A Blackbird In Silver (Book 1) Read Online Free PDF

Vegetable gardens surrounded it, and then meadows in which mares grazed, tails flicking lazily.
    He saw his father – a dark-haired man who looked not much older than Estarinel himself – look up from his cabbage hoeing and wave to them. He returned the greeting. As they rode up to the house, his mother Filmorwen came out to meet them.
    She was lovely, her fair hair tied loosely in a long skein, amber eyes full of warm delight at seeing them. She wore a rough muslin shirt over brown riding breeches – Forluinish clothes being usually more practical than decorative.
    ‘You can leave the sheep in the home paddock for now, my dears,’ she said. ‘Can you all stay for supper?’
    ‘It’s very kind, Filmorwen,’ smiled Falin’s fair sister, Sinmiel, ‘but we promised father we’d take our share of the sheep home as soon as we got back.’
    ‘Oh, doesn’t he trust you?’ Filmorwen laughed.
    ‘No. He’s a very wise man,’ said Falin: ‘But look, why don’t you all come to our house, say an hour before sunset? Arlena and Lothwyn too?’
    They agreed to this, the sheep were shared out, and Falin and Sinmiel set off along the long wooded path to their own farm.
    ‘I must go home too,’ said Lilithea. ‘Gellyn from the village is bringing me some seedlings and I’m afraid I’ll miss him.’
    ‘I’ll walk up with you,’ said Estarinel. Lilithea lived in a tiny cottage on the rim of the valley, where she had a vast herb garden. She was a quiet and sweet-natured girl, small, pretty and slim with an abundance of long, rich bronze-brown hair. She had lived there all her life. Four years ago her parents had moved to the south of Forluin but she had stayed on alone, having become the village’s most valued healer. She had a secretive quality about her that Estarinel thought was almost mystical, as if no one could ever really say they knew her well. Still, as he had said to Falin, she was like a sister to him.
    As they walked up the valley – both on foot, she leading her horse – Estarinel's sister, Arlena, came cantering down towards them on her brown cob.
    Seeing them, she called out a greeting. She jumped off her mount, her bright silver hair flying, and embraced them both. ‘The strangest thing happened today – I was in the village when a messenger dove came from the north. It said they’ve seen something in the sky. Some thing .’
    The other two looked blankly at her. ‘What does that mean?’ Estarinel asked.
    ‘I don’t know. I didn’t see the message myself, there were too many others trying to read it. It sounded like some huge sea-bird or eagle. Why that was worth sending a message, I can’t understand!’ She shook her head, laughing.
    ‘Danger to lambs?’ said Lilithea.
    Arlena shrugged. ‘They’re too big to eat by now.’
    They reached the cottage at the top of the valley and got their breath back. As they stood there, Lilithea looked to the north, shielding her eyes from the bright sky.
    ‘You won’t believe this,’ she said, ‘but I can see something too.’ The others followed her gaze. A little above the horizon was a grey speck, seeming barely to move. They were on high ground with a clear view for miles.
    ‘It’s coming this way,’ said Estarinel, ‘but it must be miles away – and if we can see it from this distance, it must be huge.’
    ‘How fascinating,’ exclaimed Arlena. ‘Oh, it’s disappeared – has it landed?’
    ‘I have a Book of Creatures,’ said Lilithea. ‘Shall I fetch it, so we can identify it?’ While she fetched the book, Estarinel and his sister continued to watch with all the patient curiosity of those observing an unusual wild bird. Presently it reappeared, closer now. Grey in silhouette, winged and elongated, it undulated strangely and made a faint whirring noise as it flew.
    ‘I can’t see any bird of such great size in here.’ Lilithea had put the heavy tome on the ground and was flicking through the pages, crouching down and pushing