Aura (23 page)

In order to deal with his loss, Thorn threw all his energies into the building of his new fortress.
  He finished the surrounding walls then chose a site for his house, before having the stone and mortar material hauled in from the surrounding territory.  The outside walls of his new home were put up in record time and work began in earnest on the interior.  He was pleased with the progress.
As the workers labored on the roof of the great empty structure Thorn had designed to serve as his future home, he sat and drew up the floor plans for the interior.  It had been a job he had wanted to include Aura in but had never gotten the chance.  They had spent so little time together and what time they had shared had always been interrupted by their duties.  He swore that when she came back that would change.  He refused to believe she was gone for good, she would be back and they would be happier than ever.
A week before Christmas Thorn took a break from his work to travel to Edwin's to spend the holiday season with his family.  It had been a point insisted on, as none within the family had wished for him to spend the Yule time alone.  They had received little news of him and what there had been was to do with the building of his fortress and home.  They feared he worked to deal with Aura's disappearance.  They also feared he was working himself to death in an attempt to fill the void she had left behind.  Thorn, as far as his family and friends were concerned, could not be trusted with his own well being at this time.
There was a promise of snow in the air when Thorn arrived at Edwin’s and he was more than pleased to beat the impending weather.  Edwin and his wife, Elizabeth, met him at the door and warmly greeted him.  They took his cape and boots and they invited him further into the house.  He had just gotten half way across the entrance when the children attacked him.  Within moments they were trying to climb up onto their Uncle Thorn, laughing and demanding pony rides.  Thorn whirled them in circles and pretended to toss them in the air as they screeched and ran around his legs.  The games came to an end when Elizabeth decided both sides had had enough playing.
The children were sent up to their rooms for the night, and the adults settled to talk.  An hour or so later Signi arrived.  They exchanged news and Signi passed on the court gossip as they sat and shared a late family meal.  There was no mention of Aura, not a word.  His siblings were being careful not to hurt him, even to the point where they avoided saying her name.  It didn’t take him long to grow tired of the way they were evading the issue.  He knew there was no news.  He would have been told as soon as anyone would have heard.  He also realized that they were acting out of love, but he thought that they shouldn’t treat him like he was fragile.
Thorn was determined to leave Edwin’s the moment Yule was over.  He was thoroughly disgusted with his family and he let them know it.  He had been looking forward to his time with them, and they had ruined it with their misplaced intentions.  Sure, he understood they meant well, but he had found their treatment demeaning.  He privately told Signi that if he heard any mention of him in the court gossip she would be sorry.  He told them all he would not tolerate their attitude any longer than he had to.
Elizabeth had cried as Thorn stormed around during his fit of temper.  Edmond had glared at him for upsetting his family, though he had held his tongue.  Signi had looked at him with a mixture of horror and sympathy.  Thorn had made sure none of the children had been present to witness the lecture he had given their parents.  When he had finished he looked at the expressions on their faces and realized that none of his words had changed a thing.  They were still thinking the same thing.
That was when Thorn had stormed to his room, packed his clothes, collected Wolf, and left.  He rode hard through the snow, harder than what was safe for the horse, the wolf, or himself.  The anger, however, cooled as he traveled and he had the sense to pull back on the reigns before he did any damage to any of them.  By the time he got back home his mind was back on things that he thought mattered more than how he had been treated.
Things would change when Aura returned and he was sure that she would, although he had no indication of how this would happen.  She had some unfinished business to attend to he believed.  Perhaps it was to discover that she really did want him.  A part of him felt like his faith was being tested.  He prayed he was being proven worthy, for he still believed with all his heart and soul that she was the woman he had prayed for.
Thorn and Wolf walked into their home to a sensation that someone had been in the building.  The air seemed disturbed and there was a clean fresh scent that reminded him of Aura.  He charged through the house, searching the rooms.  He then stopped to stare at Wolf in wonder.  The wolf had settled himself before the fireplace and had stretched out as if Aura was sitting on the floor beside him, scratching his ears.  What did that wolf know, or feel?  It was driving him crazy.
Before Thorn could even begin to be satisfied that there was nothing more to his feelings than hopeful wishing he checked the area where Aura had disappeared.  There were no signs of her anywhere, either by feel or physical evidence.  He slowly walked back to the cold house and made a fire before sitting down on the floor beside Wolf to watch the flames while he petted the animal's head.
"You miss her too, I know."  Thorn spoke to the wolf as if he were a person and the animal licked his hand.  Thorn felt the caring, and taking what comfort he could from the presence of the wolf he cried, and he prayed for her quick and safe return.
By the time spring rolled around Thorn’s house had reached the halfway point. It was being finished on the outside while he was making great headway on the inside.  It had been an early spring, which helped in their search for supplies.  They had no sooner gathered enough building materials to finish the job when a messenger arrived with a call to arms from Vernon.  Thorn sighed as he read the note and wondered if peace would ever last longer than a winter season.  The annual stream of battles was taking a toll on his resources.  He ordered the builders to continue with the erection of his home and warned them against deviating from his plans while he was gone.  He then gathered up his fighting forces and rode to meet up with Edwin, who he knew would have gotten the same orders.
Edwin joined his brother, along with his own men, a day later.  The men, who were used to fighting along side of each other, fell in with their comrades.  They knew their members would swell as they marched, it always did.  The men also knew their chances of living through a battle was much better under the command of the Lord Thorn than of any of the other warlords, for that reason alone they gravitated towards him.
"Did Vernon tell you anything other than to ride and bring your army?"  Edwin asked.
"No, but then he never does though, does he?"
"No he doesn’t.  How is the building coming along?"
"I should be finished by late fall.  I have hired extra workers to speed it up.  I am beginning to get anxious to see it finished."  Thorn smiled as he added.  "I would have loved to have seen Aura's impression of her new home as it went up."
"You still hope that she will return?"  Edwin asked.
Thorn nodded as he continued to smile, giving a confident reply.  "She will come back Edwin, I feel it in my bones."
"Have you found any trace of her yet?"  Edwin asked, though he was sure he knew the answer.  No one had heard anything from or about Aura.
"No, but I have heard from her, in a round about way."  Thorn surprised his brother with his answer.
"Well if she contacts you, why does she not come to you?  Why does she torment you in this manner?"  Edwin was angry at Aura on Thorn’s behalf. 
"She is bound to where she is for now and will return when she is able.  I will say no more on the matter, suffice it to say that she is doing what she can to return."  Thorn recognized the angry tone in Edwin’s voice.
"Are you sure this is not just wishful thinking on your part Thorn?  There is no real sign of her, or signs of her wishes to return, are there?"  Edwin sounded his anger.
"She is my wife Edwin, she will return.  If you cannot deal with that, keep your opinions to yourself."  Thorn snapped back.  He was not having his family pecking at his wife.
Edwin was quiet for a while as he still rode beside his brother then spoke.  "I hope, for your sake brother, that you are right.  Meanwhile, I would like to hear more about the progress you have made on your house."
"I am more than pleased with the results so far.  Everyone has been extremely helpful.  I doubt if there is a man, woman, or child, who has not helped in some small way within the entire region of my lands.   Aura’s past actions have assured me of their loyalty in a way that none of the protection I have ever given them in the past ever did.   She did it simply by showing them that she cared."
"When do you expect it to be finished?"
"A few months after I return, or in late fall.  This new effort of Vernon's will determine the actual date."
Vernon and his forces met the advancing brothers halfway through their journey and he got to the point right away.
"We must make haste Thorn.  The invaders come from the South East and are more plentiful than usual.  We have little time to spend making battle plans, so we shall have to make them up as we ride, or when we get close enough to see what we face.  I have a terrible feeling that this war is going to turn ugly.  I am glad you are by my side."
"Where else would I be Vernon?  As for the fight being nasty, well, it usually is."  Thorn chuckled, making light of the whole issue.  There would be time later to get serious.
Vernon was not amused with Thorn's light-hearted approach.  This invasion force showed every sign of being every monarch's nightmare.  The enemy forces were reported to be huge.  They would probably break off into smaller fighting forces.  That would hinder all their progress and give them no rest or peace for months to come.  He hated battles like this.
Vernon, as well as most of his men, was tired of the ceaseless warring year after year.  They fought on only because to do otherwise would be to die.  They also hoped that perhaps they might be given enough time between raids, to raise their families, or in some cases even time to have one.
"Well," Vernon thought to himself.  "It would not be this year at any rate."
They came upon the enemy suddenly and a small battle resulted, which, as Vernon feared, scattered what they thought were the main forces.  His army split up and chased down those they could catch.  The assailing army had not been given time to reorganize for a proper attack and Thorn wondered how Vernon had gained information on them so quickly, as well as how reliable his source was.  He had a gut feeling something was not right.
Thorn had never liked massive battles.  Too many men got hurt or killed in the crowding foray who would have otherwise not received a scratch.  He preferred the type of fighting this was turning into, the cat and mouse game of a home army on the attack.  He fought much better under these circumstances. 
Vernon, unlike Thorn, preferred an open, massive battle campaign.  It was a style that generally brought a war to a quick end, with only mopping up exercises to do after, which freed him to go home.  In this case he was anxious to do just that.  Chatelaine was heavy with his child and she suffered with the pregnancy.
Chatelaine, in fact, had been more than happy to be rid of Vernon.  He hovered over her and she felt smothered.  She had wished that he could have gone on a peaceful mission, however, a wife had to expect these things, especially when her husband was a warrior.
Thorn engaged his enemy in battle on the second day of their chase.  He caught up with them as they rose through a cleft in the foothills of the highland mountains.  They fought like desperate men, as well they might, he thought.  They had come to a strange land to battle with their king and now they were left to struggle alone for their very survival.  A few men had escaped from the issuing battle and while this troop captured most of the stragglers, it was seldom that everyone was accounted for.  He walked to some of the prisoners and growled at them in their own language.
"Before we even start, let me warn you, I am not a man to make deals.  You either tell me what I want to know, or my wolf will take care of you."  He had noticed how the men had watched the huge animal in horror as he had walked at his master's side and had decided to press his advantage.
Wolf, as if he had understood what was expected of him, acted his part to perfection, baring his teeth at the strangers as he growled deep from within his throat.  The warning worked, as did Thorn's attempt to intimidate the men by getting the wolf to sit at his side.  Something he had learned from Aura.  The men stared in wonder at the man who could command such an animal then fell to their knees before him.
 
"Now," Thorn growled.  "I want to know everything.  How many men in the main forces? Why the attack now?  Who leads you to our shores?  What you hoped to gain?"
 
"There were many ships.  We were four hundred strong, the accompanying forces number just as many.  We come for land to make our homes on.  We follow Sillgrim.  He is a great fighter, a great man.  A leader gifted to us by the Gods.  If we attack now and win, we will have time to plant our crops so we will not starve in the winter.  We have time to build homes so we will not freeze."
It made good sense, Thorn thought.  The only problem was that the land they sought, already belonged to others, others willing to fight and die to retain possession.  People who belonged here and who would die here.
"Where has your main force gone?"  Thorn had not seen the masses of men these prisoners spoke of, and they spoke as if they were passing on information that would be of little value to anyone.