Sentinelspire - Mark Sehestedt [23]
"I'll take that as a no," said the half-orc.
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Walking at the rear of the column through the woods, Berun only caught occasional glimpses of Lewan. But each time he did, the boy was listening to Sauk. Berun scowled.
"Your boy is fine," said Val, who walked beside him.
Berun turned his scowl on the blond man.
"You look ready to chew rocks," said Val. That insolent smile again.
What Berun would have given to remove that smile with a few punches. Barring that, he'd have given his next three meals for the path to narrow again so that Val would walk behind him and not be so eager for conversation. The man's incessant chattering was bad enough. Combined with the raw pain in Berun's ribs and the dull fire in his shoulder from the beating he'd endured last night, Berun felt ready to kill. He hadn't hurt this bad in a long, long time, and he hadn't been another's prisoner since… never. Berun had never been a prisoner. Kheil had died a prisoner, and Berun had been reborn a free man.
And here he was held captive by Kheil's old life.
"The boy your son?" said Val.
Berun looked away.
" 'Cause he don't look like you," Val continued. "Looks like a Murghom. Mulhorandi, maybe. His mother a Murghom?"
Berun slowed down, hoping Val would walk ahead, but one of the two men walking behind them jabbed his short sword into Berun's back. "Move it! No lagging."
Val's smile widened. Berun knew he could have easily bested these three, even snatched one of their blades and disappeared into the forest before the other men could do anything about it. But Sauk not only had Erael'len, he had Lewan. And there was the tiger. Berun knew that to beat the tiger, he'd have to think like a tiger. Don't rush. Wait and let your prey give you the best chance to attack. Conserve your strength and wait.
"I don't think he's your boy," Val said. "Too old. If the stories I heard are true, that boy had to have been at least five or six years old when you left Sentinelspire. Unless you sowed some foreign fields while you were working for the Old Man…"
Their path narrowed, the trees and brush closing in, and Val fell behind. But it didn't deter him.
"Not much of a talker, are you?" he said. "Talieth said that was one of your better qualities."
"What about Talieth?" Berun slowed and half turned before he caught himself.
"Well-hell!" said Val, beaming. "He does speak! A little salt in an old wound there, eh?"
Berun turned his eyes back to the path and kept walking.
He was glad Val was behind him and couldn't see the heat filling his face.
"It true what they say about you and Talieth?" Val said.
"Aren't you tired of talking yet, Val?" said one of the men behind them.
"Just trying to pass the miles."
"Well, we're tired of listening to you," said the other man.
"Then fall back," said Val, a sharp edge in his voice. "You don't have to hold my hand."
"Sauk told us to guard him. Told you that too. Didn't say nothing about sharing our life stories."
"He's not going anywhere," said Val. "Not while Sauk's got his necklace and his boy."
Berun glanced back. The two men didn't fall back, but their scowls now matched his own.
Val grinned and looked at Berun. "Isn't that right?"
Berun turned forward. He pushed aside a branch, thick with broken cobwebs, then let it fly back at Val.
"Don't want to talk about the boy," said Val as he ducked under the branch, "and Talieth seems to be a sore spot. What do you want to talk about?"
"I agree with your friends," said Berun. "You talk too much."
"Friends?" said Val. "These two camel humps aren't my friends."
"Lick my-" one of the men started, but Val ignored him and kept talking.
"See. They don't like me twice as much as I don't like them. We just work together."
"We'll remember that next time we're in a fight," said one of the men.
"Kerlis, you couldn't catch one boy in the woods without burning your hand and crushing your little manhood. Twice. I'm not really counting on you in a fight. Unless we're up against a bunch of little girls."
"You-!"
"Leave it," said the other man. "Sauk's already threatened to