by Sandra Barret
Copyright 2004
Taryn collided with Damon on her way out of the tavern.
"Lady, what is it?"
"I intend to find out, Damon. Follow me, please."
Taryn?s long stride took them down the isolated road past two more run down buildings. They
crossed the muddy road in front of the stone meeting house where horses grazed freely within the
fenced yard surrounding the building, and two carts were stationed along the side fence. They walked
along the stone pathway to the white, double doors of the building. Voices drifted out from the poorly
shuttered windows.
They entered the hall. Candles and a few torches battled against the looming shadows. Two columns
of benches split the wide room, leading up to a central platform. Cowering in the middle of the
platform was a small boy in dirty clothes. A dozen townsfolk sat in the benches.
Stunned silence greeted her arrival as Taryn strode to the front. She focused on the hooded figure
standing at the head of the crowd. This person wore the brilliant blue robe of a cleric. Something
about the way the robes clung to the cleric, revealing an obviously female body, pulled at Taryn's
memory.
She stepped in front of the cleric. "Are you responsible for this hearing?"
The cleric lowered her hood.
Taryn recognized the long, auburn hair and sensuous full lips. "Vasali."
Vasali?s lips curved as her eyes slid up and down Taryn's body. "I?m afraid I?m not as familiar with
you as I would like to be," said Vasali.
Damon planted himself beside Taryn. "This is the Lady Taryn of Damek."
A murmur ran through the crowd behind Taryn, but she chose to ignore it.
Vasali gave her a slow bow. "Lady, my apologies. It has been a long time since I?ve been to Atheron,
but I am flattered you found something in me to remember."
Taryn felt her face flush. Manipulative is what she remembered, emotionally and sexually
manipulative.
"The boy, Vasali. What is he being charged with?" asked Taryn.
"The good people of Stillwater feel someone has cursed them," Vasali replied as she guided Taryn to
the platform. The floorboards creaked under Taryn?s muddy boots as she approached the small,
timid boy. Vasali leaned in to whisper in Taryn's ear, sending an unwelcome warmth through her.
"They wish him dead, Lady, but I don?t know why they hate him so."
Taryn pulled herself away from Vasali?s presence. She knelt before the filthy boy. He couldn?t have
been more than eight or nine. "What?s your name, child?"
The boy said nothing. He looked to Vasali.
"He is mute, Lady."
As Damon joined them on the platform, the boy's eyes widened. He crawled behind the cleric.
Damon looked to Taryn for direction.
"Maybe you should stay by the benches. He doesn?t seem to like burly, military men."
Damon smirked but walked back off the platform.
Someone from the benches shouted, "He?s cursed us!"
Taryn turned to the crowd. It was then that she noticed a round woman standing by the side of the
crowd, clutching two small children to her hips. Hers seemed the only sympathetic face in the group.
"Who is that one?" she asked Vasali.
"It is the woman who raised the boy."
"Raised? Not his mother then?"
Vasali?s hands stroked the boy?s dirty hair. "No, he?s an orphan. She took him in to help with chores
when her husband died."
Taryn approached the boy again. He cringed behind Vasali. Something about the boy must frighten
the townsfolk. Taryn took a gamble, reaching out mentally to the child. I won?t hurt you.
Please don?t let them burn me!
Taryn reached out a hand. They won?t. The big man is my pax-man. He protects me.
The boy came out from behind Vasali and placed a grimy hand in Taryn?s. They both stood.
"What?s the formal charge against this boy?" she asked, turning to the crowd.
An ox of a man stood in the front, glaring at her over Damon?s shoulder. Damon?s hand rested on
his sword hilt.
"He killed my stallion, my prize stud."
Taryn sneered. "This child? Look at him. He?d be lucky to catch an old house cat."
The man spat. "He?s a witch. We've seen him. The boy should hang or burn."
The crowd grumbled their agreement as the boy?s foster mother whimpered in the corner.
The boy cowered behind her as Taryn focused on the ringleader. "You mean the boy is shinaran." Her
voice was steady, but held the icy tone of her authority.
The man nodded, "We don?t like their kind. Bring trouble and who knows what else."
Taryn had enough. "The boy comes with me. Your troubles are ended."
Two more angry villagers stood up as if to bar her way. Damon drew his sword.
With two or three backers at his side, the first man became bold, even against Damon?s sword.
"You're not taking him, Lady. In this town, we deal with our own as we see fit."
Taryn held her anger in check. "I rule in Damek and no town here will be lynching an innocent
shinaran child."
She focused her mind, building energy. She illuminated the air around her so that it glowed like a
shimmering green halo with her and the boy in the center. The child looked up at her in awe. The town
folk gasped. There was no doubt now that Taryn was also shinaran and fully trained.
The rest of the crowd backed down, but the fat, angry man planted himself in her way, standing in front
of Damon with his burly fists curled. "Witch," he sneered.
Taryn?s temper let loose. She formed a fireball in her fist and threw it at his feet, singeing the
floorboards.
The man's face went pale. His eyes held hers for an instant, transmitting his hatred, and then he
backed out of the hall with everyone else.
Taryn let her energy filter away. Damon stomped out the small fire, and then stood away from her,
avoiding eye contact. She'd pay for her little temper tantrum, but could not bring herself to regret her
display of power. Just how long had they been bullying the small boy because of his differences. She
looked down at the boy, who still watched her in awe, and saw a reflection of the loneliness and
isolation she'd felt as the only shinaran child in Damek Keep as she grew up.
"Impressive show, Lady," whispered Vasali.
"And why didn?t you realize the boy was shinaran?" asked Taryn, her anger barely in check.
Vasali?s eyelashes fluttered. "Clerics do not emphasize their shinaran origins." She shrugged.
"Those who seek our guidance prefer to remain ignorant of where our skills come from."
Protecting your own hides, more likely, thought Taryn as she urged the boy to walk with her. "We?ll
take him back with us, Damon."
"Yes, my Lady." Damon sheathed his sword.
"I can take him on to Atheron tonight, if you wish," offered Vasali.
"With no moonlight to guide you? No, I think we stay at the inn for tonight and leave at first light," said
Taryn. She felt the tiredness which always followed such a display of power.
"As you wish, Lady," said Vasali with a bow. "May I join you tomorrow? I should like to get
reacquainted." She gave Taryn a liquid smile.
Taryn disliked the attention Vasali was showing her and the instinctual way her body reacted. "Fine,"
she grumbled, leading the way out of the meeting hall.
Outside, the horses and carts were gone, as well as most of the people, all but the heavy-set woman,
the boy?s foster mother.
"Lady," she bowed, avoiding Taryn's eyes. "Jed, he?s a good boy."
Taryn looked down at the boy. What is your real name?
Ashon
"His name is Ashon," said Taryn. She lay a hand on the woman?s arm. "He will be safe in Atheron, I
swear it. He can be trained there or in one of the shinaran schools nearby."
The woman sniffed, wiping her nose on a grimy sleeve. "Thank you." She seemed to want to say
more, but bowed and disappeared into the growing dark with her children.
Taryn held the boy's hand and walked back to face the indifferent innkeeper.
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Sandra Barret
Excerpt from Damek Keep