Green Eyes

They did not spend much time in the room; just enough to change into some dryer clothes and set the rest out to wash and dry before heading back out. There wasn’t much time for rest as they had a lot of supplies to get in preparation for their trek through the Harosheth Hagoyim.

Mara’s pell-mell escape from Jasper’s Castle had left her with only one set of clothes, which over the last couple of weeks had been reduced to mere rags. She and Selene had been sharing clothes for much of the last week, which was uncomfortable for the smaller Mara. So now Mara was on the hunt for some new, more fighting-appropriate clothing.

In addition, they had two horses that were in need of tack. Both Selene and Mara were sore from having to ride bareback much of the last two weeks and Barack, Selene was certain, would be grateful to share the burden of carrying supplies. It wouldn’t hurt to have all three reshod while they were there.

Then there was the issue of food. From what Jared had been saying, it would be at least three weeks before they came to any kind of settlement and the Harosheth Hagoyim was considered a very dangerous place. Also, given that spring was still several weeks away, they couldn’t count on foraging for sustenance. Selene was beginning to understand her father’s reluctance to travel in winter.

But they had little choice. Trying to winter anywhere in Kalashon would be suicide given that all of Kalashon was looking for them. Thus Selene found herself sorting through fresh bread loaves at a bakery near the town square, trying to decide which would last the longest.

“Find anything good?” Mara questioned from behind.

“I think so,” Selene answered pointing to a couple of loaves. “We should wait to get our real food until we leave. Right now I’m just sampling different places to see which is best.”

“Smart move,” Mara acknowledged not bothering to hide how impressed she was.

“Thanks,” Selene accepted the compliment. “Jared’s a good teacher.”

“What about me?” Mara playfully teased.

“You are too, but we’ve only known each other out in the wilderness,” Selene returned. “I haven’t had the chance to learn street-smarts from you yet.”

“Well pay close attention then,” Mara advised.

“Speaking of Jared, where is he?” Selene questioned, noting the other twin’s absence.

“Taking care of the horses as I recall,” Mara answered. “I believe I heard him muttering something about not trusting the inn staff with our animals.”

“It’s strange,” Selene observed. “For someone who is so cold and indifferent to humans, he seems to have a real soft spot for that horse.”

“He does,” Mara confirmed. “Of course Barack is probably the only one who will see it. But it makes sense; Barack is the only constant Jared’s had over the last twenty years.”

“What was he like?” Selene asked as they moved on to the next shop, a vegetable booth.

“Who like what?” Mara cocked her head.

“The old Jared,” Selene clarified. “What was he like when you guys were young, before everything happened?”

Mara paused, her hand hovering over a cabbage head. She leaned her head back as she thought back all those years.

“The answer to that is long and complicated, Selene,” Mara replied with a sigh. “In a sense there is no ‘old’ Jared; he’s a completely different person than today. So am I, for that matter.”

“Huh?” Selene didn’t follow.

“Your dad was murdered in front of you, right?” Mara questioned. Selene nodded in affirmation, “Then you kind of understand what effect that has on you. What we went through was even worse; our parents, family, and friends were killed right in front of us. To add to that, the entire country was against us and it was all started by a, uh, person close to our family. All we had ever known, our entire lives were completely destroyed in a few days. You know what that’s like; think of everything that you’ve gone through the last six weeks. It changes you.”

Selene blinked hard. It had been only six weeks since everything had started? “Yeah,” she nodded subdued a bit. “It really does. What were you guys like back then?”

“Different; better,” Mara repeated, her gaze fixed on some random point off in the distance.

“How so?”

“We weren’t much different than you, actually,” Mara turned to the younger woman. “Enthusiastic, naïve, and idealistic. We had big plans about how we were going to make the kingdom the utopia it was meant to be. Now we just don’t care.”

“Why not?” Selene questioned.

“It’s hard to care about people when all you see is the worst in them,” Mara answered.

“What do you mean?”

“Manasseh’s usurpation made us the ultimate cynics,” the older woman explained bitterly as she recalled those horrifying events. “During that time, we saw the absolute worst of humanity. People we looked up to and admired betrayed us just to grab power. Friends, mentors, family: none of it mattered. We watched people tear each other apart to survive.

“I could’ve left Jasper anytime I wanted to. Jared could’ve come back from Ammon anytime he wanted to,” Mara continued as she struggled to control her rising anger. “Either of us could’ve started a rebellion, one we probably would’ve won, but we didn’t. We had given our lives to protect and serve the people of Kalashon only to have them turn on us when it became convenient. We don’t owe them anything; they owe us. Why would we risk our necks to help them?”

“So why do you?” Selene asked.

“What?” Mara cocked her head.

“What do you think you are doing right now?” Selene restated. “You and Jared are risking your lives to protect me, which in turn is helping the people I am meant to serve. Again, why?”

Mara considered that for a moment. Selene had a point; she and Jared were imperiling themselves by looking after Selene. What made her so special that they were willing to trek around the wilderness with the entire Kalashonian army hunting them?”

“I’m not sure,” Mara finally admitted. “I think maybe it’s because you restore our faith in humanity, if only by a little bit. You’re the first person I’ve met in a long time that genuinely cares about others, even people you’ve never even met. It’s been a long time since I’ve met anyone as kind-hearted as you and being around you is like getting a breath of fresh air.

“I’m not sure if it is us helping you or you helping us,” she added. “I mean, you remind us what it is like to care about others; to put others first. Being around you makes us better people. And your kind-heartedness, I think, is your greatest power. It is what gives you the ability to make a real difference in people’s lives whether by offering a helping hand or being an inspiration to others.”

Selene felt herself blush under the compliment. Neither Jared nor Mara were particularly forthcoming with praise, so for Mara to say the things she did meant a lot to Selene.

“Thanks,” the Navi whispered, giving Mara’s arm a quick squeeze. “I thought you guys just saw me as a little kid.”

“To us, you are a little kid,” Mara laughed. “But you are growing up. Thank you for this morning, by the way.”

“What did I do?” Selene queried.

“You stopped me and Jared from doing something that we would’ve undoubtedly regretted,” Mara answered.

“I couldn’t let you hurt them,” Selene shrugged. “After all, they’re just regular people.”

“Well it was the first time you’ve shown a semblance of a backbone,” Mara remarked, “and for that, I’m proud of you.”

“Thanks,” Selene beamed. Two compliments in five minutes: Selene was wondering if Mara was feeling okay.

“There you are,” Jared’s voice cut into their conversation.

“What’ve you been up to?” Mara questioned.

“Exploring,” Jared answered. “I found something very interesting in the town square.” He held out a sheet of paper to them.

The women took the paper and scanned it. It was a poster, the kind that Selene had seen tacked on to the obelisks that stood at the center of Kalashonian city squares. She had often wondered why it was part of Kalashonian décor; they seemed out of place in the otherwise characterless cityscapes. Probably because they were elegant without requiring much creativity, she decided. Her people were known for being practical to a fault, not for their artistic skills.

Studying the poster, Selene suddenly realized that it was a wanted poster: a wanted poster of them. There were three boxes each with a very rough sketch (again, Kalashonians were not known for their artistic talents) and detailed descriptions. When she read the reward, her eyes widened.

“Wow,” she whistled. “So much for us offering a better price.”

“Well there is a fresh opening in the nobility,” Mara observed. “It is kind of flattering though. I mean we warrant the lordship of Beth Isaac; that’s a pretty big deal.”

“It also means we can’t trust anyone,” Jared said. “With a price this big on our head, I don’t even know if I can trust you not to turn us in.”

“Hey!” Selene protested.

“The point is,” Mara ignored the girl, “we need to get out of Kalashon as soon as possible. Literally everyone from here to Ammon is going to be hunting us. It’ll be just a matter of time before someone finds us and brings the entirety of Kalashon down on our heads.”

Selene looked uncomfortably around at the people walking up and down the street. Some were just passing by, others were stopping at the various shops, looking through food or clothes or whatever else. To most people they would’ve appeared normal and benign. But Selene suddenly felt like she was standing naked in the middle of a battle, exposed and vulnerable. She shuddered.

“So when do we leave?” Selene sighed heavily. She had been looking forward to a week of rest before the next leg of their journey. But that clearly was not going to happen.

“Day after tomorrow,” Jared decided after a silent conversation with Mara. “We still need to get your horses tack to get through the Harosheth and that’ll take a day to get. Until then, we should lie as low as possible.”

“So much for rest,” Selene grumbled. “What now?”

“We go back and get the horses,” Mara informed. “Did you find a tack shop?” she asked her brother.

“No,” Jared shook his head. “I came looking for you as soon as I saw the poster.”

“Probably smart,” Mara looked curiously at Selene. “Good to have a heads up before we did something to reveal ourselves.”

“Why do you guys always look at me when you talk about someone doing something stupid?” Selene snapped. “I’m not the one who takes crazy risks,” she glared at Jared. “Like charging into Jasper’s castle.”

“She does raise a fair point,” Mara admitted.

“Whatever,” Jared growled. “Let’s get back.”

It took them five minutes to wind their way back to the Rose Tattoo through the twisting streets of Beth Haven. Instead of going in the front door, they snuck in through the stables in the back and instantly knew something was terribly wrong.

The inn was silent; not just quiet but dead silent. It was still late morning which was a slow time for and inn but there were typically at least some people around. But there was nothing at all and that made them very uncomfortable. Suddenly a strangled cry came from the common room and acting on pure instinct the three of them ran for the room.

They burst in to see five rough looking men standing around a very frightened Jael. One of them, assumedly the leader, was threatening Jael with a knife at her throat.

“Who gave you this?” he growled holding up Jared’s red Edomite coin.

“I did,” Jared spoke up from the door way, hand on the hilt of his sword. Beside him Mara was raising her hands up behind her and wrapping her fingers around the grip of her weapons. Selene had a bad feeling that things were about to get very ugly and prepared to draw her blade.

“Who are you?” Jared asked his voice in that deadly calm that Selene knew usually preceded someone getting killed.

“Who am I?” the leader shoved Jael to the ground and stalked towards the trio. “You don’t know who we are?”

“Let’s just say we’re new in town,” Jared answered.

“Then I suppose introductions are in order,” the man stopped in front of Jared his knife pointed directly at the mercenary’s gut. “I am Gad and my men and I are enforcers for the Bats gang and we own this town.”

“Including, it would seem, Jael’s inn,” Mara remarked dryly.

“Glad to see someone who gets the program,” Gad smiled triumphantly. “We were just collecting our weekly payment and discovered her booming business.”

“Payment for what?” Selene asked her naiveté showing.

“Protection miss,” Gad sneered. “If we don’t get paid, well the boys can get a bit unruly and I can’t keep her inn or her lovely little girl safe then.”

Selene felt her arms starting to heat up as she began to understand what these men were: low-life thugs that profited from picking on the weak and helpless. They were nothing more than bullies and there were few things in this world that Selene hated more than bullies. But she willed the building fire inside of her down; now was not the time or place.

“Speaking of protection,” Gad looked them over, “all visitors to Beth Haven should pay for protection.”

“And if we don’t?” Mara questioned grip tightening around her swords.

“Beth Haven is a rough town,” Gad replied enigmatically. “If you don’t have the Bats protection, things tend to happen.”

“Thanks for the heads up,” Jared said. “But we’ll pass.”

“Oh I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Gad warned. “If you don’t pay up, my boys might get angry and you don’t want to see them angry.”

“Are you threatening us?” Mara scoffed.

“Just warning you of the consequences of turning down our services,” Gad answered.

“We’ll take our chances,” Mara refused.

“In that case, they’re all yours boys,” Gad called to his minions. “Take them for everything.”

“That,” Jared commented icily to Gad, “was very foolish.”

The thug tried to knife Jared, but the mercenary was far too fast. In a swift motion, Jared drew his sword and drove the pommel into Gad’s chin, snapping his head back. The man stumbled back a couple of paces, stunned. Before he could recover, Jared plunged his sword through the man’s heart.

Mara was accosted by a large man swinging a chain with a large spiked metal ball at the end. The slave looked at the massive weapon with humored disdain.

“Aw, it’s a morning star; how cute,” she mocked. “Compensating for something, are we?”

The man snarled at the insult and heaved the cumbersome weapon at her. Mara easily dodged it and the morning star embedded itself into the wooden floor with thunderous crash. Unfortunately for the man, that left him wide open for a good second and a half. For Mara, it might as well have been an eternity. She leaped forward and drove her right sword through the man’s chest.

Selene had retreated several steps away from the fight. As usual she was quite content to let the two War Masters deal with the gangsters. They could handle these petty thugs in their sleep. She briefly considered using her flame-throwing ability, but so far she had had the tendency to burn buildings down and that was something she wanted to avoid.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jael struggling with one of the thugs. He was a smaller man and armed with a club. Selene had to admire the innkeeper’s spirit, even if it was unnecessary and ill-advised. With Jared and Mara momentarily occupied, Selene decided she ought to go to Jael’s aid.

Jael had managed to get her assailant in one of the holds that Jared had taught Selene as part of Form I, painfully twisting the man’s left wrist. But the goon knew it and gave Jael a firm kick to the gut. She let go and doubled over while the man brought his club down on the back of her head with a sickening crack.

Selene was still several feet away when she saw Jael go down, blood starting to seep from the back of her skull and pool on the ground. She wasn’t sure if Jael was dead or alive and in either case she was too far away to do anything. Anything except…

She released the pent up energy inside of her, incinerating her sleeves up to the elbow in the process. Pointing her right hand at the thug who was raising his club to finish the job, Selene launched a jet of white-hot flame that enveloped the goon and in moments reduced him to a pile of ash.

In shock and abject terror, the remaining two gangsters stared at Selene while Jared and Mara stalked towards them. Dropping their weapons, they bolted.