Hawkmoon (The Hawkmoon Chronicles) Read Online Free PDF Page A

the shelves..
    At the end of her first year  she went the library. Still tired in body and broken in spirit her daily walks were getting longer. She wandered   through the shelves nodding to the sisters. In the back a door stood open. Stepping inside to be welcomed by tobacco smoke, she wondered who would smoke in a library.
    The place  was quiet; the rustle of paper, whispered conversation. At the rear stood a worktop  cluttered with strips of leathers, vellum and bottles of glue. Someone had left a pile of books. Sitting, she drew the topmost into her lap. A Study of The Science and Artefacts of  The Ancients by Hattim al Jiddah, was a large volume, heavy bound  and traced with Runic script. She traced the cover  with the tips of her fingers. The work was very fine.
    “What are you doing here?” It was Parras, the chief librarian.  She was one of the older witches. .
    Mira rose. “I was looking through the books”
    “The main library is outside, you passed through it. This is Special Collections. You are not allowed here.”
    When the sisters’ rudeness reached the ears of the Matriarch Parras was instructed to provide  every assistance. She was to do this in person, not instruct one of the novices…. From  that time Mira read  her way through Politics, Geography, Warfare, Comparative Magic, Astrology and   Astronomy    She read  everything she could find  on the history of the land she would rule one day .
    Mist lingered over the Old Forest... Wrapping herself in a tweed shawl she stepped out on  the balcony. The valley between the castle and the mountains was fertile, providing  food to a vegetarian community. The lower slopes were lined with orchards and vineyards. Sisters crossed the yard  in pairs   Parras glared up at her. Sister Lucy brought up the rear, hurrying to catch up before the choir door swung shut.
    The community took girls from sixteen. Married women were accepted if widowed. Women  who had contracted marriage  in religious ceremonies could  join if the marriage had been annulled. It was an expensive process but the bishop at the Royal City was known to be sympathetic on receipt of a suitable donation. On acceptance the sisters made vows of Service, Obedience and Stability. Service to the Land, Obedience  to the Matriarch and whomever she placed in authority over them. Stability was an oath to remain at the Keep for the remainder of their lives.
    Boxes were stacked to the left. She unlatched one, removing a telescope.  Fitted it  to  an iron   tripod, she placed an orange filter to protect her eyes and pointed it towards the sun .... They looked   like pustules on the  face of an aging  courtesan. . She had known a few in her time. Her  father had married one .A door opened  and the head of the order stepped out.” Good morning, Mira.”
    “Good morning ,Kerris” In the years Mira had spent  at Witch’s Keep she had never addressed the other woman by her rank.  Kerris leaned on the parapet gazing to the hills. “You sent a note. It said that you had found something and requested to meet with me. You also mentioned that you would be leaving today.”Mira nodded.
    “May I?” Kerris pointed at the glass.
    Mira stood back allowing the Matriarch  to view the sun.  Kerris had been Abbess at Witch’s Keep for ten years. For the last five she had been Matriarch of the Order of the Golden Dawn. Her hair was black except for a white blaze at the forehead. She ate fish   but avoided red meat.  She drank  wine when entertaining  guests.. Kings asked for her advice and heeded it.
    She  watched as long filaments reached from the star. According to astronomers they would destroy the Land. The dwarves in  their  caves, the world of men, the Elves in the Greenwood the Vampires in the Icelands; nothing would survive. The Land had felt the Dragon’s Breath three times in a hundred thousand years, each time worse than the last. Replacing the lens cap she peered