Read Online Druids Sword by Sara Douglass - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Sara Douglass
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you here now…well…it is relief beyond measure.”
“Don’t expect too much of me, Noah,” Jack said.
There was a small silence, broken by Harry. “The PM is to make a radio broadcast this morning at eleven-fifteen,” he said. “I’m sure we all know what he has to say.”
Of course. War.
“None of us can prevent it,” Harry said. “Nothing we have done has caused it.” He gave a slight shrug. “Greed. Ambition. Brutality. It is all part of life.”
Stella rose from the table and lifted the coffee pot from the hot-plate on the buffet table. She walked around the breakfast table, refilling cups as people wanted.
“Jack,” she said, “tell us where you have been. What have you been doing for so long? Founding empires? Destroying hopes and ambitions? Breaking hearts?”
“Learning to live with myself, mostly,” Jack said quietly. “Learning about myself.” He pushed his plate away, the food only half-eaten. “For the past two hundred years I’ve been living in America. Mostly alone, inhabiting the vast forests, roaming the mountains.”
Stella sat down. “As Ringwalker?” Jack had only barely come into his responsibilities as Ringwalker, the ancient Stag God of the forests, when he had left England in the seventeenth century.
“For a greater portion of the time, yes. It was part of the journey into myself I needed to make. Other times I walked as a man—I took the identity Jack Skelton during the Civil War—and lived within a more human society.”
“Aha,” said Silvius, “and did you break hearts then?”
Jack gave a rueful smile, and slid a glance Noah’s way. “A few, no doubt. It is, after all, what I’ve been good at.”
“And the uniform, Jack?” Stella said. She’d lit a cigarette, and was leaning back in her chair, studying him.
“I use it much as Harry uses his ‘boffin’ status. It is useful, and it gets me entry to places and people I otherwise would not. It is a useful glamour—no one questions it. My papers are all in order.” Jack paused, his fingers toying with a fork. “Besides, I’ve always been more comfortable in uniform than out of it.”
“Jack the Conqueror,” Harry said with a smile, referring to Jack’s previous life as William of Normandy.
“Speaking of whom,” said Jack, “where is Matilda? And Ecub and Erith?”
“They live in London,” said Noah.
“Highbury?” Jack said. “I had a vision that they lived there.”
Noah shook her head. “Hampstead. They’re all waiting to meet you—Matilda especially.” When Jack had been William, Matilda had been his much-loved and -respected wife. “But they thought it might be a bit too much having everyone gathered here last night.”
“What else can we do for you, Jack?” said Harry. “What else do you need?”
Jack felt a little resentful at the prompt, knowing Harry referred to their conversation on the terrace the previous night. “A long talk with you, Harry. Perhaps you can walk about London with me this afternoon?”
“A pleasure. What else?”
Jack decided he might as well give Harry what he’d been waiting for. “Something Walter can do for me.” He swivelled in his chair so he could look Walter in the face.
Jack did not speak more, but as soon as Walter lifted his eyes to Jack’s, power rippled out of Jackmaking the others about the table gasp or sit up a little straighter.
“There is one last task you need to perform for me and for this land,” Jack said, “and when you have done this task, then perhaps both I and the land will let you go to your Christ and we will never make any demands upon you again. A bargain, Walter Herne?”
“And this task?” Walter said. He was noticeably shaken, but his voice was strong.
“Do you truly not know what it might be?” Jack said. The power was now almost visibly dancing out of him, and there was not a person in that room who was not fixated by it.
“You need to be marked,” said Walter. “You need your
“Don’t expect too much of me, Noah,” Jack said.
There was a small silence, broken by Harry. “The PM is to make a radio broadcast this morning at eleven-fifteen,” he said. “I’m sure we all know what he has to say.”
Of course. War.
“None of us can prevent it,” Harry said. “Nothing we have done has caused it.” He gave a slight shrug. “Greed. Ambition. Brutality. It is all part of life.”
Stella rose from the table and lifted the coffee pot from the hot-plate on the buffet table. She walked around the breakfast table, refilling cups as people wanted.
“Jack,” she said, “tell us where you have been. What have you been doing for so long? Founding empires? Destroying hopes and ambitions? Breaking hearts?”
“Learning to live with myself, mostly,” Jack said quietly. “Learning about myself.” He pushed his plate away, the food only half-eaten. “For the past two hundred years I’ve been living in America. Mostly alone, inhabiting the vast forests, roaming the mountains.”
Stella sat down. “As Ringwalker?” Jack had only barely come into his responsibilities as Ringwalker, the ancient Stag God of the forests, when he had left England in the seventeenth century.
“For a greater portion of the time, yes. It was part of the journey into myself I needed to make. Other times I walked as a man—I took the identity Jack Skelton during the Civil War—and lived within a more human society.”
“Aha,” said Silvius, “and did you break hearts then?”
Jack gave a rueful smile, and slid a glance Noah’s way. “A few, no doubt. It is, after all, what I’ve been good at.”
“And the uniform, Jack?” Stella said. She’d lit a cigarette, and was leaning back in her chair, studying him.
“I use it much as Harry uses his ‘boffin’ status. It is useful, and it gets me entry to places and people I otherwise would not. It is a useful glamour—no one questions it. My papers are all in order.” Jack paused, his fingers toying with a fork. “Besides, I’ve always been more comfortable in uniform than out of it.”
“Jack the Conqueror,” Harry said with a smile, referring to Jack’s previous life as William of Normandy.
“Speaking of whom,” said Jack, “where is Matilda? And Ecub and Erith?”
“They live in London,” said Noah.
“Highbury?” Jack said. “I had a vision that they lived there.”
Noah shook her head. “Hampstead. They’re all waiting to meet you—Matilda especially.” When Jack had been William, Matilda had been his much-loved and -respected wife. “But they thought it might be a bit too much having everyone gathered here last night.”
“What else can we do for you, Jack?” said Harry. “What else do you need?”
Jack felt a little resentful at the prompt, knowing Harry referred to their conversation on the terrace the previous night. “A long talk with you, Harry. Perhaps you can walk about London with me this afternoon?”
“A pleasure. What else?”
Jack decided he might as well give Harry what he’d been waiting for. “Something Walter can do for me.” He swivelled in his chair so he could look Walter in the face.
Jack did not speak more, but as soon as Walter lifted his eyes to Jack’s, power rippled out of Jackmaking the others about the table gasp or sit up a little straighter.
“There is one last task you need to perform for me and for this land,” Jack said, “and when you have done this task, then perhaps both I and the land will let you go to your Christ and we will never make any demands upon you again. A bargain, Walter Herne?”
“And this task?” Walter said. He was noticeably shaken, but his voice was strong.
“Do you truly not know what it might be?” Jack said. The power was now almost visibly dancing out of him, and there was not a person in that room who was not fixated by it.
“You need to be marked,” said Walter. “You need your
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