4

The Western Border

After a week of school, and with Saber being a bit of a celebrity with the others, whose parents would not let
them go on a Gathering, the boy was feeling both a little proud and a little embarrassed. Iyen was jealous, and
was pretty scornful, saying he would have shown more bravery than the poet. Saber wasn't too happy, but he
tolerated it. One didn't go up against the strongest warrior cadet in the village without getting hurt.

There was one incident with Iyen's father though; he had gotten pert with the warrior, and immediately knew
he had. Drett of course did not lay a hand on a boy that was not his, but raised a brow. "I-I'm sorry, Drett,"
Saber said. "I guess I got cocky." He fidgeted and looked at the ground.

The surly man started to say something, but then laughed a little bit. "I know you did good last Gathering...and hey you deserve to be a little cocky. I've done worse."

Saber blinked and looked at him, shocked. "Y-You're not angry? I sassed a warrior!"

The man laughed. "Yes. But you apologized, and without being told to. A forced apology is not meant, but
yours was. And that's why I'm not angry." He chuckled. "I'm not a total beast, little one."

Saber turned a little red. "I-I didn;t think that..." Then he shifted his feet. "Well maybe a little bit..."

Drett smiled and put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, I can be a tough old bastard, but I like to think I'm fair. I
respect those that respect me. And I respect courage, from anyone. Even a child."

The boy looked up at him, seeing him in a new light. He'd always thought of warriors as brave fighters, and
protectors, and they were. But he had a sudden thought that's not all they were. Part of what they did was
just this: talking. Making peace, even with just one small boy. And he found a new respect for him. "Thank
you, sir," he said wonderingly.

Drett chuckled again. "Go on, kid, I got work to do here. And behave!"

"I will!" Saber grinned and ran off, thinking of this new way of looking at things.

It was rest days again, and Saber was bored. By lunch time, he had summoned the guts to go one again to the
Western Boarders, and looked around. Gulping, and shaking the slightest bit, the lithe boy hopped up onto the
fence and dropped down, wincing as if he expected to be struck down for committing such an unthinkable act.

He opened his eyes. "Well I'm not dead," he said, and this was definitely a good thing. In fact he felt no
different! He had stood for a long time on one side of the boarder. He had stood in tall grass, in warm sunshine
dappled with shadows from the leaves, surrounded by the conflicting smells of a dozen flowers. He now stood
in tall grass, in the sun and shade, and with the conflicting smells of a dozen flowers... So why was it forbidden?
After a moment, the boy began to move again, walking cautiously through the wooded area, looking around.

He found himself remembering the awful, unnatural noise he had heard, that could get closer without him even
seeing it, and shuddered, suddenly a little less confident. But today he did not hear it. In fact, he heard nothing!
Only forest animals. He jumped at every noise, but they all turned out to be creatures he knew well.

The boy walked for a very long time, seeing nothing but woods. The natural compass in his head told him
where he was at all times, and so he never got lost, but it was getting late and he had to turn back. But he had
seen something that made him vow to come back when he had more time and investigate.

What he had seen was the thinning out of trees...

And the edge of a road.

He heard nothing...except once. As he approached the fence, he heard it: "berberberberber...." It was faint...but it sounded like it was following him. He turned and ran.

Once a safe distance away, his fear turned to excitement. A road! It had to be! Did that mean there were
other Erthrins around? Maybe their people could trade with them! Maybe Bruters...or what if...what if it was
something new! Of course the idea that it was demons or monsters occurred, but the excitement of perhaps
new allies pushed most such thought from his head. The possibility that it was only a bare spot also
occurred, but it had been almost too perfect. And he was a dreamer. He much preferred to think it a new race.

It was late when he got home, but he had told his parents he would be late. But when he arrived, he found
his father and mother waiting for him, looking cross. No, forget cross, he thought, as he slowly, more slowly
approached. They looked angrier than he'd ever seen either of them. He saw his little brother give him a guarded
look of sympathy before scampering back inside, and that's when he knew he was in deep trouble. "Uh...what
happened?" he asked.

His father grabbed the boy's arm and hauled him inside. His mother shut the door. "Don't 'what happened'
us!" he growled, looking angrily into his son's eyes. "Where were you today?"

"I-I said I'd be late, was I too late?"

"Answer me!"

"I-I was in the woods!" Not a lie. Saber did not like to lie, and did not do so Of course he never told anyone
everything, because they would only laugh at most of it. Of ourse sometimes they would get him in trouble.
Like now.

Fegreth narrowed his eyes and bent down. Intimidated, his son took a step back. "Where in the woods?"
he demanded.

"Uhh.....o-over that way?" the boy said vaguely, pointing from where he had come.

The man stood abruptly and dragged the protesting boy towards the back of the house. "I don't believe it," he
said, his tone tight sounding and infuriated. "The healer in town said he saw you at the Western Boarder! And
that you had crossed it!! Tell me the truth boy, and don't you dare weasel out of it. Did you?"

Saber gulped, and decided then and there that he did not like the healer very much at all. He joined a list of
candidates for anonymous prank-revenge. But now he new he was in trouble. "I-I was only-"

"WERE YOU?"

"Y-y-yes, sir..."

Fegreth growled. "Looks like bringing you on that Gathering gave you an attitude, boy," he hissed, as he
pulled him outside towards the tool shed in the back.

Saber gulped. "It did not!" he protested. "I went there before, before I even went on the Gathering!"
Oops...he realized as soon as he said it that it had not been a wise thing to say.

His father turned to glare at him slowly, then his lips tightened together until it looked like he had no lips.

Saber fought the slightly hysterical urge to giggle at the mental image of his father with no lips. He knew that would bring him a world more trouble than he had. His father said no more, only took a hollow cane of the type used for discipline from a shelf out on the wall, brought him inside, and shut the door.

He ate his meals standing up, and took his classes the same way for a long time.

That night, Saber lay on his stomach, not clothed even with a sheet, as it hurt too much, with tears in his eyes
and a scowl on his face. He wrote a lot of not-nice things about his father. He wrote a few about his mother.
He wrote a lot of (very) not-nice things about the healer in town.

He stopped, thought, considered, and wrote a few more things about the healer before finally putting the
parchment away and going to sleep

Part 5: A Brother's Trust

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