Hand of Fire (The Master of the Tane) (84 page)

              Donning the outfit he had worn the day before, he washed his face and then sat at the edge of the bed waiting for someone to come and get him for breakfast. Almost at the same moment he’d gotten settled, a knock came at the door and Whar poked his head in. Thane’s first reaction was to shudder, but pushing those feelings quickly down, he cheerfully moved to Whar’s side and greeted him warmly with a bright smile. In response, the goblin’s face curled into a mass of dreadful looking teeth that looked more like a snarl than a smile.

             
He followed the large body down the hall. At the intersection he at once became confused though when Whar went to the right instead of the left. “Wait a minute,” he called out. “Where are you going?” Pointing down the hall to his left, he continued. “It’s this way. I remember.”

             
Whar gave him a puzzled look and then pointed a meaty hand to the right hall and grunted.

             
Looking to the left again, Thane shook his head. “Well, there’s no way I’m going to remember the way we went last night.” He turned back to the goblin. “All right, Whar, lead on.”

             
Whar gave him another strange look and then shrugged his obese shoulders before leading them down the hall on the right. In a matter of only a few long strides, he took them down another hallway on the left that quickly dropped away into stairs. Descending three flights, Thane found they were in the same foyer as the night before. Understanding hit like a slap in the face. Resdin had led him about on purpose to confuse him.
Now
,
why would he do that
? He quickly brushed it aside as they entered the tapestry-covered hall and then into the dinning area.

             
Both men sat in the same chairs as the night before and Thane quickly took his own seat. Whar disappeared through another archway that must have lead to the kitchens. Resdin flashed him a knowing smirk, which Thane returned in good humor.

             
“I trust the floor was comfortable enough for you last night?” Lord Bedler asked, breaking the silence while producing a smile of his own.

             
Thane smiled back. “Oh, yes. In fact it is probably the most comfortable thing I have ever slept on.”

             
Resdin made a sound that bordered on disgust that won him a sharp look from the old man. “I am glad. And your wounds, are they feeling better?”

             
“Oh, much better thank you. I feel completely well.”

             
Just then, Whar returned with their breakfast, which consisted of fruit, meat, eggs and fresh baked bread. “That is good to hear,” Bedler said as he dished each their share in turn. “Maybe today you would like a tour of the castle.”

             
Thane smiled enthusiastically. “That would be fine. I could use a little exercise.”

             
“Good. Resdin, after we eat, you will show Thane all that he needs to see of the castle.”

             
Resdin nodded, grinning at Thane.

             
“Uh, begging your pardon, Lord Bedler,” Thane quickly interjected, “but I was hoping that maybe
you
could show me around. That is, I mean, if you would not mind and are not too busy.”

             
Bedler looked a bit surprised. Turning a glare on Resdin he frowned and then nodded his head. “Of course, my boy. It would be my pleasure.”

*   *   *

              In no time Thane had a firm grasp on his whereabouts in most of the castle. It was huge, and there were many areas where they did not go or which were declared off limits by Lord Bedler, but by the end of the day he felt that he could make his way around without an escort.

             
He also found himself feeling more and more comfortable with his host. Lord Bedler seemed to have accepted him for who he was never once questioning his origins or why his ears were pointed. It didn’t seem to matter. For the first time in his life he was feeling completely accepted. Jack and Dor and Tam had always been his friends, but none of them truly understood him like Lord Bedler seemed to. After all, Lord Bedler had been through the same things he had. He understood because he knew what it felt like.

             
After the evening meal, Bedler took him to a small battlement that faced the east and gave an unobstructed view of the entire valley all the way to the Mogolth Mountains against the distant horizon. “I know it’s not much to look at,” Lord Bedler said, referring to the desolate landscape, “but it’s home. No one bothers me here. No one is about to judge me because I am different.”

             
Thane looked around with a new appreciation for what Lord Bedler was saying. It was an awful looking place, but such a place appeared as paradise to one who was always looked down upon and hated. A place where no one would ever come and bother you again, where you could live your life in peace as yourself, not always hiding or worrying what others might think or say or do.
Just like the trolls
. Thane started feeling like he had come home.

             
“I’m an outcast too.”

             
Lord Bedler stared at him. “What was that you said, boy?”

             
Thane tried to keep the tears from welling up in his eyes. “Like you, I too am an outcast. Just like what happened to you when you were younger. The same thing happened to me. I had a gift, though to me it was more like...”

             
“A curse?” Bedler asked, cutting him off.

             
Thane turned to the old man. “Yes, a curse.” The tears streamed out upon his cheeks racing unchecked as he let his soul be washed clean by their run. Lord Bedler reached out to him and pulled him close into an understanding embrace.

             
“That’s right, my boy. You just let it all come out. You are safe now with people who accept you for who you are.”

             
Thane released years of hurt and self-doubt hugging Lord Bedler close to him not seeing the smile that traced the old man’s lips as if in triumph.

             
Finally pulling back after long minutes of sobbing he smiled shyly at a concerned looking Bedler. “I’m sorry,” he said looking away, suddenly feeling somewhat ashamed for his show of weakness. “I did not mean to lay all of my problems on you. You have been more than kind to me.”

             
“Nonsense,” the old man said squeezing his shoulders. “You needed to get that out of you so the healing can begin. You are lucky. It took me years and years before I finally had the strength to allow myself to heal from the wounds inflicted upon me by those I had trusted. But now I am strong. Now no one can hurt me, and you shall be the same way, my boy. I can help you.”

             
Thane smiled weakly. “You have already done more than you can ever know and I thank you, but I must return to my friends.”

             
Bedler looked out across the valley pensively. “I see.”

             
Thane was suddenly afraid he had offended or hurt the old man.

             
“Are they really your friends, Thane?” Bedler asked quietly.

             
He said it so softly that Thane was almost not sure he had heard him correctly. With a nervous chuckle he rushed to answer. “Yes. Why, of course.”

             
“I mean, are they truly, one hundred percent devoted to you and to what you are? Can you count on them through everything you might do or through which you might pass?” Turning back to him, Bedler’s dark eyes bore mercilessly into him. “I don’t mean to sound harsh my young friend. It’s just that I don’t want you to have to suffer what I have. I thought I had friends also. In fact, one of those was my twin brother. I trusted him more than anyone. Then one day, he betrayed me because of my gift. He actually led the people against me.” A tear crept down the old man’s face. “I loved him more than life itself.”

             
Thane swallowed hard thinking back to the day he had thrown fire. Dor had left him that day. Dor was like his brother and he had left. But he had come back.
How many times will he come back though
? Thane’s mood swung to despair in a heartbeat. Could Lord Bedler be right? Would his friends all betray him in the end? They didn’t know everything about what he could do. Dor left the first time his gift manifested itself and then when he felt he was going to die, he begged for Thane to use it to save his life. Dor tried to use him. Tam had used him to gain the hunting and tracking skills she had wanted, not caring about the risks to Thane should they be found out.

             
“Thane, you are always welcome here,” Bedler said, interrupting his thoughts. “Please think about it before you decide to leave. You need never run from your gift again. You can develop it here with us. It’s not a curse, but a gift, a gift to be used and developed, not to be suppressed or hidden away because of the jealousy of others. We can help you, Thane.”

             
He felt himself being pulled towards Bedler’s voice. He was right. It was his gift. It was he who was given this power and it is not evil. It saved his father’s life. The father who hated him. The father who didn’t deserve his love. Thane could feel the anger overcoming him. It wasn’t right how he had been treated. It wasn’t right that he should have to be someone other than himself because he was different. Just like the trolls who were coming to live here in peace. He too could stay and never have to worry about what others thought about him again. His heart began to harden against everyone who had ever rejected him in the past. He was not the freak, they were. It was not his fault they did not understand. They were seeing him as he had seen the trolls and Whar just because they were different. He had never done anything but try and help others but because of his gift they had automatically assumed he was evil. “I am not evil,” he said out loud, his tears turning to rage. “I AM NOT EVIL!” His voice raged, echoing off the stone surrounding them.

             
Lord Bedler laid a comforting hand on his shoulder. “No, you are not, my boy. You are special. Stay with us.”

             
Thane blinked past the tears and looked into the old man’s face seeing nothing but warmth and concern. Darkness was closing about the castle bringing with it the end of a day. The end of a life of pain. The end of running away. Tomorrow the sun would rise again on a fresh, new day. A fresh beginning. A new start. A new life. A new person.

“I will.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

             
Shortly, the noise from the working guards was left far behind replaced by the quiet rush of a gentle mountain breeze that pressed against their faces. Dor was awe struck by the height of the mountains that reached up as if to grasp the very sky above. The way was flat and smooth yet narrowed in places only allowing enough space for one to pass at a time. The ground was rock like the mountain walls and echoed the horses’ clomping hooves as they passed deeper into the pass. Occasional troll sign was found piled up and trampled on in the middle of the pass infesting the area with flies and a foul stench. But, besides that, no one would ever have guessed that such a large body of trolls had been anywhere near the area.

             
Jack’s eyes darted around nervously as if suspecting trouble. At the slightest sound he jerked his head skyward as if expecting death to come raining down from above. Dor noticed his behavior and felt himself begin to fidget in his own saddle. “What is it?” he finally asked.

             
Jack didn’t look at him, keeping his eyes to the front like sentinels. “This is goblin territory, remember? The Mogolths are crawling with them.”

             
“So?”

             
Jack pulled his horse up abruptly. “So, we’ve been in the pass for well past an hour now and we haven’t seen so much as a cast away bone.”