The Warlords of Nin Read Online Free PDF Page B

stars in their courses. This event was pointed out to me by Toli, who remarked on it a few nights ago.”
    â€œWell, your Toli is right. In fact, we have been following this star with interest for many months. Tonight, as you have seen, we were once more examining the charts and seeking an answer to this wonder.”
    â€œThen you do not know what this sign portends?”
    â€œDoes one ever?” Biorkis laughed. “Why do you look so shocked? A priest may have doubts—even a high priest. Ah, but we have our theories. Yes, many theories.”
    â€œThat is what we have come to hear—your theories. What do you think it means?”

4
    D urwin’s long brown robes swept along behind him as he rushed through the darkened corridors of Askelon Castle. Torches lit the way, sputtering in the gusty air as Durwin hurriedly passed. Ahead of him he could see a pair of doors that opened onto a patch of the night sky infused with the moon’s radiant beams.
    He stepped across the threshold and onto the balcony, then paused. There, a few paces from him, stood the slim
figure of a woman; her dark hair tumbled down in shimmering ringlets and curls, and her face was averted, revealing the shapely curve of her slender neck. She was dressed in a loose-fitting gown of white held at her trim waist by a long blue sash that trailed nearly to the ground.
    â€œYour Majesty,” said Durwin, softly announcing himself. “I am here.”
    The woman turned and smiled.
    â€œGood Durwin, thank you for coming so quickly.”
    â€œBria . . . I thought . . .”
    â€œYou thought I was the queen, I know. But it was I who sent you the summons.”
    â€œYou look so much like your mother standing there. With the moonlight in your hair, I thought you were Alinea.”
    â€œI will accept that as a compliment, Durwin. For me there is none higher. But you must be tired from your journey. I will not keep you, but I must speak to you a little. Do sit down, please.”
    She raised an arm and indicated a stone bench a short space away. Durwin took her arm and walked her along the balcony. “The night is beautiful, is it not?” he said.
    â€œYes, it is—very.” The young woman spoke as if she had just become aware that it was night. The hermit could tell she had something on her mind that disturbed her.
    â€œI would not have troubled you, but I could think of no better help than to have you here. Theido is gone, and Ronsard with him.”
    â€œIt is nothing, my lady. I am only too glad to know that this old hermit may still be of some use to those who dwell in Castle Askelon. I would have come sooner if I had known—your courier had quite a time finding me. I was in the forest, gathering herbs and tending to the illness of a peasant’s wife nearby.”
    â€œI knew you would come as soon as you could. I—” The princess broke off, unable to say what she felt in her heart.
    Durwin waited, and then said, “What is the matter, Bria? You may speak freely. I am your friend.”
    â€œOh, Durwin!” Her hands trembled, and her head sank. She buried her face in her hands, and he thought she would cry. But she drew a deep breath and raised her face to the moon, clear-eyed. In that moment the young woman reminded him more than ever of another woman who bore an immense inner strength in times of great distress—Queen Alinea.
    â€œIt is the king,” Bria said at last. “Oh, Durwin, I am very worried. He is not like himself. I think he is very ill, but he will see none of his doctors. He laughs at any suggestion I make regarding his health. My mother is worried too. But she can do nothing either. And there is something else.”
    Durwin waited patiently.
    â€œI do not know what it is—trouble, I think. Somewhere.” She turned and fixed the hermit with a smile that, though it graced her mouth, did not light her eyes as it normally would.