Read All For One [Nuworld 3] for Free Online Page B

she couldn’t help but wonder if this was some kind of sign, an
    indication, that The Waiting was nearing its end.
     
    “Have you met some of our people before?” she asked, as she shoved her worries to
    the side for the moment.
     
    Sorg looked at her. His dark red hair showed faint streaks of white and there were
    more streaks in his thick beard. His forest green eyes penetrated hers and she felt them
    pulling at her. Instinctively, she looked down at his hands, folded politely on his lap.
    They looked callused and rough as if he’d spent his life working with them.
     
    “If I have met any of your people I didn’t know it.” He seemed to choose his words
    carefully. “Our intention is to do that during our visit with you. I’m not sure where the
    stories of your greatness originated in our society. The elders tell the stories of their
    great battles. Stories of battles with the Lunians still take precedence. Those warriors
    seem to know that the Lunians came to us after being chased out of your nation. I was
    much younger when those battles occurred.”
     
    He paused and rubbed his forehead then squinted at her. She frowned and looked
    again at his eyes. Their intensity seemed to grow the longer she stared into them.
     
    “Did you fight against the Lunians?” Darius asked.
     
    27
     

 
    Lorie O’Clare
     
    “Yes, I was part of those battles but I was barely twenty fallings old.” He continued
    to stare at Tara although he answered Darius’ question easily enough.
     
    “What is a falling?” she asked.
     
    His eyes seemed to probe her steadily—she felt the pulling sensation again as if he
    were trying to bring her closer to him with his eyes.
     
    “Um, how do I describe it? A falling is when the leaves fall off the trees. We count
    our age by how many times this has happened since we’ve been born. The leaves grow,
    are beautiful, change colors and then die and fall off. It’s very reliable and we plan our
    lives around it.”
     
    “I understand. We call them winters. There are twelve cycles in every winter. We
    base that on the moon and the seasons on Nuworld. We find them to be very consistent
    as well.” Tara had a lifetime of adjusting to cultures doing things differently.
     
    “So, now we know that we both have calendars.” Darius sounded bored and Tara
    shot him a glance. Instead of looking at her however, he glanced at Geeves, who sat
    close by. Geeves leaned forward and whispered several words to Darius. The Lord
    nodded and then turned his attention back to Sorg. “Do you have standard armies?
    What is your means of trade? How many are your people? These are questions I would
    have answered.”
     
    Sorg raised an eyebrow to the authoritative tone. One glance in his direction and at
    the incredibly large Gothman warriors that stood like statues at the entrance of the tent
    seemed to convince him answering the questions would be in his best interest. A
    friendly smile didn’t reach his eyes while he explained more about the Tree People.
     
    “The Barringswood tribe has over eight hundred people that live under its
    protection. There are ten other acknowledged tribes and each one swears its own
    allegiance. We are not enemies with any of them and, in fact, our trade and currency
    flow easily among all the tribes. We don’t have soldiers standing for battle for we are in
    a peaceful time.” He smiled knowingly at Darius. “We are capable of defending
    ourselves, however, if the need were to arise. Our land is fertile with plenty of trees to
    feed all of us. Our trees provide all we need to live and protect us from the elements.
    Trade among the tribes is usually protection for service. I don’t know your people well
    enough yet to know if we have grounds to discuss trade.”
     
    There were more questions from Darius, and Sorg asked a few questions of his
    own. Tara noticed Darius answered the questions vaguely. Although he remained
    polite, Tara knew her claim had