The Blue Falcon Read Free Page A

to alter or hasten the events was never proved to her satisfaction.
    Giselle brushed the powder off her hands and moved to a humble pallet. She let her head rest on the fresh straw and fell into a deep and badly needed sleep.
    At the tower stairs, the lady of Anselm turned as if by some outside force and looked in the direction of the lacemaker’s cottage. In the predawn light, she could see a strange cloud moving through the mists.
    “ If she has betrayed me,” she mumbled, “ I will kill her.”

 
     
    Part I

 
     
    Chapter 1
     
    The banners flew high over Anselm Keep, as high as the expectations surrounding the tournament. Streamers deco rated the lists and pavilions housing knight’s armor. Within the great manor all was quiet, for the hour was early.
    Chandra Ellard sat upright on her pallet and looked around the dim room. Her sisters slept on, but would be rising soon to the call for the first mass. With great care to be quiet, she stood on the cold stone floor and moved to the window. A slight pull did not open the crude covering, but she fought the stubborn wood, for she was so eager to know the sun had finally risen on this day. She won the battle, and the wooden slats creaked and flew open.
    Chandra looked guiltily over her shoulder to see if she had disturbed anyone’s sleep. Edwina, her oldest sister, rolled over and pulled the covers more tightly about her. Laine did not stir, but lay flat on her back the way she imagined a nun would sleep. Chandra made a face at her sisters and turned back to the window.
    The banners and streamers upon the wall made her heart leap. The soft glow of the sun just creeping over the land was the sight she had longed for. At last! She stretched her arms out the small window, and a smile to make the land shine brighter broke over her face. Her first tournament!
    Chandra, the youngest of Sir Medwin’s three daughters, had looked forward to such a day for years. King Henry’s ban on tournaments had lessened the likelihood that she would ever see one, but Lord Alaric was not so easily discouraged. He said that the fees the knights were paying to participate in this contest would surely cover any fine the king could levy, but it was not likely Henry would bother: his problems in France kept him too busy. And if not for the fact that her father was a close friend to Lord Alaric, they might not be here even now.
    The tournament would be grand! Invitations were sent far and near to bring knights and their families, landholders and vassals, barons great and small, priests both pious and unscrupulous, Jewish usurers looking for nobles in dire need of credit, and every interested spectator for miles.
    And Sir Conan!
    Chandra leaned on her forearms and peered dreamily out the window. It had been a few years at least since she had seen him, but it had not been very long since she had thought about him. Since as early as she could remember, she had looked to him as the one special boy in her life -- but he was a boy no more. Now he was a man, and a recently dubbed knight. She sighed deeply, as she hoped he would find her more woman than child.
    Her breath caught in her throat as she noticed something over the wall in the direction of the lists. The falcon split his wings and soared into the clear morning air. Down he tumbled, through the mists of early day and then up again, up into the sky, straining his wings and pushing himself farther and farther into the soft satin of blue. With precision he circled, watching the ground below. A whistle, sharp and shrill, caused the bird to break his pattern and disappear behind the wall.
    He is there, she thought wildly. There, near the lists, working with his bird.
    Chandra turned and scurried toward her pallet, pulling off her shift as she went. She shivered in the crispness of the morning air as it invaded the room through the open window. She thought to shut it before the others were awakened, but too late. Laine was stirring and looking in