The Bristling Wood - Katharine Kerr [25]
And it was going to be a hard one: find the right man, then lay the proper omens for his coming with the aid of the priests. Once the kingdom lived for the day when the true king appeared, then Nevyn could orchestrate his moves. As he brooded over the details, Nevyn began to long for spring. The sooner he got started, the better.
TWO
The year 834. This was the year of the first omens of the coming king. A two-headed kid was born in a village near our temple. It died soon after, because a kingdom with two kings cannot live. In the sky we saw a vision of a great horse, running before a storm, and coming from the west. Although the omen was duly recorded, only later did we realize its import …
The Holy Chronicles of Lughcarn
Spring came too fast that year for Maddyn’s liking. Every morning, he would walk up on the hill and search the sky for weather omens. Although he would have to stay until the snows were well past, at the same time he had to be well away before the real spring, when the riders would be swarming on the Cantrae roads for the summer muster. First came the rains that melted the last of the snow and turned the world to brown muck; then the nights grew warmer until it seemed a hardy man could sleep beside the road without freezing. Yet he found excuses to stay until the pale grass began to come out in sheltered valleys. That very night, he rode down early to see Belyan.
When he climbed through her window, he found her still up, fussing over the fire in the clay stove. She gave him a distracted sort of kiss.
“Take off those boots before sitting on the bed, will you, love? I don’t want muck all over the blankets.”
Maddyn leaned into the curve of the wall and began to pull them off.
“Spring’s here,” he said. “Will it ache your heart when I ride?”
“It will, but not half as badly as seeing you hanged would ache it.”
“True enough. But, Bell, I wish I could stay, and all for your sake. I want you to know that.”
“It would be splendid, having you with us on the farm, but I don’t see how we could keep you hidden. A few of our friends already know I’ve got a man, and in a few months, the whole village will know.”
When he looked up, he found her smiling, her dark eyes as calm as always.
“Oh, by the hells, what have I done? Gotten you with child?”
“What did you think would happen after all the rolling around we’ve done? I’m hardly barren, am I? Oh, here, don’t look so troubled, love. I’ve wanted another babe for ever so long now. I’m just glad we had the time for you to give me one.”
“But I have to desert you! I don’t even have the wretched coin for the midwife.”
“Oh, the midwife’s a friend of mine, so don’t trouble your heart over that. I can tend a babe on my own, but I couldn’t have gotten one without a bit of help, could I?” She laid her hands delicately on her stomach. “Oh, I do hope it’s a daughter, but if it’s a son, shall I name him after you?”
“Only if you truly want to. I’d rather you gave him my father’s name. It was Daumyr.”
“Then Daumyr it is, if it’s a lad. Well, either way, I hope it has your curly hair.”
Maddyn hesitated with a troubling suspicion rising in his mind. He’d always known she didn’t truly love him, but he was beginning to wonder if he’d just been put out to stud.
“Bell? Will you miss me when I’m gone?”
Somewhat startled, she considered the question.
“Well, I will,” she said at last. “A bit.”
When Maddyn left that night, the air was warm with the moist rich smell of spring earth. At the hilltop he dismounted and stood looking out over the dark countryside, the glitter of streams in the moonlight, the distant mound of the sleeping village, and far away, the gleam of the lake where the gates of the Otherlands had almost opened to receive him. I’ve been happy this winter, he thought; ah, curse both false kings and their balls, too!
In the morning Maddyn led his horse down the gully