Rojuun Read online

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  He helped her onto hers and then got on his own. “All right, I’ll tell you as much as I can.” Once they were moving, he began. “After leaving home, I traveled west along a small trail down the mountains. While walking, I would swing a stick thinking I was some great hero.” Tathan grinned wryly. “I didn’t know anything of the world or how rough it was. In the first big town I came to, a group of thugs ambushed me and left me for dead in an alley. My mighty stick was useless in a fight. It lay broken next to me.”

  “That’s terrible!” Liselle leaned forward on the pommel of the saddle. “Well, obviously you didn’t die. What happened then?”

  “I was found by monks who took me to their monastery and healed me. I stayed with them for a year. They taught me self-defense and meditation, which I discovered to be a useful tool.”

  Liselle shifted in her saddle. “So you stayed with the monks for a year. Did you leave the monastery?”

  “They wanted me to become a monk.” His face twisted in displeasure. “I didn’t mind working for them while they taught me, but I didn’t want to join.”

  “Ahh, so where did you go then?”

  “I traveled to a city in the Kingdom of Swelth. I thought it was amazing at the time, though I know now it was small.” He shook chuckled in remembrance at his naiveté. “From there I traveled to different cities and countries throughout the Western Kingdoms. I got into trouble, I got out of trouble, and I got into more. Between all the trouble, I met extraordinary people and saw extraordinary places.”

  “That doesn’t explain where you learned the sword.”

  Tathan sighed and chewed on his lower lip while deciding what to tell her. “I picked up the basics when I was a caravan guard for a while. I had a natural talent for it.”

  “A caravan guard? How long did you do that?” Liselle seemed fascinated.

  “For a while, but one caravan I was helping to guard was attacked. Everyone died except me. I killed a few of the attackers and the rest ran off when another caravan came along.” A dark look crossed his face.

  “Oh. It was good that the other caravan came along, yes?”

  He shook his head. “It was a rival company. Their guards captured me, said they would take me to the next town to accuse me of betraying the caravan, and then I’d be put to death.” His jaw set in anger at the memory.

  Liselle looked at him with a worried expression. “I’m so sorry, Tathan. How did you survive that?”

  “A guard I had worked with taught me how to pick locks on shackles and I was able to get away in the darkness that night.” He chuckled mischievously. “I traveled to the capital city of Lasseria in the Kingdom of Deller where I was caught trying to steal some food. While running away from guards, something hit me as I was passing an alley.”

  “You certainly have a knack for getting into trouble, Cousin.”

  He grinned. “Yes. Anyway, my theft and escape had been noticed by a thief’s guild. They were the ones who knocked me out. They took me into their guildhall and told me to join them. So I did.”

  “Tathan! You’re a thief?! Why would you join them?”

  “Well . . . It was either I join them or they would kill me for stealing in their territory. I decided it would be more enjoyable to live.”

  “So . . . You really are a thief?”

  He pulled his horse to a stop. “Yes. Like I said earlier I’m a thief, a rogue and even a killer.”

  “What am I supposed to do with that, Cousin?”

  “Do with it? What do you mean, ‘do with it’?” Tathan was frustrated. He hadn’t wanted to talk about it. “You asked me questions. I answered them. If you don’t want to know, don’t ask!” He galloped away.