Asunder: A Gathering of Chaos by Cameron Hopkin (children's ebooks free online .txt) 📕

“Regardless, it seems that we will be travelling together for a time. We should talk about this more. It would be good to understand each other. Especially with this… power of yours. I will not lie – I am still deeply doubtful that you can do what you say.” She opened her mouth to interrupt, but he forestalled her with a raised hand. “Please. It is not because I think you are a liar, but more because it violates the way I understand the world. I admit that I could be wrong. Perhaps only seeing it in action will do.”

She held out her hand with a challenge glinting in her eye. “Nothing simpler, northman. Touch my hand and you’ll see.”

Her outstretched fingers made him deeply uneasy, and he did not know why. This is how knowledge and certainty are gained, are they not? Experience and experimentation. That was how he had learned to operate, and he never shied away from changing his viewpoint to accommodate new and unexpected truths.

And yet, he did not touch her. “I… do not think I will. Forgive me.” I sound like a coward. I am being a coward. He wasn’t certain whether he feared the interference of the Weaver woman or some other thing, but he knew of a certainty that taking the girl’s hand would be a bad idea. “And please do not touch me without my permission. I realize that sounds rude, but I would ask you to humor me. I do not wish to see your visions.”

The girl tried to act as if she weren’t offended, but she was barely more than a child, and her emotions showed clearly. “Fine. What you think isn’t my problem.”

His mind turned back to the earlier conversation with Kojan, and possibilities began to unfold in his mind. “Were you born on the Mainland?” he asked her.

She frowned, confused by the non-sequitur. “Yes. Why?”

“No matter,” he deflected. “Just curious.”

Steps sounded in the hallway, and Renna tromped in, looking slightly ridiculous in her uniform of leaves and barkleather. A false smile was pasted on her face. “Ah, you’re up and about. Good.” She held out a tall wooden cup of water to him. She expects me to take it. What kind of woman is this who can threaten to kill a man and then turn around and pretend to be his friend five minutes later?

He took the cup and drank a bit, as much to prove to himself that he did not fear the woman as to demonstrate graciousness to an enemy as the koda required. Besides, he was thirsty. He cleared his throat. “Thank you for the water.”

Renna nodded with a knowing look. “But not for the bloodthorn, hmm?”

Gamarron spread his hands in acknowledgement and handed her the half-full cup.

“As we come to know one another better, my lord, I hope you will understand why I had to do this. You may not appreciate it in this particular instance, but you will find that I act quickly to solve problems in the most direct and permanent way I can. That can be a useful quality when put to your benefit.”

“My benefit,” Gamarron mused, easing back on the bed next to Kest. “Why should I believe that you would ever act for my benefit? You’ve just acted to ensure my death if I displease you. It is not an ideal method for engendering trust.” His hands were shaking ever so slightly – a stress reaction, no doubt. He let them shake. Control was desirable, but always denying the body its natural responses led to greater problems in the long run. He folded his hands into the sleeves of his robes to hide them. Letting the body recover naturally was one thing; allowing an enemy to see weakness was entirely another.

Renna grimaced. “Didn’t I act in your benefit in saving your friend? Didn’t I convince that thief when he was ready to cut ties?”

“That last remains to be seen,” he replied. “You told him to come to us and then marched me out of the room while he was still mid-thought. It seems to me that the most likely outcome is that he never reappears.”

“You’re wrong,” she said, confident. “I get people to do things, whatever it takes. For a man like Kojan, just the thought that he might accomplish the impossible is enough. Him, stealing the most prized object in all of Megalith? Right now, he’s thinking it might not be impossible, and he won’t be able to resist. He’ll come to us in less than a day, brimming with ideas, with half the work already done. What else could motivate a master thief?”

“Time will tell,” sighed Gamarron, not having the will to argue the point. “But you must know that this underhandedness of yours has entirely abolished any good will I might have felt. I concede that I am stuck with you, but I am not inclined to put your services to use.”

“Yes, well,” drawled the woman, “you felt that way before I used the bloodthorn seed, so I haven’t lost anything.” She stood in front of him, towering over the spot where he sat. “Stop sulking, Gamarron. You’re letting your emotions cloud the bare facts. I intend to help you defeat this demon of yours, and as the situation exists now, you’ll die without me. You’ve seen that I am effective in the pursuit of my goals. If those goals become your goals, imagine what I could do for you. What we could do for you.”

He shook his head disbelievingly. “You ask me to forget your treachery and accept you as a part of my quest. It is not possible.”

Renna cocked her head quizzically. “Except I’m not asking.” She swept away from him, pacing in a circle as she began to think out loud. “Now, let’s think more productively. You want to bring this chaos wielder on board. It’s a bold idea, and I’ve decided I approve, but we’ll have to be very careful about how