[Lanen Kaelar 01] - Song in the Silence Read Free Page B

and you will soon have enough to marry Alisonde. Now, does that suit? Or do
I send you back to your father as you stand?”
    He could not speak, so he nodded. “Very
well,” I continued.” I shall want a portion of the available moneys
to see me on my way, and I shall take with me a third of the profits from the
fair. Is it a bargain?”
    He didn’t move, so in the country fashion I spat
in my palm and held out my open hand to him. He did the same and took mine in a
daze. Well he might—in payment for an empty proposal meant to manipulate a
weakling, he had received a decking and a secure future. I’d have been dazed,
too.
    I was awake all night preparing a contract for us
three to sign, though I had to read it to Walther in the morning and help him
make his mark. I had carefully put my few belongings into an old pack with my
clothing and wrapped a good portion of silver in a pair of saddlebags. Jamie
and I left before dawn with the hands and the horses.
    I was happier than I could remember being.
     
     
     
     
     
    II
    LESSONS
    The way was long from my father’s farm.
    Illara, where the great fair was held, lay a long
way east and a little south of Hadronsstead; we would be travelling the best
part of a fortnight. Thankfully, old King Tershet of Ilsa was not yet in his
dotage—there were not as many Patrols around as there might have been, but
there Were a few still out on the highways to keep order.
    At the end of the first day’s travel I had been
awake for two full days. We found a clear dry place by the edge of a wood on a
little hill; with the last of my strength I helped tend the horses, inhaled
Jamie’s stew and slept like a dead thing.
    The next morning was a mixed blessing. I woke
gently, lying on my back, to the lightening sky above me and the sweet sounds
of waking birds all around. There was a smell on the dawn wind that spoke of
winter’s coming, and an elusive scent of late wild roses caught at my heart.
The sun was nearly up, a bright clear glow in the east behind the trees. I
rolled over and stood up, surprised at how stiff I was. I had ridden all day
since I was a child, and worked long hard hours, but I had never slept on the
hard ground in the chill of early autumn afterwards. It made me swiftly and deeply
aware of the distance I had travelled already, which was nothing that could be
measured in leagues.
    Jamie was already up and making the fire. He
grinned at me. “Groan away, lass, you’ve the right, but don’t expect any
sympathy from me. You’re the one always said you wanted to see the world!
There’s a stream down there,” he added, pointing down the hill.
“It’s’ good and fresh. The lads have taken the horses down for a drink,
but I could use more water myself. Just you take those buckets upstream a ways
and fetch me some, and I’ll have breakfast ready when you’ve done.”
    I might have protested at being ordered about if
I had been awake, but Jamie knew me far too well. By the time I was aware
enough to object, I was at the stream.
    I had a black moment there. Stiff as I was, it
had somehow not occurred to me before. Only as I knelt at the side of the water
did I understand in my chilly bones that I would not see a hot bath for weeks.
I suspect it was just as well I had something else to do before I saw Jamie
again. My mind was delighted beyond words at being gone from Hadronsstead, but
so far my body was not entirely convinced.
    When I returned to the tire, though, I had a
little surprise for Jamie. I had planned it for ages; indeed, when I was a
child I dressed in that fashion most of the time. I had made the clothes in
secret soon after Hadron died, and now I was looking forward to a little gentle
revenge. When I returned to the fire Jamie looked up and stared. I was dressed
as he was, in woolen leggings and good stout boots and a long-sleeved wool
tunic that, belted, came some inches below my knee. No skirts, no shoes that
smacked of delicacy, no fine linen showing