Chapter 1

18 years later…

The sun streamed through the window and fell upon Thomas’s face. He groaned and turned over on his small bed, refusing to wake with the growing light. With the sun no longer in his face he fell back asleep.

He had only been asleep for a couple more minutes when his mother stormed in and flipped the bed. Thomas and blankets alike spilled onto the hard wooden planks.

“Wake up on your own, and I won’t have to wake you up ,” his mother said before she left the room.

Thomas replied, his voice still thick with sleep. “Thanks for the warning.” He knuckled the sleep from his eyes and stood up and went and looked in the small mirror. A grimace flashed across his face when he saw his dark hair sticking up in every direction. After several attempts of pouring water over his head and using a small brush failed, he gave up.

“It is just hair.” He stared at himself for a couple more seconds, wishing that his coffee-brown eyes could have been lighter and that his smile was less crooked.

He scowled and forced his gaze away from the mirror. He threw on a dark-blue shirt and black trousers. As he reached the door, he paused to prepare himself for the storm that was coming. Once his courage was gathered, he opened the door.

“You are late!”

He rolled his eyes. “Mother I am aware.”

“You said you would meet Ivan at the market at nine” his livid mother stormed. “Yet, when I look at the water-clock the time is ten.”

“Sleep is important. At least I was not up late.”

“You were!”

Thomas feigned surprise. “I would assume I’d know if I was up late. And as you pointed out, I am late. I will be back later.” He mockingly blew a kiss at her as he rushed out the door.

Sunlight burned his eyes as he walked outside. The residents of Bellwood had been up and about since before day-break.. As Thomas walked down the dirt path that led through most of the town, he had to occasionally step off the road to avoid carts and anxious traders. Bellwood, it seemed to him, was growing ever larger.

“Thomas!”

A girl with auburn hair and olive skin ran to stand aside Thomas.

“Hello Christie.”

“Where are you heading?”

He pointed vaguely in front of him. “To the market to look for work.”

She smiled a rather brilliant smile at Thomas. “Don’t you leave for training soon though?”

“What about it?”

“Why are you trying to find work if you depart for Terra Alta soon?”

Terra Alta was the capital city of Valden. At the age of 18, boys from the kingdom’s four regions were sent there to train as soldiers and fill the ranks of Valden’s vast military. Bellwood, being located in the Mountain Region, was the third largest region in Valden.

Thomas shrugged. “A soldier’s pay, from what I hear, leaves very little to be desired. The coin I make now will allow a tiny bit of breathing room.”

A determined look now sat on Christie's face. “Find me when you are done.” Without another word she turned around and disappeared into the crowd.

He felt a grin split across his face. “Will do.” Thomas then turned his gaze and started scanning the market stalls to look for his friend. It didn’t think long before he spotted Ivan’s short, dark blonde hair and started to make his way towards him.

The story of Thomas and Ivan started seventeen years before. A ring of slavers had attempted to gain a foothold in Bellwood. Both Ivan and Thomas had been taken while their families were visiting the market. A confrontation between the guards and the slavers led to the rescue of the two friends, but left two guards dead along with most of the slave ring members dead or captured. From that moment on, the two boys were inseparable. Throughout the village the duo were renowned for being troublemakers. However, they were also known to help travelers and people in need. The two friends also devised a leadership ritual. Thomas was usually in the lead when it came to infuriating the townsfolk while Ivan was usually the more reserved of the two.

As Thomas drew closer he called out. “All hail Ivan, the savior of working jobs.”

Anger flashed in Ivan’s eyes as he turned his head to look at Thomas. “I thought we agreed on nine?” Sweat was starting to roll, slowly, down the side of his face and into his gray tunic.

“We did. However, I was held up.”

“When aren’t you held up?” Ivan sighed. “At least you are here now. I have found us work.”

Thomas raised an eyebrow. “That is good to hear. What will we be doing?”

A smirk crossed Ivan’s mouth. “Moving trees. Not felling trees. We just stack them.” He shrugged. “It was the job that paid best.”

In despair Thomas glanced at the sleeves of his shirt that hid thin but leanly muscled arms. “I don’t think I am strong enough.”

Ivan laughed. “It will be fine, we’ll grab the same tree together. Be done faster that way. Oh, we start tomorrow at six and you are paying for lunch.”

While the two friends were walking through the maze of stalls, their noses picked up the aromatic smells of cooking venison, baking bread, and most important to Thomas-coffee.

He gestured to the stall that was selling coffee. “We are eating there. They have coffee”

Ivan groaned. “Thomas, you do not need more coffee.”

“Yes I do. If I had my own sigil it would be a cup bearing coffee.” Thomas approached the stall and ordered lamb-skewers with lemon, bread, pressed peach juice for Ivan and coffee for himself and handed the vendor his payment.

After ordering, he sat down on the grass. Ivan joined him while they waited for their food.

Thomas spoke first.

“I have a huge problem.”

“What did you do this time? You didn’t release the rabbits from their pens again?”

“What? No. I was saving that for another day. I was referring to an event from earlier. Christie talked to me today, and I have no idea what to do.”

Ivan frowned. “What did you do?”

He just shrugged. “I didn’t boast if that is what you are wondering.”

“At least you did that right. What else happened?”

“She asked me to come find her after we are done here.”

Ivan’s eyes widened. “What did you say then?”

“I said will do. However she had already left so she didn’t hear it.”

Ivan gripped his shoulder. “You have to go see her. You have no choice.

Thomas made ice enter his eyes. “I always have a choice.”

This made Ivan laugh. “Not this time.”

He groaned. “Fine. Just this once though since I owe you for those candied plums.”

Ivan nodded. “Good, better keep your word. Oh look here comes our food.”

As the pair tucked into their food, Thomas kept eyeing people as they passed by. A mischievous look glinted in his eyes. It was a look Ivan was all too familiar with and when he saw it, with his mouth still filled with lamb, said “Don’t even think about it.”

Thomas shook his head as if coming out of a trance. “I do not know what you are talking about.” He popped another piece of lamb in his mouth to keep from grinning.

Ivan snorted. “You forget, I probably know you better than anyone else in this village. You were thinking about stealing from their purses.”

“And you forget that I never steal. If I am successful I give it back immediately.”

“The game is old Thomas.”

He grinned. “This coming from the person who is usually by my side while in the midst of causing trouble.”

“I usually don’t have a choice when it comes to the problem.”

Thomas eyed him. “As I said earlier, everyone has a choice. You didn’t have to be with me on those runs.”

Ivan looked up from his food, a scowl on his face. “I watch your back and you watch mine, as we have always done. That is our rule. I have also kept us out of trouble quite a few times.” He looked at Thomas’s plate. “You already ate everything?”

He belched. “Yes. If you aren’t going to eat that I will.” He gestured towards Ivan’s half eaten plate then started to reach for it.

Ivan slapped his hand away. “This food is too good to let it go to waste.”

Thomas smiled then stood up and brushed the grass off his trousers while glancing around the market. “Did you see anything good?”

“Not really. There’s a new jeweler but that is about it.”

“I will be back.”