Chapter 20: Something in the air...
Fenix and Jewellyn were having a difficult time with Hobbs who frequently snorted and neighed with impatience when they attempted to ride him. When the two of them tried to mount him together it was almost a major disaster. Hobbs threw them off with a violent ease and fortunately they landed back on the thick grass, albeit with a hard shock as they landed. The same result occurred, though a lot less violently, when only one of them, Fenix, tried to mount Hobbs.
"Well by the Havens!" Fenix swore loudly, startling Jewellyn. "Is this not a horse, meant to serve man, for the purposes of our transport?"
Fenix has a lot to learn about horses, thought Jewellyn, then said out loud, "Really Fenix, he is only a workhorse after all and an old one at that, I guess we shouldn't have been too surprised."
"Well I'm getting sick and tired of--" What he was going to say made him think about something: Hey just what had happened back there on the farm field. I passed out from the heat and next thing I knew Jewellyn was above me crying and not looking so great. Drained would be the way to describe it.
:Say Jewellyn, what happened back there after I collapsed on the farm field: That popped out of his mind suddenly, startling himself in the process...
Jewellyn looked startled as well and looked at him with surprised eyes. This was the most direct evidence so far of his mindspeaking abilities that she suspected he had. She wanted to ignore this, instead, looking down at her feet, she said, "I helped you Fenix, in a way I never have before, that's all I can seem to say right now." She looked into his brown eyes for a little assurance that they wouldn't talk too much about this right now. She was a little confused; for one, it seemed to happen almost instinctively and then she wondered, did she do it out of love or was it merely a clinical occurrence with no emotion behind it? Fenix smiled back at her and they moved on.
On their work journeys she had heard some rumors just a little north of the local farm villages in the Holderlands which were also fueling her thoughts about forthcoming events...it was all about the Bandits, and of course Karse, lurking in the background. Sometimes she felt for the Holderkin as they, in their own puritanical and stubborn way, were only trying to live peacefully without intrusion from Valdemar or Karse. Of course they had heard rumors of rogue bands, of these Bandits; and the stories she were told she hoped would prove to be not true. There were always the Karsites, Jewellyn mused. They always think they can take advantage of Valdemar. She was thinking of all this simply because of the incident back at the farm field. All of that had prompted questions about the life and death struggles, the thinking about their destinies; the decisions and the events that can affect all this and how it would lead to the fight for love, the fight for life.
"You're in a rather deep thought, Jewellyn. Is something troubling you?" Fenix looked at her with a slight concern. He still felt a little weak from the day's trials and wasn't looking forward at all to meeting Mr. Hagstone, let alone explaining to him what happened. He wiped back his sweaty brown hair which was looking all the worse for wear. We should've brought our straw hats with us to protect us a little from the sun, he mused. There was something about hindsight...
She simply replied absentmindedly in answer to his question, "Yes, yes there is Fenix."
Master Hagstone's farm had come into view as they walked down the hill.
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Yay! Another chapter finished! Things are definitely gonna get good soon here. The next chapter is in the editing process, so I will get it out as soon as I can. Phoenix is doing well and seems to be on a roll, so if things go as planned, we'll be poppin' more out here in the next few days. As usual, reviewers are loved.
Kathleen - Thanks for the reviews! We're glad someone enjoys the story!
