Read Online Cloud Walker, All Fools' Day, Far Sunset by Edmund Cooper - Free Book Online

understand, his heart seemed to be exploding in his chest. There was sweat on his forehead and a fire in his limbs. At length he found his tongue.
    ‘Mistress, I do not hate you. Truly, I do not. Something has happened that … Perhaps my mind is sick.’
    She smiled. ‘You forget. Say Alyx. My name is Alyx. You shall use it always when we are alone.’
    ‘Alyx,’ he said idiotically. ‘Alyx.’ He could think of nothing else to say. The word seemed both familiar and strange, a magic word. An incantation.
    ‘Your mind is not sick, Kieron. At least, no more than mine … We are friends, now?’
    ‘We are friends.’ Kieron was trembling. He seemed to be standing outside himself. He seemed to be listening to the voice of a stranger … Why did she stand so close? Why was there a roaring in his head?
    ‘We are close friends?’
    ‘If it is your wish.’
    ‘Is it not yours?’
    ‘Alyx, I – I …’ There was nothing to say. Nothing that made sense.
    ‘Kiss me, Kieron. Your lips on mine.’ The book dropped from Kieron’s hand. He did not notice. Neither of them noticed.
    ‘Kiss me,’ she whispered. It was a whisper that drove all rational thought from Kieron’s mind.
    He held her in his arms. He felt the life in her. He felt her breasts against him, the liquid warmth of her belly. He felt her lips upon his.
    This was like to earn him the donjon, the lash, the irons, the rack, all manner of tortures. He did not care. The taste of Alyx Fitzalan’s lips, the touch of her body – he did not care.
    Presently, they stood back from each other.
    ‘No man ever beat me before. No man ever held me so before. No man ever kissed me so before.’ Alyx seemed happy, even complacent. ‘I love you, Kieron.’
    ‘I am terrified of love,’ said Kieron. ‘It is a destroyer. But I love you also. I thought I hated you, but the hatred was a form of love.’
    Alyx frowned as reality came back to her. ‘It is but a short-lived bloom, Kieron. Let us enjoy it while we may. The child Petrina is your destiny. Talbot of Chichester – a pale, sad thing – is mine … Does Petrina kiss as I do?’
    ‘Alyx, I know not, I do not – I have not …’ He floundered.
    ‘Hush, dear one. You gave me my answer … Until this time, you were but a prentice painter bullied by a thoughtless minx, taking advantage of her father’s power. But love is dangerous, Kieron. It makes us equal in each other’s sight; but in the eyes of the world the gulf between us is wide. Talbot and Petrina, and the customs of our people, hover about us like ghosts. We must be very careful, otherwise we shall be destroyed.’
    Kieron managed to smile. ‘I will be careful, Alyx, if only because I must. I am afraid for both of us.’
    She took his hand. ‘Be not too much afraid. If we keep our heads, all will be well.’ She laughed. ‘I surmise my father required Master Hobart to keep me distracted for at least a two-month. Is that not so? And you were to be the sacrificial lamb.’
    Kieron shrugged. ‘It is so, Alyx. Indeed, it is so.’
    ‘Well, then,’ she said gaily, ‘who will protest if we stretch the two-month into a three-month? Not my father, not Master Hobart. Each would be delighted at the success of the stratagem. So, in public, I will be the haughty Alyx, whose aim is to humiliate you. And you will contrive to play the poor prentice who bears what he must for the sake of his master and his art and for the sake of his future. Can you bear this device?’
    ‘I can bear it.’
    ‘Good. Today, you will make sketches; but, tomorrow, we will ride again. Doubtless, you will fall off. The people will learn of it and be satisfied. Kieron-head-in-the-air – yes, I know what they call you – will be humiliated once more. Can you bear it?’
    ‘I can bear deception only for the sake of truth.’
    ‘Well spoken, my love.’ She came close and kissed him. ‘When we are alone – truly alone – you shall command me. I will kiss your feet, if it is your