This Just In! ~ Zoey Daniels: The Vagabond’s Tale

The Vagabond’s Tale: The Fool by Zoey Daniels
From: Torquere Press

Urs is a traveling man, a peddler on the Road, and he has a problem. He seeks help from a Gathering of Rom, or gypsies to see if they can help him heal his sick mare. There Urs meets Lightfoot, a beautiful son of the Rom, and he thinks he might just be glad he stopped.

The heat between them surprises them both, but the Rom elders think it might just be fate. Can Urs and Lightfoot accept that they’re meant to be together? Or will Urs find that his itchy feet take him away from the one that he loves?

EXCERPT

“Ho! Ho, the wagon!”

The cry went up from two young boys perched in trees on either side of the end of the long and grassy dirt road Urs had traveled down a-purpose, diverting from the Road where he traveled, lived, and occasionally loved. He’d been expecting sentries guarding this place, but the sight of this pair amused him. Ragged as beggars and gap-toothed as a fence, they grinned at Urs when he waved at them.

He tossed an up apple to each — paying his fare, so to speak.

One guard bit into his treat with relish. The other measured the apple’s quality, bouncing it in one hand as he spoke. “You’re knowing the customs, then,” he said thoughtfully. “Be you a traveler, for real and true?”

“The road is my living,” Urs rumbled back, his voice a deep bass that came from the middle of his chest. “I’m here for a bit and only a bit, and then I’m off again, lads.”

The boy who’d spoken flashed him a grin. “You’re all right, I expect. Take your caravan in. There’s folk who’ll show you where to set up camp.”

Urs chuckled to himself as the second boy bit into his apple with a loud crunch. They didn’t look like much, these two sentries, but he had no doubt they were fleet of foot and loud of voice. If someone who didn’t belong or had wrong intentions tried to gain access to this place, they would certainly be able to alert the whole Gathering to stop the interloper in his tracks.

Ah, the Gathering places. Urs considered himself lucky to be permitted inside. Gatherings weren’t just for anyone. The vagabonds kept them a secret from regular travelers, folk who were only trying to get from one rooted point to another. No, only the true people of the Road were welcome within these hidden places, them who spent their lives wandering. The Rom, for one, and roving performers, and peddlers or the like. That sort.

But even wanderers had the need to stop once in a while. A damaged cart wanting repair, an ailing beast, a need for supplies. Gatherings were a good sort of place to barter goods for service, or turnabout. And although the population stayed fluid, odds were good you’d find someone there to lend a hand or share what you needed. That was why many came.

Others just craved the company of their fellow vagabonds for a bit, and no harm in that.