Read Online Drenai Series 04 - Quest for Lost Heroes by David Gemmell - Free Book Online
Authors: David Gemmell
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off on a quest to rescue a woman who doesn't love you?'
'Tell me again what a fool I am,' Kiall said.
'No, no, forgive me for that. I am older than you, and cynical, Kiall. But I should not mock. I have no right. But what of her betrothed? Is he dead?'
'No. He has made an arrangement with Ravenna's father and now he will marry her younger sister, Karyn - she was not taken.'
'He did not grieve for long then,' Chareos observed.
'He never loved her; he just wanted her because she is beautiful and her father is rich - he breeds pigs, cattle and horses. He is the ugliest man I ever saw, but his daughters have been touched by Heaven.'
Chareos picked up the boy's sabre and handed it to him, hilt first.
Kiall gazed down at the blade. 'There's little point in my carrying this sword. I have no skill with such things.'
'You are wrong,' said Chareos, smiling. 'You've a good hand, a fast eye and a proud heart. All you lack is tuition. I'll supply that - as we search for Ravenna.'
'You'll come with me? Why?'
'Never count the teeth of a gift horse,' answered Chareos, moving to the grey and stepping into the saddle. The horse trembled.
'Oh no,' whispered Chareos. The stallion bucked violently, then reared and twisted in the air and Chareos flew over his head to land in the snow with a bone-jarring thud. The stallion walked forward to stand over him. He pushed himself upright and remounted.
'A strange beast,' observed Kiall. 'I don't think he likes you.'
'Of course he does, boy. The last man he didn't like he trampled to death.'
Chareos touched his heels to the stallion and led the way south.
He stayed some lengths ahead of Kiall as they rode through the morning, aware that he had no answers which the boy would understand. He could have told him of a child thirty years ago who had no hope, save that a warrior named Attalis had rescued him and become a father to him. He could tell him of a mother also named Ravenna, a proud, courageous woman who had refused to leave the husband she adored, even for the son she loved. But to do so would mean sharing a secret that Chareos carried with shame - a duty unfulfilled, a promise broken. He felt the fresh breeze whispering against his skin, and could smell the trees and the promise of snow. He glanced at the sky.
There was nothing he could say to Kiall. The boy was happy. The legendary Blademaster had agreed to accompany him and in Kiall's mind success was assured.
Chareos' thoughts turned to the farm-girl and the man who loved her - just as he had loved Tura, a hopeless one-sided emotion. Yet even now, after the bitterness and the pain, Chareos would walk through a lake of fire if Tura needed him. But she did not need him ... she never had.
No, the one in need was a pig-breeder's daughter. He twisted in the saddle and looked back at Kiall, who smiled and waved.
Returning his gaze to the mountains ahead, Chareos remembered the day Tura had left him. He was sitting alone in the small courtyard behind the house. The sun was sinking behind the clouds, which seemed to burn like red fire. Finn had found him there.
The bowman sat alongside him on the stone seat. 'She didn't love you, man,' said Finn, and Chareos had wept like a child. For some time Finn sat in silence, then he placed his hand on Chareos' shoulder and spoke softly. 'Men dream of many things, Blademaster. We dream of fame we can never know, or riches we can never win. But the most foolish of all is the dream of love, of the great abiding love. Let it go.'
'I can't,' answered Chareos.
'Then mask it, for the troops are waiting and it is a long ride to Bel-azar.'
CHAPTER THREE
The stag dipped its head to the stream, its long tongue lapping at the clear water. Something struck it a wicked blow in the side; its head came up and an arrow sliced through one eye, deep into the brain. Its forelegs buckled and it dropped to the earth, blood seeping from its mouth.
The two hunters rose from the bushes and splashed across the
'Tell me again what a fool I am,' Kiall said.
'No, no, forgive me for that. I am older than you, and cynical, Kiall. But I should not mock. I have no right. But what of her betrothed? Is he dead?'
'No. He has made an arrangement with Ravenna's father and now he will marry her younger sister, Karyn - she was not taken.'
'He did not grieve for long then,' Chareos observed.
'He never loved her; he just wanted her because she is beautiful and her father is rich - he breeds pigs, cattle and horses. He is the ugliest man I ever saw, but his daughters have been touched by Heaven.'
Chareos picked up the boy's sabre and handed it to him, hilt first.
Kiall gazed down at the blade. 'There's little point in my carrying this sword. I have no skill with such things.'
'You are wrong,' said Chareos, smiling. 'You've a good hand, a fast eye and a proud heart. All you lack is tuition. I'll supply that - as we search for Ravenna.'
'You'll come with me? Why?'
'Never count the teeth of a gift horse,' answered Chareos, moving to the grey and stepping into the saddle. The horse trembled.
'Oh no,' whispered Chareos. The stallion bucked violently, then reared and twisted in the air and Chareos flew over his head to land in the snow with a bone-jarring thud. The stallion walked forward to stand over him. He pushed himself upright and remounted.
'A strange beast,' observed Kiall. 'I don't think he likes you.'
'Of course he does, boy. The last man he didn't like he trampled to death.'
Chareos touched his heels to the stallion and led the way south.
He stayed some lengths ahead of Kiall as they rode through the morning, aware that he had no answers which the boy would understand. He could have told him of a child thirty years ago who had no hope, save that a warrior named Attalis had rescued him and become a father to him. He could tell him of a mother also named Ravenna, a proud, courageous woman who had refused to leave the husband she adored, even for the son she loved. But to do so would mean sharing a secret that Chareos carried with shame - a duty unfulfilled, a promise broken. He felt the fresh breeze whispering against his skin, and could smell the trees and the promise of snow. He glanced at the sky.
There was nothing he could say to Kiall. The boy was happy. The legendary Blademaster had agreed to accompany him and in Kiall's mind success was assured.
Chareos' thoughts turned to the farm-girl and the man who loved her - just as he had loved Tura, a hopeless one-sided emotion. Yet even now, after the bitterness and the pain, Chareos would walk through a lake of fire if Tura needed him. But she did not need him ... she never had.
No, the one in need was a pig-breeder's daughter. He twisted in the saddle and looked back at Kiall, who smiled and waved.
Returning his gaze to the mountains ahead, Chareos remembered the day Tura had left him. He was sitting alone in the small courtyard behind the house. The sun was sinking behind the clouds, which seemed to burn like red fire. Finn had found him there.
The bowman sat alongside him on the stone seat. 'She didn't love you, man,' said Finn, and Chareos had wept like a child. For some time Finn sat in silence, then he placed his hand on Chareos' shoulder and spoke softly. 'Men dream of many things, Blademaster. We dream of fame we can never know, or riches we can never win. But the most foolish of all is the dream of love, of the great abiding love. Let it go.'
'I can't,' answered Chareos.
'Then mask it, for the troops are waiting and it is a long ride to Bel-azar.'
CHAPTER THREE
The stag dipped its head to the stream, its long tongue lapping at the clear water. Something struck it a wicked blow in the side; its head came up and an arrow sliced through one eye, deep into the brain. Its forelegs buckled and it dropped to the earth, blood seeping from its mouth.
The two hunters rose from the bushes and splashed across the
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