A Thread of Time: Firesetter, Book 1 Read Online Free PDF Page B

by my choice.  Mostly, I preferred the solitude of my boat, having
little patience for anyone else in this tiny village.  Amyr, on the other hand,
professed interest in all who passed by his window.
    “That's because you haven't met anybody
bad,” I told him.  “Sitting here in your room, you meet only those who wish to
see you, like doctors and nurses.  Those sort of people are always nice.
    “I have met the worst and more.”  He
smiled mischievously and raised an eyebrow as if I might challenge his words.
    “Amyr has lived quite a life in his
imagination,” Auntie Ailana replied.
    I didn’t think that was so terrible.  In a
way, it made up for the poor life he was living here in this flat.
    Amyr was as close to me as a brother since
we were cousins and had been raised side by side.  In fact, in some ways, I
cared more for him than my own brother, Taul.  Despite being sickly and
strange, there was also something about Amyr that made him sort of wonderful,
although I couldn’t say exactly what it was.  Maybe, it was as simple as his
imagination, something I lacked, or, maybe it was the joyful smile with which
he greeted each day as if he was simply happy to be alive.
    My mother said Amyr spoke as if he had the
knowledge of many lifetimes in his soul, while my empty head indicated a soul
that was completely new and blank.  Daily, I attended school, filling my brain
with language, science and math, while Amyr only ever left his house to visit
the doctors. He wasn't strong enough to walk far, or even sit to hear a
lesson.  He didn't read either, for his odd eyes couldn't focus well enough
upon a page.  Yet, Amyr had knowledge of everything and would challenge me
continuously with his thoughts, and I, four years older, would lose every
debate.
    Sometimes, I enjoyed his challenges.  When
he was feeling well, his humor was worth the mental exercise.  Other times, my
cousin's presence grew quite wearing.  Then, I would tell him goodbye and
return to the welcome solace of my boat, the sea, and the fish, who would
accept me and my humble thoughts without an interrogation. 
    “I wish to sail on your boat someday,” my
cousin once said wistfully at my departure, filling me with remorse that I was
leaving him again.  “I would help you catch fish to sell.  I would like to be
upon the sea.”
    “Perhaps, you will,” I replied.  “When you
are strong and healthy.” 
    He smiled and laughed a little, for he had
never been either of those things.
    “I might as well wish to grow wings and
fly high above, upon the currents of air.”
    “Tsk tsk,” my auntie would cluck, shaking
her head and rolling her eyes.  “What sort of son do I have that cannot walk,
but dreams of flying like a bird?”
     
    My mother fretted a little about my
reticence to socialize with anyone other than Amyr.  She was afraid I would
never find a man to marry, and thus, would depend on her throughout my life.  I
saw no issue with this.  I was content in our village and our tiny home, fully
satisfied with only her presence for my company. 
    In fact, when my brother, Taul returned
from wherever he had gone, I felt his arrival as an unwelcome disruption to our
routine.  Our tiny house seemed only tinier with him spread upon the couch.  My
mother’s doting upon my brother, especially as his appearances became fewer and
further between, bothered me like a tiny fish bone stuck in my throat.
    During those days, I would spend more time
out on my boat on the pretense we needed more fish to quench my brother’s
appetite.  If the weather did not cooperate, I would visit Amyr for long hours,
even sleeping upon the floor next to his sofa or chair.  I was always relieved when
my brother set out again to wherever he chose to go and the pattern of my home
returned to normal.
     
    “The Korelesk army has come to the western
border of the mountains,” Taul said, only weeks before the day that I met Dov. 
“It won’t be long until they