Darkwalker on Moonshae - Douglas Niles [18]
When do we leave?”
“We’ll have to speak to my father,” Tristan replied.
“But soon enough, I’m sure.”
“Great!” Daryth exclaimed. “I’m eager to see a little more of this island of yours!” Tristan noticed that the Calishite’s accent grew less noticeable almost daily.
“I shall come, too,” announced Robyn.
The prince looked up in surprise. “But you’ve always hated hunting…” he began.
“And so I do,” she replied. “Yet there are some types of fungus that I wish to collect this year, and they can be found nowhere on Gwynneth outside of Llyrath. I shall ignore the senseless slaying that you will no doubt commit… unless, of course, you’d rather I went by myself.”
“Certainly not!” exclaimed Arlen and Tristan at the same time.
Daryth raised his eyebrows. “What is this Llyrath Forest place? Some kind of deathtrap?”
“No,” said Tristan, laughing. “But it is the wildest part of the kingdom. We might meet wild boar or even bear – there are few human residents.”
Tristan turned to Robyn. “And I’d like it if you come with us – I was just thinking you wouldn’t enjoy it. That’s all.”
“If you’re certain I won’t be too much in the way,” she declared, frostily.
In fact, Tristan knew Robyn’s woodcraft to be superior to his own. Arlen had given him considerable training in the ways of the wild, but Robyn seemed to have an uncanny rapport with it.
“It’s settled then!” she cried. “Let’s leave tomorrow!”
“How long will it take us to get there?” asked Daryth.
“Just a couple of days, though we’ll want to spend some time in the forest. How long should we figure?” the prince asked Arlen.
“Let’s plan for ten days. Can we be ready by tomorrow?”
“You’ll come with us, of course, Pawldo?” asked the prince. When the halfling nodded happily, Tristan said, “The five of us then!” The group started back toward the castle. “We’ll take ten horses – I’ll get them from the stables.”
“I’ll collect sleeping furs and a cookpot,” offered Robyn.
Pawldo and Arlen agreed to pack some spare food, in case the hunting was poor, and Daryth would gather the hounds. By the time they reached the castle, the expedition was planned, to depart at dawn.
The group separated at the castle, each going to begin preparations.
Tristan entered the great hall and found his father sitting alone by the embers of a dying fire. He didn’t look up as the prince entered. The shutters of the long windows were open, but the room still seemed to harbor a deep, disturbing chill.
“Father, we’re going on a hunt – to Llyrath Forest.” In silent anger, Tristan cursed the nervousness that always crept into his voice when he talked to his father. “Arlen will accompany us. We’ll be gone ten days – perhaps a fortnight.”
For a minute, the prince wondered if his father had heard him, for the king displayed no reaction. Finally, the king turned and regarded his son coldly.
“You might as well,” King Kendrick declared, his voice heavy with scorn. “It beats wenching and drinking – things I’ve heard from others that you do so well. You are a disgrace to the crown!”
“What?” Tristan stopped, cut off by his father’s look of disgust. Whatever the prince said now would just inflame his father’s anger, he knew.
“Leave me!” growled the king, turning back to the fire.
Suppressing an urge to scream and stomp his feet at once again failing to impress his father, the Prince of Corwell turned and walked, seething, from the hall. As always, he immediately converted his anger into a desire to rush out and have some fun, so he hurried about his preparations for the hunt.
The companions left Caer Corwell before dawn, which spread gray and oppressive from the east. Bundled in woolen cloaks and furs, they led their horses from the castle stable, mounting saddles and supplies on the various steeds. Pawldo, who chose a small, shaggy pony, had to chase his reluctant steed around the courtyard before he could saddle it.
The sunrise brought little warmth, for low clouds hung oppressively over the land. The peaks of the Highlands were buried within the gray blanket, and a penetrating mist hung heavily in the