Winterbirth Read Online Free PDF Page A

he ever sees me at the hunt.'
    Croesan shrugged. 'Don't be so sure. By the time he's old enough to know the difference, you'll be a match for most of my huntsmen. Anyway, you'll return for the child's Naming, since you were here for the birth?'
    'If I can,' said Orisian, and meant it sincerely. The Naming of an infant destined one day to be Thane was an event that would embody all the history, all the bonds that made the Lannis Blood what it was.
    Nothing could more strongly signify a long history and a hopeful future, and after the depredations of the Heart Fever and the sufferings of his father, Orisian was learning to value both of those.
    Naradin and his wife Eilan emerged from the keep. The Bloodheir was carrying his baby son in his arms, and walked with almost comical care and precision. He had not yet learned how to relax around a life that seemed so fragile.
    Croesan leaned close to Orisian and murmured conspiratorially, 'Can you believe they have made me a grandfather, Orisian? A grandfather!'
    'I can hardly believe Naradin is a father, let alone you a grand-father,' smiled Orisian. That, he reflected, was a half-truth, though an innocent one. Naradin had, for as long as he could remember, seemed ready and hungry for fatherhood. Nothing less was expected of one who bore the future of the Blood upon his shoulders.
    Eilan embraced Orisian. She was a beautiful woman, but it was for her gentle and generous spirit that he loved her; and for the way those attributes reminded him of his own mother.
    'Journey well, Orisian,' she murmured in his ear. 'Take my love to your sister.'
    Naradin inclined the baby towards Orisian.
    'Now, little one,' the Bloodheir said, 'say goodbye to Orisian.'
    The tiny face gazed blankly out from the nest of thick blankets, lips working moistly and soundlessly. A pink tongue gestured vaguely in Orisian's direction.
    'There,' said Naradin with satisfaction. 'I could not have said it better myself.'
    'Probably not,' agreed Orisian. 'Look after him well, and salt some of his boar for me. I will see you at the Naming.'
    Orisian swung up into his saddle, patting the horse's muscular neck in greeting. Rothe and Kylane flanked him as he rode out through the massive gatehouse. When Orisian glanced back over his shoulder, Croesan, Naradin and Eilan still stood together, each one raising a hand in farewell. With a last wave, Orisian and his shieldmen turned south through Anduran's crowded streets towards the road that would carry them down the valley and on to Kolglas and home.
    By the time the three riders were beyond the city's edge, almost vanished into the distance, Croesan oc Lannis-Haig was watching them go from one of the highest windows of Castle Anduran's keep. As he often did, he felt a twinge of sorrow for Orisian, and that brought forth the familiar mixture of feelings for the boy's father, Kennet: the bond of love that brotherhood instilled, coloured by frustration and pain.
    The sadness in Kennet's heart seemed only to have deepened and grown blacker in the five years since the fevered deaths of Lairis and Fariel, his wife and elder son. It kept Kolglas and all who lived there under a burden of loss. Croesan had lost his own wife many years ago, and thus knew something of what afflicted Kennet, but he had given up any hope of salving the grief that sometimes made itself his brother's master, and it pained him that the past weighed so upon those he loved. Orisian and his sister Anyara had, after all, lost as much as Kennet, and still found the strength to bear that loss upon shoulders much younger and less sturdy than those of the lord of Castle Kolglas. The Thane sighed and set those thoughts aside as he turned away from the window.
    A manservant was waiting by the door. Croesan glanced at him.
    'Find the Steward,' he said, unable to keep a hint of weariness out of his voice. 'Ask him to come.'
    The servant nodded and left the chamber. Croesan ran a hand through his thick hair. He gazed around