Stones of Power 01 - Ghost King Read Free Page A

asked.
    'Perhaps. But obviously you do not. How long have you been lost?'
    'How do you know that I am lost?' he countered.
    The girl stepped away from the tree beside the trail and Thuro saw that she was carrying a beautiful bow of dark horn. 'You may not be lost,' she said, smiling. 'It may be that you found your tracks so fascinating that you decided you just had to see them again.'
    'I concede,' he told her. 'I am seeking Deicester Castle.'
    'You have friends there?'
    'My father is there. We are guests.'
    'A fortune would not induce me to be a guest of that foul family,' she told him. 'Continue on this path until you come to a lightning-blasted oak, then bear right and follow the stream. It will save you time.'
    'Thank you. What is your name?'
    'Names are for friends, young lordling, not to be bandied about amongst strangers.'
    'Strangers can become friends. In fact, all friends were at some time strangers.'
    'All too true,' she admitted. 'But to speak more bluntly, I have no wish to strike up a friendship with a guest of Eldared's.'
    'I am sorry that you feel this way. It seems a great shame that to sleep in a cold and draughty castle somehow stains the spirit of a man. For what it is worth, my name is Thuro.'
    'You do speak prettily, Thuro,' she said, smiling, 'and you have a wonderful eye for horses. Come, join me for the midday meal.'
    Thuro did not question her sudden change of heart but dismounted and led his horse away from the trail, following the girl into the trees and up a winding track to a shallow cave under a sandstone rock-face. Here a fire had burned low under a copper pot perched on two stones. Thuro tied the mare's reins to a nearby bush and moved to the fire where the girl joined him. She added oats to the boiling water, and a pinch of salt from a small pouch at her side. 'Gather some wood,' she told him, 'and earn your food.' He did as she bid, gathering thick branches from beside the track and carrying them back to the cave.
    'Are you planning to light a beacon fire?' she asked when he returned.
    'I do not understand,' he said.
    'This is a cooking fire. It is intended to heat the oats and water, and to give us warmth for an hour or so. The wocd you need should be dry and no thicker than a thumb-joint. Have you never set a cooking fire?'
    'No, I regret that is a pleasure I have not yet encountered.'
    'How old are you?'
    'I shall be judged a man next autumn,' he said, somewhat stiffly. 'And you?'
    'The same as you, Thuro. Fifteen.'
    'I shall fetch some more suitable wood.' he said.
    'Get yourself a platter at the same time.'
    'A platter?'
    'How else will you eat your oats?'
    Thuro was angry as he left the cave - an emotion he rarely felt and with which he was exceedingly uncomfortable. As he had followed the forest girl he had become acutely aware of the rhythmic movement of her hips and the liquid grace of her walk. By contrast he had begun to feel he was incapable of putting one foot in front of the other without tripping himself. His feet felt twice their size. He longed to do something to impress her, and for the first time in his young life wished he were a shade more like his father. Pushing the thoughts from his mind he gathered wood for the fire, finding also a round flat stone to serve as a platter for his food.
    'Are you hungry?' she asked.
    'Not very.' Using a short stick, she expertly lifted the pot from the flames and stirred the thick milky contents. He passed her his rock and she giggled.
    'Here,' she said, offering him her own wooden plate. 'Use this.'

    'The rock will be fine.'
    'I am sorry, Thuro; it is unfair of me to mock. It is not your fault you are a lordling; you should have brought your servant with you.'
    'I am not a lordling, I am a prince: the son of Maximusthe High King. And doubtless were you to be sitting in the hall of Caerlyn, you would feel equally ill at ease discussing the merits of Plutarch's Life of Lycurgus.'
    Her eyes sparkled and Thuro realised they echoed the