As the cart entered the city, I clung to my fathers arm in trepidation. It was big - too big for one so small as I. People milled all about, people of every different race in the land, and eventually curiousity overcame my fear. A finely dressed man there sat up front on a beautiful carriage driven by the prettiest horses I had ever seen. Several youths were hackling at him, and I again cowered back into the safety of my fathers' shdow. I did not like them.
A trading jack with a pleasant smile waved at me as his horse passed our cart, but that was the only response I got to my gawping. Most of the travellers did not seem to see anyone, and concentrated only on what was before them. This phenomenon was strange to me, for in Rangorn, most greeted with a smile and a salutation, ignoring people as happened here would be thought of as the height of rudeness. But, I pondered, this wasn't Rangorn.
Eventually we stopped. My father tied up our horse, and lowered me to the ground. I patted the horses leg, then smiled up at Da. He smiled back, and lifted me up onto his shoulders.
"Now, do you remember what I told you about not talking to strangers?" I nodded. "Well, make sure you keep it in your mind."
We apporached a square, of which the centerpiece was a material covered box. I stared at it in wonder, and at the people, mostly children, sat around it expectantly. Da set me down, and crouched down to my level.
"I have to go see some men, now. I want you to stay here and watch the show. Remember; don't talk to anyone." I obediantly sat down. Da bought a packet of sweets from a nearby vendor and thrust them into my hands. "Be happy, be safe little one. I'll be back soon." He walked off, and I turned my attention to what was around me. The first thing I noticed was a strange man sat next to me, looking at me. I stared back, and he smiled.
"You're Da's a clever man, telling you not to talk to strangers. People are nasty, and like to hurt pretty young things. But I'll protect you while he's gone. What's your name?"
I frowned at him. Da had said not to talk to strangers. But this man had said he would protect me, so their seemed no harm in him. "Elspeth," I told him. "Elspeth Gordie. I can spell it too, you know." My childish pride made him smile.
"Well, you're a mighty smart girl, Elspeth Gordie. Do you want some more sweets?"
I looked at the bag in my hands. I knew I wouldn't even be able to finish those, but I couldn't help wanting more. They might be even better. I nodded. The man stood and offered a hand.
"Come on then, let us go get some."
I frowned, thinking I shouldn't go when my father told me to stay, and was about to shake my head when the man grabbed my hand. I stared at it in fright, but then I heard a voice.
"Hey, leave her alone." I was relieved, and turned to see my rescuer. To my disapointment, he was nothing more than an older child, maybe 11 or 12. I tried to tug my wrist away from to mans grip, but to no avail. "She doesn't want to go with you. Why don't you let go?"
The man stormed over to the boy, and I realised I'd been a fool to trust him. "Don't you dare tell me what to do, boy. Didn't your parents tell you to respect you elders and betters?"
The boy struck an indignant pose, rebellion in his green eyes. "You might be old, but you're no better than I. Far from it-" A hard punch from my captor hit the boy with force, knocking him off his feet. I looked around, but everyone else ignored us, just as they had on the way into town. But a woman ran over, and knelt beside the boy, glaring up at the man.
"Get out of here! What do you think you're doing to these children?!" For a moment, I thought my captor was going to hit the woman as well, but instead he pushed me to the ground and ran. I blinked, rubbing my leg, then turned to my rescuers. The woman was stroking the boys face. "Are you alright honey?" she asked, pushing a blonde curl from her cornflower blue eyes.
"I'm fine, Ma," said the boy, and pushed himself to his feet.
"Are you sure, Rushton? That man... I can't belive he had the guile to hit you here, in front of everyone! He hit you hard. Are you sure you're alright?"
The boy - Rushton - blushed, and I grinned. I knew exactly what it was like to be embarassed like that by parents. He nodded, then turned from his mother and offered me a hand. I took it, and he pulled me to me feet.
"Are you okay?" He asked, worry in his green eyes. They were nice, I decided. I could trust this boy with his nice eyes, and his pretty mother. I nodded and smiled, then got nearer to the box and sat down. He shrugged and sat next to me, and I saw his mother made sure not to go too far away. I glanced at him, and saw him absently rubbing his cheek, a bruise alrady forming where the man had struck him.
"Thank you," I muttered, and smiled. He smiled back. I offered a sweet, and the smile became a grin.
"Sure!" He took out a red boiled sweet, and I grinned.
"They're my favourite, too," I told him.
"Best get 'em all before you do!" He cried, and dove a hand in the bag. Giggling, I pulled them away and clutched them to my chest. He grinned at me, and held a hand up to show he'd managed to grab a handful of red sweets before I'd moved the bag. I stuck my tongue out at him, and he laughed. "So, what's your name?"
"Elspeth. But... you can call me Elf." It was my pet name, and I had the urge to make this boy my friend.
"I'm Rushton. I don't have a nickname..."
"Hmmm," I mused, trying to think of one for him. "How about... Greenie?" I pointed at his eyes, which widened in shock, and he shook his head.
"I don't think so! Call me Rushton, I think that's okay." I nodded. "So, where are you from? I doubt you live in Sutrium if scum like that manage to trick you."
"I'm from Rangorn. It's near the woods..."
"I live near the woods too! I come from Guanette, my mother and I. We live in a house just outside the village. I like the woods better than this," his hand gesture took in the city around him. "They're so peaceful."
"They're pretty, too," I said. "My Ma picks flowers in them and I go with her. Jes stays at home. He's my brother, and he's sick." I stuck my tongue out, and ate another sweet. "I'm here with my Da. Where's your Da?"
Rushton shrugged. "Dunno. I've never seen him. He left when I was born, I think. I dunno. But me and Ma are happy enough without him." I considered life without a father.
"Don't you miss him at all?"
"How can you miss someone you've never met?"
I shrugged, and our conversation was interrupted as the show started. It was good enough - it delighted me, as I had never seen one before, and I was in gales of laughter at the best parts. Even my new companion, who seemed more used to entertainment like this, laughed out loud a few times. When it ended, we stayed seated as everyone else left, staring at the clouds scattered in the blue sky, and pointing out things we saw in it.
Rushton's mother walked over to us, and she smiled at me. "Did you enjoy that?" she asked, looking at us both. I nodded vigorously, and Rushton grinned, saying it had been 'okay'. She looked around. "Is your father coming back here for you?" she asked me. I nodded. "Then we'll stay until he comes. We have nowhere to go to, after all!" She then stood, and walked back over to a stall that sold hot sausages in bread rolls, to continue her conversation with the stall holder, while Rushton and I continued ours.
"Do you have any brothers or sisters?" I asked, and Rushton shook his head. I nodded, sagely. "Then you're lucky. Jes is horrible. He picks on me all the time - he always gets to come to the moonfairs and eats all the sweets, then he gets back and pulls my hair and calls me names!" I looked sideways at Rushton. "I thought all boys were mean, but you're not. I like you." Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my father approach, and I stood. Feeling cheeky, I bent down and kissed Rushton on the lips before running off, grinning.
"Bye!" I waved, and he sat there, staring at me, a look of shock on his face, and he lifted a hand in a wave, dazed.
"Bye," I heard him answer.
My father looked down at me, a grin on his face. "Have you been tormenting that boy," he asked, and I smiled.
"He was nice to me. He was a lot nicer than Jes." I pulled a face. I then looked back at Rushton who was now stood with his mother, but still looking at me. I waved at him again, and he waved back. I wondered for a moment if I'd ever see him again. Although the little common sense I had told me it was highly unlikely, something in me felt sure I would...
******
I woke suddenly from the dream, and sat up. I blinked and stretched for a moment, then I remembered the dream. I gazed down in wonder at Rushton, still asleep lying next to me. Had that really happened, I wondered, and cast my mind back to the time. With a sudden certainty, I remembered I had met a boy at that moonfair. That had been a memory dream, then. I gasped, and raised a hand to my mouth, in shock.
The noise cause Rushton to stir, and he rubbed his eyes, and propped himself up on an elbow. "Elspeth? What's wrong?" I grinned down at him, and blearily, he rose an eyebrow.
"Do you... Did you ever go to any Moonfairs in Sutrium when you were young?"
He frowned, obviously having no clue what I was talking about. "Once or twice, yes. Why in Lud's name are you asking that?"
"Did you go to one when you were about 12, and rescue a little girl from a nasty man?"
This time, he stared at me, shock in his eyes. "Have you been reading my mind?" I shook my head. "Then how did you know?"
"Remember what happened," I encouraged.
He frowned again. "I was there with my mother, and I saw this man talking to a girl who obviously didn't know him, then he grabbed her arm. She looked frightened, so I intervened. It was stupid, I know, a boy facing up to a man... Anyway, he hit me, and then he ran off when my mother came over. The girl had some sweets -nice sweets," he added, a nostalgic smile on his face. "Then her father came and she kissed me." He glanced at me to see if I was jealous. I merely smiled at him. "I never saw her again."
"Are you sure?" I pressed. I wanted to be sure that I hadn't somehow placed myself in one of Rushton's memories that I had seen when we bonded. "What did the girl look like?" I asked.
Rushton paused, as he remembered. "She was pale, with long black hair and green eyes..." he trailed off and stared at me. I smiled back, knowing it was my memory. "Do you believe in fate?" He asked. I couldn't help but laugh. Me, ElspethInnle, beleive in fate? Did I have any choice but to?
"I believe that you must be one of the nicer parts of it," I told him, and kissed him deeply and happily, knowing that, even though my destiny led to a dark place, it also led to Rushton, and I could ask for nothing more than that.