The Crimson Chalice Read Free Page B

you.”
    â€œWhy didn’t you give my hand to the other, the little one?”
    â€œCuna? Because he’s young and still a little stupid. But the others will teach him. Sometime as we travel I will teach you the other words they know.”
    â€œThese are words of your language?”
    â€œNa , these are our words. There is a magic in them because only the dogs, I and soon you will know them. Can you whistle?”
    â€œNo, of course I can’t.”
    â€œThen you must learn because there could be times when you might need Bran.” Baradoc put his forefingers to his mouth and let out a sudden blasting whistle that made Tia jump.
    Within a few moments a shadow swept across the sunlit patch beyond the bower. Then with a noisy beating of his great wings and a raucous calling of carp carp Bran, the raven, swept under the spreading branches of the yew. He circled twice around Baradoc and then settled on his shoulder, eyes alert, the great ebony beak weaving from side to side.
    Drawing back a little, Tia said, “That’s Bran?”
    â€œYes. And when he attacks he goes for a man’s eyes.” Baradoc reached up his right hand and Bran jumped to his wrist. “Take a piece of cheese and throw it into the air for him.”
    Tia broke off a piece of cheese and tossed it high into the air.
    Bran made no move to take it and the cheese fell to the ground.
    â€œHe’s not hungry.”
    Baradoc laughed. “Oh, yes, he is. Bran is always hungry. But he will take food from no one unless he, too, is given the word. Throw it up again.”
    Tia took the cheese and tossed it into the air once more and, as she did so, Baradoc called gently, “Aka, Aka!”
    Bran swooped from Baradoc’s wrist and took the cheese low to the ground as it fell and then flew off to the top of a nearby ash tree.
    Tia said, “So now he knows I am allowed to feed him?”
    â€œYes. Though he fends for himself even better than the dogs. When you can whistle he will always come to you.”
    Baradoc stripped off his undershirt and rolled over onto his stomach, couching his head on his arms.
    Tia asked, “What now?”
    Baradoc grinned sideways at her. “You promised to massage me. My muscles are as stiff as salt-dry ropes.”
    After a moment’s hesitation Tia went to his side and knelt by him. For an ex-slave he had an abrupt way of treating her at times, but she guessed that this came from his self-confidence and his pride in the fact that he was a chief’s son. The women of the remoter tribes, she knew, were of little importance except to do the bidding of their men. Leaning over him, she began to massage and work his shoulder muscles in the way she had often done for Priscus. As she worked she pushed from her mind as much as she could the thought of her brother and his wife. In a handful of savage hours her whole life had changed. The gods had been good to them all for a long time, and now the gods had turned away from them. When she got to Aquae Sulis she and her uncle would make their devotions to the gods of the Shades and set up a stone for Priscus and his wife. And then? What would she do then? Her uncle was old and would not last much longer. This country—her country, for she had known no other, but not hers in the way it was Baradoc’s—was falling apart. There was a darkness failing over the land. She could feel the coldness of its shadow touching her heart.
    Easing and working the stiff arm and back muscles of the youth, she said, “How long will it take to get to Aquae Sulis?”
    â€œWho knows? There is no marching these days along the west road like a century of legionaries, quickly knocking off the miles. We’ve got to take the old tracks and steer clear of towns and villages. It’s taken me three weeks to come down from Durobrivae and there’s not been a day without smoke in the sky from some villa or homestead going up in flames.