Scanran Trust
Chapter One
Crossing the Border
Scanra is a place of mountains and cold weather. Scanra is also a place of mistrust, gangsters, and warring tribes, of mages with terrible powers, and of little orphan girls.
A forest, the place where all stories seem to begin. A place of magic and mystery, terror and suspicion, cures and curses. A place where everything starts and everything ends.
The town of New Hope, lead by a young Keladry of Mindelan, who happened to be the defeater of the Scanran machines and also happened to be leaving New Hope very soon. She had come back after a nice stay with her friends in Corus, and she had only come back to New Hope for a few weeks to make sure everything was going okay.
A young woman deprived of food, cold, and thin. Her long blonde hair had more knots in it then curls, and she had a lot of curls. Her dark brown eyes were ghostly. Her face looked around the forest with a vacant expression etched on it. She had the look of a fawn that couldn't find its way home, no matter how hard it tried.
Faun trudged along the forest path, eyes intent on the expanse of trees ahead. "I must get to Tortall. Mollyen said so. Or, thought so," Faun chanted to herself, a haunted look in her eyes as she recalled her cursed gift. The gift of telekinesis, the ability to use her mind for deadly purposes, one of which was to read others minds. She hated it, especially because she knew that the reason the Dark Mage, or, in Scanran, Avadth, had come and destroyed her village was because of her gift. Her accursed gift.
Meanwhile, Keladry of Mindelan was safe and happy in New Hope, sitting and chatting with Sergeant Domitan of the Kings Own. The Own had escorted her to New Hope and would escort her back to Corus when she believed the time was right. Kel had not been surprised when she had come to New Hope and found that it was running quite well without her. She felt good that she wasn't the mortar that held the walls of New Hope together as she had silently feared. Outwardly she had been calm, but inside there was a flicker, but only a flicker, of worry about New Hope, the town that she had helped create and re-create. "So, Kel, when do you think we'll be getting back?" Dom asked casually, leaning back in his chair. Kel smiled at him. He looked very handsome like that. "Don't know. Sometime soon, a few days mayhap. Not much longer then that. Even though I love this place, I miss Corus. It's my home. Or one of them," Kel answered.
"What's your other one?" he asked.
"The Yamani Islands," Kel answered. Dom smiled at her. Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Kel opened it to find Domo, her second-in-command while she was here, standing there. "We found somethin', miss. A woman all passed out in da forest. We brought 'er to the sick bay, miss, and we want you to have a look at her. I think she's a Scanran." At those words, Kel went running to the sick bay, Dom right at her heels. Scanrans were not so much liked in Tortall, and having one of them in New Hope could cause quite a stir.
Faun clearly recalled passing out and waking up to find strong hands picking her up. Thinking it was Avadath, she squirmed and shrieked. The man holding her hit her on the head with his hand, and she passed out again.
Faun woke up to find herself in a bed with people peering at her. One of them was Keladry of Mindelan, the other was Sergeant Domitan of the King's Own. Faun had heard about them in Scanra and knew them right away. "Hello, what's your name?" Kel asked.
"Faun. I need to go to Corus!" Faun told her with security. She knew that she had to warn the King and Queen of Avadath before he destroyed Tortall like he did to her village. Kel looked at her suspiciously. "Why?"
"Because I need to talk to the King and Queen! It's urgent!" Kel looked first at the girl, then at Dom. Suddenly Raoul burst into the tent. When he saw Faun he stopped dead. "She wants to see Jon and Thayet," Dom told him.
"Well then," Raoul said vindictively, "let's take her to them. In chains." Raoul had always hated Scanrans, and it showed. Faun screamed as they lurched her out of bed and tied chains to her arms and legs and around her neck. She felt like a slave. "This is no better then coming into the possession of Avadath," she whispered silently to herself.
"No muttering curses at us, you filthy Scanran. It is us who should be cursing you!" Faun sighed, and tears rolled down her cheeks. They would be sorry later, o so sorry, when Avadath came for them and they weren't ready. All because they couldn't trust a Scanran. Of course, trusting a Scanran is not an easy task. Scanrans are not to be trusted. Even by other Scanrans.