Cobweb Empire Read Free Page A

the house again, then it
is yours.”
    “I can’t take this, Belle! You know it’s
hers, and it’s the best shawl we have.”
    But Belle made a small stifled sound, and
simply deposited the shawl in her sister’s arms, then turned around
and quickly ran back, wading through a tall snowdrift at some
point, and returned inside the house, having done her single act of
rebellion.
    Percy held the shawl awkwardly and watched
her turn the corner, heard her parents’ voices on the front porch,
and Belle’s single exclamation of protest. Then, the front door
banged.
    Percy Ayren felt the resounding slam of that
door echo in her gut. She then turned back to the denizens of the
cart. “The barn is somewhat drafty but warmer than the outside. We
can bed down in the hay, next to all the horses—if there’s any room
left after the knight and his soldiers take over. I’m sure we’ll
have plenty of hot water for tea, though there’s never anything
cold-brewed, and not much hope for foodstuff from my Ma and Pa.
Supplies are low this time of year. Oh, and of course we can always
sleep here in the cart. Indeed, we may very well have to.”
    And then she added, “Welcome to my
home.”
     
    I t had turned out
as Percy predicted. After the Chidair men-at-arms made themselves
at home in their backyard and barn, stabling the great war charger
belonging to the knight and the rest of their horses close
together, next to the solitary Ayren family mare in its stall,
there wasn’t much room left for any people in the barn, except for
one small corner. The black knight, Lord Beltain Chidair had no
intention of taking the spot for himself, but Riquar, his bearded
second-in-command, insisted, seeing how his Lord was still somewhat
weak from the prolonged military ordeal of the past week and a
half, and needed a warm place to continue his healing.
    And thus, after they had the backyard
campfire going, and after they had all eaten the good bread and
cheese, drunk the tea from the large water kettle that Belle and
Patty carried outside from the house, a few blankets were laid out
on the rushes and hay in the deepest corner of the barn. Percy
moved some old pails out of the way to make room.
    The knight was assisted by Riquar out of his
heaviest plate armor, leaving on his hauberk and woolens
underneath, and lay down without much protest. In the moments that
she could glimpse his lean handsome face framed by the soft wisps
of dark brown hair, Percy observed his excessive pallor, the light
sheen of sweat on his brow, and knew that the day had taken its
toll on him, despite his showing of strength all through the
ride.
    “Is there anything you require, maybe from
within my father’s house, such as additional blankets, My Lord?”
she asked, standing above the knight while Riquar pulled at some
loose ties of his woolens, adjusting them for his lord’s
comfort.
    Beltain, leaning back against a
blanket-covered pile of hay, barely looked up at her, and his gaze
was unfocused at first, because for some reason it now required
effort to keep his eyes open. But his words, however soft and
weary, were precise. “What did you say? ‘My Lord,’ you
said. . . . This is the first time I hear you
address me properly. No more ‘Sir Knight’ or ‘you.’ What happened?
Have you come to your senses?”
    Percy felt a rush of fire in her cheeks,
followed by a wash of cold. Good thing it was so dark, with only
the campfire outside casting a warm glow through the opened door of
the barn. Just enough to show his pallor and glittering eyes, while
her own face was backlit in silhouette.
    “I don’t know,” she replied plainly. “I
suppose, it being my father’s house, and you being here and not—out
there in the strange forest—”
    “Come, now. Something happened. Or
rather— you did something. And it did something to you in turn. Whatever impossible thing you did with your grandmother to
grant her death—it’s related, is it not?” He spoke