Pasko chuckled. “Indeed.”
While they stood upon the parapet looking at the inn, a door opened and a young girl appeared, carrying a large bucket. She glanced up and saw them and waved. “Hello, Pasko!’’
“Hello, Lela!’’
“Who’s your friend?” she asked playfully. She appeared to be a few years older than Talon, but unlike the girls he had known among his people, she was dark. Her skin was dark, with a touch of olive color, and her hair was as black as night. Her large brown eyes sparkled as she laughed.
“A lad we picked up along the way. Leave him alone. You’ve enough admirers already.’’
“Never enough!” she shouted playfully, swinging the bucket around as she twirled a step, then continued on her path. “I could do with some help fetching water,” she said with a flirtatious grin.
“You’re a healthy enough lass, and the boy’s injured.” Pasko paused, then asked, “Where are Lars and Gibbs?’’
“Kendrick’s got them out,” Lela said, disappearing behind the other side of the barn.
Talon stood silent for a moment after she vanished from view, then asked, “What am I to do?” Inside he felt a profound hopelessness, a lack of volition and will he had never known in his young life. Without his family . . . Memories of his village made tears gather in his eyes. The Orosini could be an emotional people, given to loud celebration in times of joy and tears in times of sorrow. But they tended to be reserved in the presence of strangers. All that seemed without purpose now, and Talon let the tears run down his face.
Ignoring them, Pasko said, “You’ll have to ask Robert about that when he returns. I just do as I’m bid. You do owe him your life, so that debt must be settled. Now, let’s walk you around a little more, then get you back inside to rest.’’
Talon felt a desire to explore, to go inside the inn and investigate its wonders, for a building this large must contain many, he judged. But Pasko took him back to the barn, and by the time they reached his pallet Talon was glad to be there, for he felt exhausted deep into his bones. The wounds on his body ached and stung, and he knew that even that little bit of exercise had torn some new scar tissue and he would need time to heal. He remembered when Bear Who Stands had been gored by a boar. He had limped for almost a half year before regaining full mobility in his leg.
Talon lay back on his pallet and closed his eyes while Pasko puttered around in the barn with some items he had brought in from the wagon. Despite having felt alert when he had awoken just a scant half hour before, the boy drifted back off to sleep.
Patient by nature, Talon let the days go by without pestering Pasko with questions. It was obvious to him that the servant was by nature taciturn, and by instruction not very forthcoming. Whatever he discovered would be through his own powers of observation.
The pain caused by his people’s destruction was never far from his thoughts. He had shed tears nightly for a week, but as the days passed, he turned away from his grief and began to court anger. He knew that somewhere out there were the men responsible for his people’s obliteration. Eventually he would hunt them down and take retribution; such was the Orosini way. But he was also enough of a realist to understand that one young man on his own had little chance of extracting full vengeance. He would need to gain strength, power, knowledge of weapons, many things. He knew that his ancestors would guide him. Silver Hawk was his totem: the boy once known as Kielianapuna would be a talon for his people.
The days became routine. Each morning he would awake and eat. Pasko and he would walk, at first just around the compound surrounding the huge inn, then later into the nearby woods. His strength returned, and he started helping Pasko with chores, hauling water, chopping wood, and mending reins, halters, and traces for the horses. He was a clever lad and had to be shown a thing only once or twice to grasp it. He had a fierce passion for excellence.