High The Vanes (The Change Book 2) Read Online Free PDF

others.”

    “This is what they tell you, my lady. In truth, they are evil, malicious men. They determined to rid your world of all who would not bow to their demands. But now is not the time to recount their deeds. When we reach Uricon the last high servant will explain all.”

    I shook my head. I still found it hard to believe the stories about ‘my world’ as she put it. I had spent the first fourteen years of my life in that ‘world’ and had never experienced, read about or heard about acts of violence and killing. The Apostles were benign rulers. We had everything we needed to live a calm existence. Our children attended Schola, where we learned how to study the Bible. Older people worked in their allocated positions to maintain the wealth that supported us.

    During the years I spent in Plas Maen Heledd, the professors, as I called them, tried their best to convince me that it was all a sham. That Taid, my grandfather, had taken me away from this world because he knew the truth of it. Over time, I began to think that there might be something in what they said. I was not convinced. Until they came and destroyed the house and took away Taid and the professors. Since that time, l had heard little mention of my world. Only very occasionally did Eluned refer to it, usually in a sad way.

    Yet now she was telling me that not only was my world corrupt, as the professors had claimed, but it was run by men who seemed bent on destruction. Why would they wish to kill the people who lived in this part of the country?

    “Tell me one thing, Eluned. How many people used to live hereabouts?”

    “Before your people came? At least five hundred thousands.”

    “What? And they killed them all?”

    “All except the ferry man. They thought he was mad, so they left him. Now perhaps he is truly mad. But he is the only way we may cross this river. Come, my lady. We must find him.”

    My head was spinning. Five hundred thousand? Half a million? It was beyond my comprehension. How do you kill that number of people? And, most of all, why? Why?

    “My lady! You must come.”

    Eluned was already half way down the slope, heading away from the road towards the spot she had pointed out. I stumbled blindly after her.

Chapter 10

    Before long we were on the bank of the river. Though obviously deep and fast-flowing towards the middle, it was calm and shallow enough near the bank. Eluned followed a narrow, well-trodden path that meandered its way up stream. Before long she stopped, put two fingers to her mouth and uttered a sharp, piercing whistle. A small group of birds that had been pecking around on the other bank soared into the air with a clattering of wings. Nothing happened.

    Again, Eluned whistled. A man’s voice responded this time.

    “I whistle. I twistle. I mistle. A mistletoe. A mistletoe. Come Christy mass. Holly and mistletoe.”

    He said this in a sing-song manner, as if he was reciting something. This continued for much of the time we were unfortunate enough to be with him.

    “Who whistles? Who twistles? Where is my mistletoe? Is Christy mass coming? I love my Christy mass.”

    He rose from what seemed to be little more than a ditch on the bank. He wore little more than a shirt that had lost its sleeves and a pair of trousers that had lost most of one leg. Both he and the clothes were filthy. My first thought was how a man could live right next to a river yet not be clean. That’s men for you.

    “We need to cross the river,” Eluned said as he danced in front of her.

    “A river. A shiver. A sliver. A giver. We give gifties at Christy mass. Gifties make the river a sliver.”

    “You may receive a gift when you have taken us over the river.”

    He danced down and into the water at the edge of the bank. Wading in up to his knees, he sang, “Coldy. Woldy. Boldy. No gifty. No lifty.”

    “No gift until we are across.” She turned to me. “Find his boat. It is what we call a ‘cwragl’. It does not look