Stones of Power 01 - Ghost King Read Online Free PDF Page B

it a man's hand?'
    'Your mockery does not upset me. Two other men saw the hand, even if you did not.'
    'I was too busy putting the finishing blow to the Roman's neck,' snapped Gael.
    'A blow, I notice, that came from behind. Even without his sword you did not have the courage to cut him from the front.'
    'You speak of courage?' sneered Gael, pausing before the oak doors of the carles' quarters. 'Where were you? You did not land a blow.'
    'I considered eighteen to one good enough odds even for you, Gael.'
    'You miserable sheep! Bleat all you want. I jdid not hear your voice raised in argument when Father's plan was made known.'
    'The deed was ignobly done. There is no credit in such a murder. And, by all the Gods beyond, he died well. Even you must admit that.'
    'He had a choice then, you think? Even a cornered rat will fight for its life.'
    Gael finished the conversation by turning away from his brother and pushing ahead into the dimly-lit quarters seeking Alantric. Moret turned back across the courtyard and returned to his apartments, where his young wife Alhyffa waited. She was dark-haired and sloe-eyed and Morel's passion for her grew daily. He had not wanted to wed the Saxon girl and had argued long into the night with his father. But in the end, as he had known he would, he gave in and the betrothal was secretly agreed. He had travelled by ship to meet his bride, all the way round the coast to the lands they were now calling the South Saxon.
    Her father had met him in an inlet near Anderida forest and he had been taken to the Long Hall to see his bride. His heart had been heavy until the moment she entered the Hall. . . then it all but stopped. How could a barbarous animal like Hengist produce such an offspring? As she approached he bowed low, breaking all precedent. If she was surprised, she did not show it. He stopped her as she was about to kneel.
    'You will never need to kneel before me,' he whispered.
    And he had been true to his word - a fact that had surprised Alhyffa, especially after her father's disparaging comments concerning the treacherous family.
    'Have no fear,' he had told her. 'Within a few seasons I shall be at Deicester Keep with an army and then we'll find a good husband for you.'
    Yet now Alhyffa was not sure that she wanted her father riding north to take her back. Her husband was not a powerful man, nor yet a weak one, but he was gentle and loving and he aroused in her a feeling not unlike love. As he entered the room she watched his expression move from his perennial look of sadness to an almost juvenile joy. He swept her into his arms and swung her high into the air. She draped her arms over his broad shoulders and kissed him lightly.
    'I have missed you,' he said.
    'You liar! You have not been gone an hour.'
    'It's true, I swear it.'
    'How went it with your father?'
    He shrugged and released her, his face once more sad and wistful. 'I have no use for his lust for power. And my brother is as bad - if not worse. You know, Aurelius Maximus was not a bad High King.'
    'My father spoke of him always with respect.'
    'And yet your father connived in his murder?'
    She pulled him to the window bench and sat beside him in the sunshine. 'The High King would have connived in the murder of Hengist, yet I do not doubt that he also respected my father. There has never been a king with clean hands, Moret. You are altogether too sensitive.' He grinned and looked so terribly young that she took his face in her hands and kissed his fair cheeks, running her fingers through his long blond hair. 'You have given me happiness. I pray to Odin that you receive a proper reward for it.'
    'You are reward enough for any man.'
    'You say that now, young prince, but what when my beauty fades?'
    'Ask me that in twenty years. Or thirty. Or forty. Or a hundred!'
    Her face became serious. 'Do not wish for the passing of time, Moret, my love. Who knows what the future holds for any of us?'
    'Whisht! Do not look sad. The future is all