Curse of The Seventh Sword: The Gauntlet of Feona Read Free Page B

to catch the scent of a nearby prey.  She opened her eyes and saw the figure of a tall man seating next to her.  They were lying on an intermeshed hammock he had probably built.  She stared at him for a while.  He was a well-built man but not overly muscular.  He had long straight but unkempt brown hair that fell to shoulder length.  He wore a dark blue tunic and brown pants with black leather boots.  His eyes seemed like they missed nothing as he stared into the blackness that was the misty forest at night.  His facial features were strong and she found him strikingly handsome.  He turned to look at her.  She suddenly found herself short of breath and it slightly annoyed her. 
    “You are finally awake , I see.”  He said leaning forward towards her.  Vannera panicked and began frantically trying to crawl away.  As she turned to flee, she felt his hand grab her by her upper arm. 
    “No sudden moveme nts.  If you destroy the hammock, we’ll be taking a nasty fall.  Besides, you don’t want to worsen the wound on your stomach, you know.”  Vannera looked down to see that the hammock was a bit up high and connected at its ends to four tree trunks.  When she turned back, the man had drawn nearer and as she turned, he placed his hand on her forehead. 
    “Your fever is almost gone.”  He smiled.  “That’s good… Va Jaynea.”  He chuckled as he sat back on his side of the hammock.  Vannera looked perplexed for a while but then she remembered.  It was mostly a blur to her but she couldn’t help but smile a bit.  The smile soon vanished as an overwhelming emptiness and sadness engulfed her. As the tears fell down her cheeks, she covered her mouth to keep from wailing loudly.  She looked over at the man and could see the look of concern written all over his face.  She pulled her knees close to her chest and buried her head in them as she tried to gather her thoughts.  What could she do now?  Her own father had tried to assassinate her and the only person she could trust was dead.  Oh Jaynea, you fool!  I can’t do this without you. 
    “You must be hungry.” The man sitting across from her said. 
    “I cooked some tortoise meat while you were unconscious.  Would you like some?”
    “Tortoise?”  Asked Vannera visibly troubled by the thought of eating tortoise for a late night dinner.  The man shrugged.
    “I know it’s not your every day meal, but it’s really not that bad.”
    “I’m really not that hungry… thank you.”  Vannera’s stomach groaned.  She glanced over at the man and quickly back down.  The man smiled and handed her a sizeable morsel of tortoise meat on a clean wooden plate. 
    “Eat.”  He scooted back and began to look into the darkness again.  Vannera watched him for a while and once she thought he wasn’t looking, she grabbed for the plate and began biting into the meat like her life depended on it.  Right now, anything edible was good enough for her.
    “Good?”  The man asked .  Vannera nodded a yes while still biting into the surprisingly delicious meat.  After she was done, the man handed her a small leather container of water with a cap on it. 
    “I thought you’d be thirsty.”  He said smiling.  Vannera took it and drank till it was almost empty.  She felt like a little kid being pampered by her parents.  The analogy made her sad again.
    “Father…” She stopped herself, realizing she had spoken out loud.
    “What was that?”  The man sat up as he asked the question.
    “Nothing.”  Vannera looked a way.
    “Did your father die in that fire?  Or was he killed by your attackers?”
    “No… just a good friend of mine… all good friends of mine.”
    “Then you must have people looking for you.”
    Vannera nodded.  “Yes…”
    “That settles it then.  Tomorrow I’ll take you to the Gor outpost.  I haven’t seen you around Gor but I’m sure they’ll be able to take you back to wherever…” The man stopped as