A Quest of Heroes (Book #1 in the Sorcerer's Ring)

would anyone
care about him? Especially someone like her? He still felt as if this were all
a dream.
    “Stand
over there,” she said. “Behind that piece. You have to move it, and you have
only ten seconds to do so.”
    “What
do you mean move it?” Thor asked.
    “Choose
a direction, quickly!” she cried out.
    Thor
picked up the enormous wooden block, surprised at its weight. He carried it
several steps, and put it down on another square.
    Without
hesitating, Gwen pushed her own piece over. It landed on Thor’s piece and
knocked it to the ground.
    She
cried out in delight.
    “That
was a bad move!” she said. “You got right in my way! You lost!”
    Thor
looked at the two pieces on the ground, puzzled. He didn’t understand this game
at all.
    She
laughed, taking his arm as she continued to lead him down the trails.
    “Don’t
worry, I’ll teach you,” she said.
    His
heart soared at her words. She’d teach him.  She wanted to see him
again. To spend time with him. Was he imagining all of this?
    “So
tell me, what do you think of this place?” she asked, as she led him into
another series of labyrinths. This one was decorated with flowers, eight feet
high, bursting with color, strange insects hovering over their tips.
    “It
is the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen,” Thor answer truthfully.
    “And
why do you want to be a member of the Legion?”
    “It
is all I ever dreamed of,” he replied.
    “But
why?” she asked. “Because you want to serve my father?”
    Thor
thought about that. He’d never really wondered why—it was always just there.
    “Yes,”
answered. “I do. And the Ring.”
    “But
what about life?” she asked. “Don’t you want to have a family? Land? A wife?”
    She
stopped and looked at him; it threw him. He was frazzled. He had never
considered these things before, and hardly knew how to respond. Her eyes
sparkled as she glanced back at him.
    “Um…I…I
don’t know. I never really thought about it.”
    “And
what would your mother say about that?” she asked, playfully.
    Thor’s
smile lowered.
    “I
don’t have a mother,” he said.
    Her
smile dropped for the first time.
    “What
happened to her?” she asked.
    Thor
was about to answer her, to tell her everything. It would be the first time in
his life that he had ever spoken about her, to anyone. And the crazy thing was,
he wanted to. He wanted, desperately, to open up to her, this stranger, and let
her know everything about his deepest feelings.
    But
as he opened his mouth to speak, suddenly a harsh voice came from out of
nowhere.
    “Gwendolyn!”
shrieked the voice.
    They
both spun to see her mother, the Queen, dressed in her finest, accompanied by
her handmaids, marching right for her daughter. Her face was livid.
    The
Queen walked right up to Gwen, grabbed her roughly by the arm, and yanked her
away.
    “You
get back inside right now. What did I tell you? I don’t want you speaking to
him ever again. Do you understand me?”
    Gwen’s
face reddened, then transformed with anger and pride.
    “Get
off me!” she yelled at her mother. But it was no use: her mother kept dragging
her away, and her handmaids encircled her, too.
    “I
said get off me!” Gwen yelled. She glanced back at Thor, with a desperate, sad
look, one of pleading.
    Thor
understood the feeling. It was one that he felt himself. He wanted to call out
to her, and felt his heart breaking as he watched her get dragged away. It was
like watching a future life get taken away from him, right before his eyes.
    He
stood there for long after she disappeared from view, staring, rooted to the
place, breathless. He didn’t want to leave, didn’t want to forget all of this.
    Most
of all, he did not want to imagine that he might not ever see her again.
    *
    As
Thor ambled back to the castle, still reeling from his encounter with Gwen, he
was barely even aware of his surroundings. His mind was consumed by thoughts of
her; he could not stop seeing her face. She was magnificent. The most beautiful
and kind and sweet and gentle and loving and funny person he had ever met. He
needed to see her again. He actually felt pained at the absence of her
presence. He didn’t understand his feelings for her, and that scared him. He
barely knew her, yet he knew already that he could not be without her.
    Yet
at the same time, he thought back to the Queen, yanking her away, and his
stomach sank to think of the powerful forces standing between them. Forces that
did not