A quest of Heroes - S01 E40

3 years ago

A quest of Heroes - S01 E40

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 40

Now Thor was curious. He wanted to know more about who they were, her relationship to them, why they were weren’t close. He wanted to ask her, but didn’t want to pry. And she didn’t seem to want to dwell on it, either. She seemed to be a happy person, a person who only liked to focus on happy things.

As they finished the labyrinth trail, the courtyard opened up to a new garden, where the grass was perfectly trimmed and designed into shapes. It was a massive game board of some sort, sprawling at least fifty feet in each direction, with huge wooden pieces, taller than Thor, placed throughout.

Gwen cried out in delight.

“Will you play?” she asked.

“What is it?” he asked.

She turned, her eyes opened wide in amazement.

“You’ve never played Racks?” she asked.

Thor shook his head, embarrassed, feeling more like a country rube than ever.

“It is the finest game!” she exclaimed.

She reached out with her two hands and took his, dragging him onto the field. She bounded off with delight; he couldn’t help but smile himself. More than anything, more than the field, more than this beautiful place, it was the feel of her hands on his that electrified him. The feeling of being wanted. She wanted him to go with her. She wanted to spend time with him. Why 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 answered 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 again.

“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 in 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.