A Year's Toll
#14 of The World Over
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Hello everyone, sorry for the wait. Chapter 14 is up and ready for reading. I hope you enjoy. Suddenly struck by inspiration after watching the "Corpse Bride" I managed to scrape my way through the last bit of the chapter. This one was a doozy to write. Hopefully the characters will lead me into something a little more exciting next chapter.
But enough obvious foreshadowing. Please, for those awaiting the next chapter, enjoy Chapter 14 of The World Over: A Year's Toll.
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Chapter 14
A Year's Toll
The Queen led Varian, cradling Sara, to the healer with haste. Bi'yah though, came across their path and waited behind a pillar to greet them with surprise. When they passed she stepped out and approached them smiling. She was greeted with a scared, pale look on Terena's face and when she went toward Varian and Sara he hissed at her violently "Don't touch her!" Bi'yah was left in shock and to her credit did not try to interfere with them again.
Varian had handed Sara over to the healer when they arrived and never once left her side during the process. Thankfully it was a simple process, as Sara had not been so much injured as knocked out, hard. Varian still felt guilty for that.
During the healing however Queen Terena slipped away. She went to her bed chambers to lie down but was soon crying tears of rage when she picked up Varian's scent, and hers, and Bi'yah's, all over her bedding. She ripped the covers off the bed, tossing the tatters to a corner out of her sight, followed by the pillows, the sheets, and, had she been able to lift it, the mattress. She finally gave up trying though and collapsed in a heap in the opposite corner, sobbing.
It was then that Bi'yah entered the room. Quietly at first, she slid through a narrow opening in the doorway and then shut it quietly behind her.
"Mistress?" she called meekly, "Are you here? Please Mistress, where are you?"
She could hear sobbing nearby and turned to the corner, where she saw the Queen, in a fit of frustration, trying desperately to claw at the clothes the had Varian's scent on them. She wanted to be rid of him, all trace of him, and then she saw Bi'yah.
"Mistress Terena! What happened?" asked the worried girl.
But the Queen wasn't thinking right, and just as Bi'yah got close enough, she pounced, clawing furiously at the thing that Varian had wanted so many weeks ago. Bi'yah recoiled and frantically spun away, but not without catching a claw just under left eye that dug a deep crevice in her cheek.
She managed to escape a ways before the Queen stopped her pursuit and shouted.
"Get out! You, and Varian, everything! Get out! And don't ever come back!"
Bi'yah was more frightened than hurt by the comment and so made for the door as fast as her two legs could carry her.
The Queen's last breath of relief came when she heard the door slam heavily to shut her away.
The healing hadn't taken very long and soon Sara was sitting up in a bed with Varian staring at her with tears in his eye and a smile on his face.
"Varian?" she asked. She raised her hand to touch him.
"Yes, it's me." He guided her hand to his cheek and nuzzled it before continuing. "I'm back. I'm sorry."
With that she sat up and embraced him as tightly as a mother embraces her child.
"It's been a year Varian; start over?"
"You don't need to ask that. I would go to the ends of the earth with you."
She smiled and hugged him tighter, relieved to once again be where she belonged.
On the road.
Varian and Sara had travelled back to her home in the outer city and after long days of discussion, explaining, and apologizing, they had finally decided to leave again and finish what they had started over two years before.
The trip around the world.
Sara had thought ahead this time though and found a place where she could pick up a few weapons. She chose a quarterstaff for herself and had Varian choose something as well. He picked up a pair of tonfas. He wasn't really sure about how to use them, but they were light and quick, which he thought suited him fine. They had bought food and supplies to last them for several weeks and with full packs were ready to set off again, this time to the small city on the southern shores of the Kaa continent, Korin.
"Are you ready Varian?" called Sara, eager to get going.
"Almost, almost. Just finishing. There. Yes, I'm ready."
"Good, then let's be--"
"Hold," came a voice from the house. It was Mathias, and he was prepared for travel as well; cape, leather armour, sword on his belt, and a pack bristling with supplies. He stepped out of the house and approached. "I would join you as well. If not for your sake, then for mine. Please." As Sara was about to respond, Helerna stepped out as well, followed by the two children.
"But, you're needed here Mathias. What about--?"
"Don't worry about a thing dear. These two aren't really that much of a handful," chimed Helerna. "Besides, there are things all three of you need to learn, and none of you are going to learn them trapped in a slave's world. Go on Sara, Mathias won't slow you down." And under her breath she added, "And there's nothing like a love triangle to spice things up a bit."
The kids for the most part stayed silent, but exchanged hugs with Sara nonetheless, wiping away tears if for nothing else than to seem braver to Varian.
Sara had little choice but to concede, and so Mathias took up his place beside her, wary of Varian and not trusting his relationship with Sara.
"Well, now are we ready?" asked Sara.
Varian and Mathias both nodded yes and so they turned to head for the borders.
Or they would have, had they not heard a call "Wait!" from behind them.
It was a distinctly female voice, and it came from a small feline girl who ran as fast as she could towards them. Blood was caked down the side of her face from just below her eye and there were lines of tears streaking down her cheeks.
"Wait, please!" she called. Varian was the first to turn, recognizing the girl through the blood as the one that had approached him and the Queen on their way to the healer. Though he had no other memory of her. As she stopped in front of them, panting desperately to catch her breath she was met with several discriminating stares and one look of puzzlement. "Varian," she panted, "Please tell me, what happened? Why are you leaving? The Queen she, she." The girl's hand instantly went to her bloodied cheek and she cried. "She sent me away. Why? Where are you going? What's going on? I don't understand." She collapsed to her knees in a fit of tears and covered her eyes.
Varian bent down to her and placed a compassionate hand on her shoulder. He turned to Sara.
"I'm sorry, it looks like I'm not quite ready yet."
Sara was not pleased.
Varian had taken Bi'yah into the house and cleaned her up, wiping her cheek delicately with a wet cloth just slightly so not to reopen the wound under her eye. As he did so he explained everything he knew about his past right up until he had come to Kaa, where his mind turned blank. He didn't know why he couldn't remember, which made him a bit worried, but he was able to stop Bi'yah's questions with his explanation. Sara meanwhile had taken to brooding from a corner. She was eager to leave this place. After unknowingly spending a year of her life here spending even one more day seemed intolerable. That, and she was a bit jealous of the way Varian treated this girl. Almost like he treated Sara really.
Then the conversation drifted towards allowing Bi'yah to come with them, and the tension in the room grew to a new height. Bi'yah begged and begged, but eventually Varian convinced her to stay there, it was too dangerous and they wouldn't be coming back. In the end though Bi'yah would stay with Helerna and help with the house. Helerna seemed to welcome the help, but the children shied away. It would have to be something they would grow into.
With the light too high for a decent journey, Sara had resigned to staying one more night.
She was not pleased.
The next day they started early and without incident. They were up at sunrise and gone before the even the early morning market opened in the streets. Bi'yah saw them off, sad but resilient, and smiled when Varian said goodbye to her personally. It frustrated Sara that Varian was so personal to her because it seemed like the girl had feelings for Varian. Sara didn't know why, but it made her uncomfortable knowing that she wasn't the only woman in Varian's life.
After their second farewell, the party was off again, this time to the southern port town of Salleen. Sara's original plan in the very beginning of her journey had been to travel all the way around the world, to see everything and visit everywhere, and going directly to the southern city of the continent would be avoiding several cities in the north. But truthfully, Sara no longer wished to see the rest of this place, she wanted to get off this island continent. She had spent a year here anyway, what more could possibly be different?
When the sun reached its high point in the sky they stopped for something to eat, and immediately Sara began to talk once again. For most of the day she had been a little out of sorts. She hadn't spoken at all, even to Mathias, about anything.
"Mathias, before we eat, let's work up a bit of an appetite, will you spar with me?" she asked. She didn't even sound sincere, and her attempt to fake it was poor. She only needed a little time, thought Varian, just a while more and everything will be back to normal.
"Of course," Mathias replied, eagerly joining her, sword ready. He wasn't even paying attention to her voice. He likely hadn't learned of its nuances. After travelling so far, and experiencing so many things with her, he had seen the totality of her emotions, knew the deeper meaning behind her words. And Varian could tell too that when Mathias had said yes, she had really wished he hadn't, and that she had wished Varian had been the substitute.
Varian's eyes narrowed as he watched Mathias stride towards her. He could sense the blind faithfulness in Mathias directed towards Sara, and wondered to himself whether Mathias was mistaking that faithfulness for love. Even as he wondered this however, he also knew that such an emotion could develop into love. And it wouldn't take that long. This frightened Varian.
To a point where he wanted to cry.
"I'll make us something to eat," he said, to mask his coming sadness.
"Fine," said Mathias, quickly speaking so that Sara did not have the opportunity.
Well played Mathias, well played.
Sara was a year out of practice, more if she counted the many times when Varian had taken over their fights, but she was still an expert with her weapon. Mathias took hit after hit and managed only to deflect a few attacks before he was finished and sweaty.
"I concede, I concede, you've won," he panted.
"You have a long way to go Mathias," she said bluntly, "You didn't even manage to get in a single hit on me, not even attack."
"You, attack too fast. I couldn't."
"It's not about attacking fast, it's about knowing what your opponent is going to do next. Of course you can't deflect all your opponent's attacks, that's not what you should be doing, you should be thinking about the ones you can dodge to gain an advantage."
"What do you mean?"
"You can parry all you want, but a quick dodge leaves your opponent surprised, even for the tiniest fraction of a second, and that's when you gain ground. Think of it this way, if I'm swinging at you from the left, you can parry, and take a hit to your sword to deflect the attack, but that gives me the time to recover, if you dodge, say by ducking low, my swing goes wide, and you can swing your sword from down low. I'm wide open because I still have to recover from my swing right? That's what I mean. Use everything you have to gain advantage, including your opponent."
He panted a little longer, and then picked himself up off the ground.
"I'll think of that the next time."
She smiled, and only Varian knew it as a half-hearted smile.
"I've finished. You can eat now," Varian called.
"Good, I've finally worked up an appetite. I hope all that time away from me hasn't spoiled your ability to cook too Varian," said Sara playfully.
She hadn't been like that with him for a long time. Varian felt a bit unnerved by that. Like she didn't feel the same way anymore. Like she had forgotten what they had before.
She sat down next to him and pulled at the meal, just sandwiches really, and took a big bite as though she hadn't eaten for days.
Still, Varian could see uneasiness in her eyes as well. She knew just what he was thinking, but was too uncomfortable to say it in front of Mathias, especially when the pair's third wheel was convinced that he held a firm grasp on Sara's heart.
They ate quietly that day, and when they stopped to make camp that night it was much the same, though this time it was Varian to take up sparring with Sara. They could tell each other was apprehensive. Varian tried very hard not to read her thoughts, but even so, sometimes...
Varian took up his tonfas, the new weapons and took his stance. He had no idea how to use them really, but he figured that because they were small, light, and made of wood with a thin rod of metal for support in the centre, they were made for defence, not offence.
Sara opened up with her favourite technique. She arced her staff up straight from the ground then made a weak extend by gripping it with one hand and sending it straight for Varian's chest. To stun him of course. He parried easily. The extension however made his deflection all the more powerful, and the staff made a wide turn to the left before she could recover. Varian used this opportunity to his advantage and took a wide step forward. By the time he had made that step though she recovered and used the momentum of the arc to swing around. She made a full circle and when she was facing him again made a jab to the ground at his foot. He made a different move from what she expected. Instead of making a sidestep like the normal opponent would he instead shifted the weight to his front foot and then spun his other foot behind him, out of reach from the jab and putting himself in danger of a trip. Which was her next move. He hopped up and let the staff pass harmlessly below his feet. Sara had made it a short swing though and instantly made a curved swing upwards to Varian's side, which glanced off his tonfa without any discomfort to his stance. He made another step forward, this time into the middle range of her staff. The techniques she was using would have to change to adjust. If she took a step back he would only advance. A bead of sweat was forming on her forehead. She switched tactics. Using the close range she brought the staff towards her and gripped it tightly nearer to the centre with both hands. Now she began to spin frantically. Each section of the staff whipped around her like a tornado and kicked up dust from the ground whenever it breezed perilously close to the dirt.
Varian smiled. In his defence he crouched lower to the ground, bending his knees and brought one tonfa around with a quick twirl, so that he was protecting his left arm with one and holding the long end of the other out long. The hits came quick and instead of deflecting them, Varian made steps in such a direction that he could simply glance the blows straight across the edge of his weapons without disrupting her swings. Because of this tactic however he had to bend and weave quickly and perfectly, else he be struck in the wrong spot and sent tumbling. She wasn't pulling her punches anymore, if he was hit, he'd be hit hard.
The end was in sight though, just not for Sara. Varian made a wide turn so that his back was facing Sara for just a mere second. This was just was Sara's staff was parallel to the ground. She saw this and extended both arms so that she could immediately make another swing, this time to knock him over. But just as her arms made the extent Varian had come full circle, his tonfas in an awkward position in front of him. Instantly they were inside her reach, beyond the staff and locking it in place. It took only a second but with a flick of his wrist Varian had completely immobilized Sara's staff and since she wasn't about to let her weapon go her as well.
They were both huffing and puffing. Varian looked at Sara's face for a moment and sensed something different.
She wasn't looking at him, she was sobbing.
"A lot changes in a year, huh?" she managed to say.
His grip loosened and she took back her staff, only to let it drop as it came back to her. She raised her hands to cover her face and cried in earnest now, just letting everything come out. Varian dropped his weapons to his side and pulled Sara's body to his, wrapping one arm around her back and the other around the back of her head.
"We've lost a whole year Varian. A whole year passed us by and we didn't even know it," she said between sobs. "A year I want back. I don't want to spend it away from you. I didn't. I didn't ask for it. Why are we so different?"
"I don't know how to answer that for you Sara. I don't." Even his eyes were beginning to get watery now.
She took her hands away from her eyes then and embraced Varian tighter than she ever had before.
"Remember how I told you I didn't want you to tell me what I want to hear anymore?" she asked him.
"Yeah," he whispered back.
"I lied."
He sniffled and allowed the mental barrier in his mind to go free. It touched everything in the area. Suddenly his senses were heightened and he could literally feel his way around the sloping forest with his good eye closed.
"Everything will be alright Sara. I promise you. I promise."
She coughed and spluttered in her tears, but didn't let go.
Not for a long, long time.
Varian was content to hold her like that for as long as she needed, because even though he had said he didn't remember anything about the year he spent away from her, he had lied too.
The next morning Varian was the first to wake. He broke open a few of his rations and began to eat, but not before taking a good long look at Sara. Tears had stained her cheeks and matter her fur. She had cried for a long time last night, and he even though he wanted desperately to extend his mind into hers he found that he couldn't. It wasn't out of respect for her privacy or any personal choice. He simply couldn't read her thoughts anymore. He suspected that it was because he knew her so well. He just didn't need to read her thoughts anymore to know what she wanted him to say. Part of him was devastated that he couldn't hear her anymore, but another part was overjoyed. He found himself staring for a long time, so much that he didn't notice when Mathias tapped him on the shoulder.
The tap came again, harder, and he was startled out of his reverie and immediately turned. Mathias was standing above him and only waved for him to follow. Varian wasn't going to deny Mathias an explanation, which he suspected the boy wanted. Rightly so he supposed.
Mathias led Varian to a secluded area a short ways from the camp before he turned, perhaps sizing Varian up. Varian wasn't going to be the first to say anything, because he was almost sure about what was coming next.
Mathias drew his sword.
Varian was unarmed.
Physically anyway.
As he made his charge, blade pointing forward, Mathias asked, "What is your relationship with Sara? How can two who've known each other for so little time already be so close?" He made a straight slash.
Varian merely sidestepped and watched the sharp edge of Mathias's blade dig itself into the ground. "You weren't listening very well to us were you?" He said as he ducked out of the way of an uppercut.
"I've spent the past year with Sara. We've come so far and all of a sudden you appear as if from nowhere and steal everything away." He made another wild swing, seeming to not even try any longer.
The swings were almost too easy for Varian to dodge, but he kept up a façade of dire helplessness nonetheless so that Mathias continued to think he had the upper edge. "Out of no where perhaps, but I've known Sara for far longer than you have," he came in close, too close, to the razor sharp tip of Mathias's sword and whispered in his ear, "even if we were apart this year."
Saying that was likely not the best idea, as hearing it made Mathias's anger rise. He made a lightning quick swing up and then down and around, spinning and using that momentum to carve deep gashes in trees to his sides. The swings were more powerful, more accurate and, Varian noted, more deadly. He had trouble dodging them, and wondered if now was a good time to reveal his true nature to Mathias.
The boy charged in and it looked as if Varian would have little choice in the matter. Just as Mathias's sword was on the downward blow, straight for Varian's outstretched arm a high pitched "Stop!" screeched through the clearing.
The sword stopped mere inches from slicing Varian's entire arm off and Varian, somewhat relieved, spotted Sara standing out of breath just outside their reach.
"What are you doing?" she asked, exasperated.
Quick to respond, Mathias said, "Just a bit of sword play. Keeping up the exercise."
"Against Varian unarmed?" She asked, knowing perfectly well Varian could defend himself against anything Mathias tried to dish out.
Though that last swing looked like it would actually carve through even Varian's defences.
"Exercise. All exercise," dismissed Mathias, sweating, but not totally without the nerve to slice again. He walked from the clearing, leaving Varian on the ground and Sara panting where she stood. He sheathed his sword, being extra careful to slide it in as silently as possible, perhaps if only to magnify his ability with the blade.
When Mathias was out of earshot Sara went to Varian's side. He was standing by himself but was still puffing a bit from the exertion of the fight. He hadn't been on the offence, but Mathias knew how to dish out a good deal of it. Enough for even Varian's perfect combination of mind and body it seemed. He also suspected that he would have to be ready for a next time; he would have to watch himself and be sure to avoid any lengthy alone time with Mathias. Especially if he was armed.
"So what really happened?" asked Sara knowingly.
"You don't trust him?" retorted Varian.
"I know enough about men to guess. Are you going to tell me or will I have to leave it as such?"
"Your guess would likely be accurate anyway. Jealousy is ugly isn't it?"
"Jealousy?" said Sara quizzically. "My intuition isn't as good as I thought. Who's jealous?"
Varian began to walk away as well, though being sure to pause for Sara to join him before leaving the clearing. "I'll let these gashes on the trees answer that for me," was his answer.
Back at the camp Mathias stood alone, his sword drawn, staring down at the third bedroll. His hand quivered with anger. His fingers twitched with it, and his heart raced. He should have killed Varian where he stood. But why couldn't he? Sara's interference wasn't it. He could have finished off any other opponent within the time it took simply to get Varian on the ground. And his words; they were arrogant. "Even if we were apart this year." How dare he? Mathias took one stride to the pile of firewood and threw his sword down, slicing the thickest part of the wood straight through. He growled with anger, but found it slowly ebbing away. It was moments before he realized, but he was crying. His thoughts drifted to Sara and her kind smile.
He couldn't kill Varian. He wouldn't.
For her sake.
"Varian, Mathias?" called Sara as she crested the hill in front of them a few days later. "Let me introduce you to Salleen!"
As they came to the top of the hill they began to make out the shapes of tall buildings just out on the horizon.
"We should have kept going last night? It's not even midday yet now. We could have stayed there last night," said Mathias.
"Don't be silly, Mathias. Camping is good for you. Besides, we're only here to buy passage to the next island."
"The last one too." Added Varian.
Sara smiled, but Mathias looked at both of them with a questioning look on his face.
"You know about my--our journey right Mathias? I told you didn't I? I set out from my home more than two years ago to see the world over. I think I can even buy a place on a ship back to my hometown and it would be a shorter trip than to the last continent from here."
"Are you not homesick?" asked Mathias, recalling the story now that she had reiterated, but still a little wary about the road ahead.
"I miss home, of course," she began, "But I'm here now. I've travelled for two years to get to this spot. I'm not going to stop now." At that moment the breeze lifted the clouds from the sun so that her eyes seemed to shine. "Not until I see the world over."