going with you,” Garin responded.

“Do you know what’s funny?” Kaz asked. Not waiting for a response, he answered his own question, “How different two people can be who look exactly alike.” Kaz paused a moment as the twins turned to glare at him. “You see? Even your attempt at making nasty faces at me is identical.” He reached up and playfully rubbed Farin’s sandy brown hair into a mess. “There, now I can tell you apart.”

Farin swatted his hand away and grabbed Kaz in a headlock. He knuckled Kaz’s head until he was able to wriggle free. Kaz scowled at Farin while he tenderly touched the top of his head. “I like this one better than you,” Kaz said, pointing at Garin.

“Too bad he’s not terribly fond of you.” Farin countered. “Especially after what you…”

Garin shushed them with a wave of his hand. “There’s something moving.” Everyone paused as the two dots on Garin’s ears darkened. “That way,” he said pointing over a small ridge.

The twins ducked behind a tree and Kaz leapt to the top of a nearby boulder to scan the woods. From behind the tree Farin couldn’t see anything, so he focused his hearing and watched as Kaz widened his stance and silently drew a long, wooden arrow from his quiver.

Kaz smoothly nocked his arrow and drew his bow. The dots on his left temple darkened as he strained his sight to focus on what he saw.

As the feather from the arrow brushed his cheek he released the bowstring. The arrow soared through the woods, and there was a high pitched, frightened scream. Farin laughed out loud as he realized Kaz had found Bendar.

Garin, who was the least fond of Bendar, wondered aloud “Should we go get him or let him figure it out on his own? I know you like him, Kaz, but seriously, do we have to take him with us?”

Kaz shook his head as he called and waved to Bendar, answering Garin over his shoulder. “You know we need him. If he's not with us, Farin and I would only have you to pick on the whole way to Norwell. Besides, he has the route all planned out and all the rations calculated. We need his brains as much as any of our gifts if we're going to succeed.”

“I just don’t get why you seem to like him so much. He talks like everyone around him is an idiot.”

“He is a level three intellect,” Kaz responded as if that was explanation enough.

“Yeah, and I’m a level two listener. That doesn’t mean I act like everyone else is deaf.” Garin put one finger to his mouth when Bendar came within ear shot.

The three bright red dots on Bendar's forehead were the first things that came into view as he stepped up over the ledge. He was, as usual, wearing brightly colored clothing, the way the professors did at the capitol city of Norwell and in the universities. Farin didn’t remember Bendar ever wearing anything different, or trying at all to fit in with the other boys in the village.

His round face wore a stern frown when he closed the distance to the three boys.

“Have a good laugh, pea-brains?” he asked as he held up the arrow. He reached out as if to hand it back to Kaz, but when Kaz moved to take it Bendar snapped it in half and tossed the shaft into a small briar with a satisfied smile.

“Sometimes I wonder why I even agreed to help you all survive on your Trovens. I presume you at least gathered the supplies on the list?” Bendar asked in a condescending tone.

“We got everything,” Kaz called from behind the thorn bush. He carefully moved his hand farther into the briar, trying to retrieve the arrowhead.

“We have everything you've asked for and we even decided to pack our own underpants,” Garin replied with a sarcastic, you're-not-my-mother tone as he turned and left with the lamb.

“Don't listen to him. He's just mad he didn't see Kaz's arrow hit your pants,” Farin said. With a quick focus to see if Garin was out of earshot he added. “You could help things by not being so condescending all the time.”

“It would be a lot easier to be friendly if I was not always the butt of your jokes.” The words were emphasized by reaching down and poking his finger through the hole in his trousers. “Despite the unnecessary nature of this venture, I am looking forward to testing the words of Emer, the head scholar from Norwell University. He wrote, 'Traveling can separate the strongest of friends and unify the worst of enemies. Through miles together, true character is forged, formed, and brought to light.' I wish I had space in my belongings for even a portion of his writings.”