The Lady's Man Read Free Page A

other elders – and she went to great lengths to avoid it. But that didn't explain everything.
     
    For a start, why was she bringing her whole family with her on an arduous and dangerous journey, without even a proper guard? Why hadn't they been advised to expect her coming? And why was she even in Hammeral Province at all? The foreteller had given up her habit of making lengthy journeys through the elven regions nearly two decades before, as her health had begun to fade. Although truthfully she didn't look particularly infirm to him. In fact she looked remarkably sharp as she stared at him as if he were her prey.
     
    “Look sharp and mind to your manners.”
     
    It was all the chance he had to warn his soldiers before the prophetess – having shaken her way free of her son in law – marched directly over to the fire where he stood. But then his soldiers had already worked out that much. They surely recognised her as well.
     
    “Honoured Lady.”
     
    He bowed low, and watched out of the corner of his eyes as his soldiers did likewise.
     
    “Piffle! Stop that immediately child. I'm just an old woman, not one of those pesky human lords. Now get me a seat, get these poor children a bowl of that stew before they begin eating us instead and let us talk.”
     
    While she might have sounded like a grandmother addressing her youngest grandchild impatiently, she was also the one in charge and Avenall knew it was an order.
     
    “Yes Lady.”
     
    He even began to bow again before he saw the warning look in her eyes, and stopped himself. The elder, like all elders, was known for her contrariness, and he didn't want to cause offence, no matter how strange her instructions. Instead he and his soldiers began dishing out the barely warm stew into the small wooden bowls they carried, and gave one each to the children, with a little slab of bread, while the water boiled for tea for the adults.
     
    Soon the children were all seated on the grass eating quietly while the rest were gathered around the fire sipping their herbal tea, waiting for the Lady to go through the formalities. But that he knew would take time. Nothing happened quickly when elders were involved.
     
     
     
     
     

Chapter Two.
     
    “My Lady, how is it that you were travelling with, let alone had been rescued by a wild heart barbarian?”
     
    It had taken a little while for all the children to be fed and the tea to be poured, but finally it was done, the ritual prayer of thanks to the Mother had been given, and the time for talking was upon them. Naturally, Avenall's curiosity was biting at him.
     
    “Yorik is no wild heart. I suspect he simply dresses like one for the anonymity and safety it offers, though he wouldn't admit such a thing to any of us. But underneath I suspect you'll find, beats the heart of a true paladin. A human knight trained in religion, honour and justice. Also I suspect, underneath his hides you'll find the armour as well. There is a stiffness in the way he moves and in the way the fur moves over his body. And no wild heart ever born, no human or even for that matter no orc or ogre, has ever been so broad of shoulder or squat of neck.”
     
    “My lady?”
     
    Yet even as he asked he realised that her words made some sense. The wild heart's size had been beyond anything he'd ever seen before, and his language far superior to the guttural grunts he'd expected. Then too, human knights were also trained in magic and weapons, while wild hearts weren't trained at all.
     
    “Even though he chose to say little and remained apart from us, we have spent three long days with him as he escorted us to safety, and our men folk have watched him closely all that time. His disguise is good, but not perfect. From the battle we know that his magic is strong and well practised, and his swordsmanship beyond compare. He also shows the trappings of the finest education with every word out of his mouth. Also, he is a human of great honour and