Silent Hall Read Online Free PDF Page B

him off. To Phaedra, it seemed an easy enough promise to make. The obsessive fear of her scaring boys off seemed entirely ridiculous.
    If dances were anything to go by, it wasn’t even possible.
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    O n a clear day , Atuna would have been visible from the docks of Karsanye. Today a mist rose from the water, concealing the far shore. Phaedra stood on the dock with her nursemaid, smiling and breathing in the sea air. Her parents had managed to stall and delay her journey right up to the eve of Karassa’s festival, but at long last she was on her way. There was only one boat leaving the island before the summer festival, and it was just a fishing boat. She didn’t care. It was perfect.
    There was a narrow bench on the port side and a bin of fishing gear to starboard; the boat’s center was taken up by a square-sailed mast and a low-rimmed vat, half full of fish. Kelina wrinkled her nose and suggested they wait to leave on a more appropriate vessel.
    â€œAtel’s followers do not fear rough travel,” Phaedra said.
    â€œAnd what do you know of travel, young mistress?” Kelina asked her. “You have never been off Tarphae, any more than I have. My old bones wouldn’t do well on a fishing boat.”
    Phaedra nodded, and her smile turned sly. “If you like, you can stay here this evening and follow me when the festival is over. I will wait for you in Atuna at a nice inn, until your old bones have the chance to catch up with me.”
    â€œNow don’t be cruel, miss. You know I would never let you out of my sight.”
    Phaedra took her hand. “We are going on the Traveler God’s pilgrimage, Kelina. With all the power of His divinity, Atel still walks barefoot in all the pictures. Our pilgrimage would not be off to a very good start if we delayed our journey just because a fishing boat doesn’t suit our high tastes.”
    Kelina narrowed her eyes suspiciously. She knew Phaedra better than the girl’s own parents did. She knew why Atel had become her latest obsession.
    Before Kelina could say anything, Phaedra turned back to the boat’s owner. “We will come with you to Atuna, if you will accept my offer.”
    The fisherman smiled at her. He was an aging continental man from one of Atuna’s tributary villages. “The price of a day’s catch, just to take you to Atuna? Can I accept it twice?”
    Phaedra laughed excitedly as he helped her on board. The two younger men – the fisherman’s nephews, apparently – lifted Kelina and placed her safely beside her young charge. Then they got the women’s luggage, which they somehow managed to wedge between the bin of fishing gear and the mast.
    â€œGet moving, boys,” the owner said to them. “Let’s make haste for our pilgrims.”
    The lads had just carried in the last of their newly repaired nets when a young man came jogging along, stopping at their boat. He was an attractive boy, slender and tall, with a strong jawline. His skin was too light for Tarphae, but too dark for the continent. When he had the fisherman’s attention, he asked if there was room for him on board.
    The fisher struggled visibly with himself, not wishing to make Phaedra feel overcharged, but afraid to frighten away a paying passenger. In the end he told the boy that he could join them for half Phaedra’s price, so long as he was going to the same place. The boy agreed and paid without even asking where they were headed. Kelina, protective as always, stretched out as far as she could to prevent him from joining them on the bench, so he sat down on the box of tackle opposite them. Phaedra had to lean forward and yell over the fishermen’s calls in order to introduce herself.
    The young man’s name turned out to be Criton. She told him about the holy site she meant to visit, an ancient abbey called the Crossroads that was sacred to the Atellan friars. He listened politely, while Kelina