Son of Soron by Robyn Wideman Page A

nothing to stop him from taking advantage of unsuspecting traders in need of repairs or goods. When Soron opened his shop, it took little time for Ned’s blacksmith shop to become customer-less. All Tomas’s life, he heard how that damn northerner and his Baltan witch wife were a plague on the village.
    Growing up with such jealousy and prejudice, it was natural for Tomas to take a dislike to Nathan. He never had reason for that dislike to grow into anything more until Ava thwarted him. Tomas always had a way with the girls. His quick smile and confidence made him interesting and he took full advantage of it. It was only when Ava rejected him that he turned his attention to Nathan. When Tomas realized his competition for Ava's interest was Nathan, he thought it would be easy to scare off his competition. He miscalculated. The skinny kid was not a wimp after all. The bigotry of Tomas's family now combined with jealousy. The seeds of hate his father had planted now grew. Tomas got up and headed for home. This was far from over; he vowed to find a way to hurt Nathan no matter what the cost.

 
    Chapter eleven
     
    NATHAN WAS SITTING at the pond waiting for Ava. So far, he was having a pretty good day. The previous night he had told his father about the second confrontation with Tomas. Today as part of his lessons, they once again went through the fight, this time analyzing what he did right. His father had said he was proud of Nathan for trying to resolve the issue without violence. He also praised Nathan for properly using his lessons. But, as Nathan watched Ava approach, he could tell from her body language that the following conversation would not add to his level of happiness. Ava had both hands on her hips, a sure sign of her irritation.
    “You were fighting with Tomas again,” Ava said with a certain tone to her voice, which she reserved for when Nathan did something dumb.
    Nathan sighed. Yep, she was not happy at all. But this was so not his fault, he thought to himself before replying, “It’s not like I wanted to. I was picking apples for supper when he confronted me. He called me a rat for telling you about our first fight and then started swinging.”
    Ava groaned in frustration. “Boys are so stupid.”
    “Hey, ease up on the boys part. I did nothing wrong.” Nathan would not be taking the blame for this mess. This was Tomas’s doing and he should take the blame.
    Ava sighed, removed her hands from her hips, and came over to inspect Nathan. “Your mother’s healing salves are amazing; I can’t even see where he hit you this time.”
    “What are you trying to say? He didn’t hit me this time.” Nathan felt like a piece of meat as Ava poked and prodded his ribs, his chest, moving his head around looking for any telltale signs of bruising.
    “Oh, well, Sharon ran into Tomas and said his whole face was swollen and bruised, and he had a big black eye and a cut lip. I figured you would have the same or worse,” said Ava.
    Nathan tried to not sound like he was bragging. No point setting her off again. “Nah, after the first fight, my father started teaching me how to fight. After sparring with him, Tomas is not much of a challenge, actually pretty bad. I doubt he’ll ever try again.”
    Ava showed her surprise at this revelation. “Your father was a fighter? He certainly is big enough.  I’ve just never seen him do anything but work in the blacksmith shop and he is always so friendly,” said Ava.
    Nathan thought about this for a while before replying. “He doesn’t talk about it much but I get the feeling he actually was a warrior for a long time. If you ever see him with his shirt off, he has all sorts of scars on his body. I think he has seen a lot of fighting.”
    “Oooh, your father with his shirt off, I would like to see that, all those big muscles…,” Ava teased.
    “Not funny Ava, that’s my father you’re talking about.”
    Ava just laughed “Oh relax, as if anyone has a chance with