writing adventure 38- Through a Stranger's Lands (part 2)

     The most frightening aspect of deserting the army, for Brear, was that he did not know what was going through the minds of those he left behind.  The sun was fully up, had been winking merrily at Brear for a while now, blissfully ignorant of the storm in his mind, the weight of his eyelids, the blood scattered in a clearing miles away.  He hoped that they were equally as ignorant back on the battlefield.
     He feared not being there, almost as much as he feared staying there. Paranoia washed over him in the silence and seclusion of the tall forest.  Would the army come after him?  Would he be welcomed home?  What would Kander think of his brother now, his only living role model a deserter and a coward?  Brear slumped against a tree, the bark digging into his spine.  He was afraid, and it was not a feeling a soldier should have, but he was no soldier.  He was barely a citizen.
     A criminal, that's what he had become in those few hours of morning.  He took the advice of a dead man and had run, which had in turn made him a dead man.  The sweat poured down his face, and he tried desperately to stop his shaking hands.  The attempt was in vain, and Brear sat in the forest for another hour, hands shaking and heart fluttering deep in his chest, until his eyes slipped into darkness, and he slept.

~

     Village Messer was located just outside the forest, and was not protected by any larger kingdom, even though it pledged its loyalty to a crown that believed it was entitled to the land.  There was a family name that had once been known, but Village Messer didn't care for unseen forces and famous names. Like Troxia, they simply called the kingdom "The Checkered Flag," for that was the simple crest that adorned everything the kingdom believed to be its own.  Also like Troxia, Village Messer had a checkered flag on the tallest building in the small town.
     It was almost sundown when a strange man stumbled into the tavern of the small town.  By what Elliah could gather from his cautious and curious stares, he did not know where he was and he did not trust the occupants.  She was fine with that; she barely trusted the regular customers and the place was owned by her father.
     She watched him out of the corner of her eye. The boy was lost, she knew this for sure.  He was very lost and very alone, just like anyone else who ever stumbled into her father's bar.

~

     Brear wished, more than anything else in the world, to be home.  He had found this village after walking in circles through the forest, and was immediately nostalgic for that which he left behind.  Whether he was welcomed or not, he needed to make it back to Troxia.
     He surveyed the bar closely, afraid that anyone there would suddenly recognize his face as the face of a deserter, and he would have to run for his life, just as he had earlier in the day.  He seemed to be an exceptional runner these days.  He saw the girl sitting at the bar shift uncomfortably when he passed, and took notice of her.  She had long red hair, like a blaze down her back.  If he hadn't been preoccupied with worry, Brear would have thought she was beautiful, would have asked her name and bought her a drink.  Instead, Brear asked a simple question.
     "Miss," he whispered behind her, and Elliah whipped around quickly and pretended to take in the sight of him for the first time.
     "Yes?"
     "I hope I don't alarm you by asking this, but could you tell me where we are?"
     She was taken aback for a second.  No one was ever this lost or alone.  She cleared her throat before speaking.  "We are in my father's tavern in Village Messer, one of the many small towns under The Checkered Flag."
     Brear's eyes lit up.  He didn't know the army had been this close to civilization, let alone its own kingdom.  "You mean we're within the limits of the castle?"
     Elliah paused again, confused at the young man's own confusion.  "Technically, we are not," she replied.  "This village pledges its loyalty and, in turn, the crown does not completely surrender us when the borders are threatened."
     Brear smiled, no longer fully listening.  Being near the kingdom meant being near home, but being on the outskirts meant he was practically there already.  "Can you point me in the direction of Troxia?"
     Elliah smiled.  The boy knew not where he was, she reasoned, but where he needed to be.  That calmed her mind a bit.  "Keep walking east, through the forest that lines this place, and in a day's walk you will meet Troxia's border."
     He began to run out of the tavern, but then thought better of it and came back to the girl.  "I apologize," he told her, bowing his head a bit.  "I never asked your name, or told you mine.  You have helped me a great deal yet we are still strangers."
     "My name is Elliah," she said to him, and Brear smiled at the beautiful name.
     "I am Brear."
     "Well, Brear," she said, loud enough for her father behind the bar to hear, "you can't run off before you stay the night.  My father and I will settle you in here for the night, and then you can find what you seek in Troxia."
     "Family," Brear revealed to Elliah.  "I seek family in Troxia."