The Sorceror's Revenge Read Online Free PDF Page A

using.  She looked at him with pleasure, because a visit from a peddler was something they all looked forward to. 
                  ‘Watch the pot, Griszelda,’ she said and took Iolanthe by the hand.  ‘Is there anything you wish me to purchase for you from the peddler?’
                  ‘I am too old for toys and trinkets,’ the old woman replied sourly.  ‘Food and warmth is all I need, mistress.’
                  Anne nodded at her and followed Nicholas from the room, looking down at the child skipping happily at her side.  Iolanthe had never seen a peddler before, because she had been too young when the last one called, and would no doubt enjoy choosing something from his wares.
                  As they entered the courtyard, Anne saw that there were two men displaying wares for the servants.  They had opened their packs, spreading an array of goods on sheets of coarse brown cloth laid on the ground. Both were dressed in the short tunics of grey cloth worn by the lower orders, but there was something unusual about them, though at first she could not have said what was different. 
                  ‘Look, Iolanthe,’ she said, glancing down at the child she loved.  ‘I believe you might like to see these…they are exquisite.’
                  Lying on the cloth of one peddler were an array of carved figures.  Some were formed of polished wood, others appeared to be carved from some soft stone of a greenish colour; still others were made from stitched leather.  One of these last was fashioned in the shape of a war-horse with a bridle covered with gold leaf and studded with semi-precious stones.
                  ‘This is lovely,’ Anne said and glanced at the peddler.  ‘May I show it to my daughter, sir?’
                  ‘Surely, mistress,’ the peddler said, giving Anne a strange look that sent a little chill running down her spine.  Why did he look at her as if he were trying to tell her something?  She did not know him…or did she?  The tingling was all over her now and she felt a spasm of something like fear in her stomach.  Those eyes were so blue and so compelling.  What was he trying to tell her?  ‘You may show the child anything you wish.’
                  Anne picked up the leather horse and offered it to Iolanthe.  The child took it and turned it round in her hand, showing little interest before returning it to her mother.  She bent down on her knees and began to pick up the various trinkets one by one until she found something she liked; clasping a tiny bird fashioned of a translucent pink stone, she showed it to Nicholas.
                  ‘Iolanthe want this, Papa.’
                  ‘Show me, my dearest,’ Nicholas said and bent down to pick her up in his arms.  Iolanthe held out the tiny carving, which was a thing of exquisite beauty.  He glanced at the peddler.  ‘How much do you want for the trinket?’
                  ‘It is made of rose quartz and came from the house of a prince from the far east,’ the peddler replied, an angry glint in his eyes.  ‘You may buy it for one gold mark today.’
                  ‘It is hardly worth so much.’ Nicholas frowned, then glanced at Iolanthe’s face.  ‘But my daughter wants it so I shall buy it for her.’  He took a coin from the purse that hung at his waist and handed it to the peddler.  Anne had wandered away to look at the other peddler’s wares.  She purchased ribbon and thread from his selection with money from her own purse, then returned to Nicholas and her daughter.
                  ‘I have all I want,’ she said and smiled as Iolanthe showed her, her treasure.  ‘It is beautiful, my love.  Papa has spoiled you as always.  Come, we shall return to the kitchen and let others choose what they