After making sure that the hawkling could get at all of the strips by itself, he took a seat at the table and gave Gerard his full attention.
Gerard told Hyden, with a voice full of equal parts of excitement and fear, how he had sent Uncle Pylen off with the magical ring and a thought. He went on to tell him how the same sort of thing had worked on their father only a moment ago by the cook fire. Gerard said that their father had eased up to him and asked him if there was anything that he wanted to talk about, and said that if there was, that he would be willing to listen. Gerard had just mustered enough courage to put the ring back on, and after the incident with Pylen, he didn’t want to talk to his father about it yet.
“I told him in my mind to go ask Sharoo the same question,” Gerard said with huge eyes and waving hands. “He did! He just up and walked over to Sharoo and started talking to him. I felt the ring tingle through me Hyden. I felt it make it happen. I swear it.”
“Bah,” Hyden was doubtful. He could usually tell when Gerard was lying or exaggerating, but strangely enough, his brother seemed to be telling the truth.
“I’ll believe you if,” he paused for a moment, thinking, and a devilish grin slowly crept across his face. “Come on. Prove it to me.”
They both hurried outside. Hyden searched the groups of men and boys milling about for someone in particular. Gerard followed nervously, with one hand covering the ring. Hyden led them to the far side of the lodging grounds.
“There, over by the well,” he pointed. “Do you see Tevar, and his brother, Darry?”
“Yeah, I see them,” Gerard answered, wondering what his brother was up to.
“Make Tevar go tell Sharoo what he did with Sharoo’s sister the night before we left the village.”
A wide grin spread across Gerard’s face. This would be great.
“Call them over here.”
Hyden did. When they were all standing close, Hyden struck up a conversation.
“So how was your harvest Tevar? Darry?”
“I got four eggs,” Tevar said proudly.
“Three for me. I could’ve had two more, if I would’ve started earlier,” Darry added.
“I heard you’re going to be leaving us, since Gerard got you that hawkling chick,” Tevar said. “Where are you going to go first?”
Hyden didn’t register the significance of the question at first, and by the time he did, it was too late. When he made to ask Tevar what he meant, the boy was already heading towards the cook fire, blindly obeying Gerard’s silent command.
“What’s gotten into him?” Darry asked. “Hey, Tev, where are you going?”
“Leave him be,” Gerard said through a yawn. He was suddenly very tired. “You got three eggs huh? That’s pretty good.” Gerard put his arm around Darry’s shoulder, and then suddenly slumped to his knees.
Just then, a commotion broke out at the big fire. There were shouts and gasps, and then a primal battle cry. Several men burst out in laughter. Tevar then went racing past Hyden and Gerard with a terrified look on his young face. The older, and much bigger, Sharoo was right on his heels, brandishing a flaming chunk of wood as if it were a club. A few of Sharoo’s brothers trotted along behind them, making a half-hearted show of trying to stop, their enraged older brother.
Laughing, Hyden turned to tell his little brother that he believed him about the ring now, but Gerard was curled up at Darry’s feet, sound asleep and snoring. With Darry’s help, Hyden got his brother back to their father’s hut and into the bed.