Read Online Llewellyn’s Song by Samantha Winston - Free Book Online Page A

of it was wonder
that he’d found someone who could fill that aching emptiness he’d felt for so
long. But soon the wonder and hunger faded, and he fell into a deep slumber.

Chapter Seven
    Frostbone
     
    The next morning Tamara woke and saw she was alone. She didn’t
worry. Llewellyn would be off hunting. They needed supplies. She washed, donned
her clothes and set off to gather some food. The camp was set in a deep valley.
At the foot of the camp was a rushing stream. Tamara followed the stream until
she found a likely spot, and then she dug for cattail roots, dog-tooth violet
roots, and even some old dandelion greens and roots. In the winter food was
harder to find, but Tamara had grown up in these valleys and she knew where to
look.
    Her pouch filled, she wandered back to the camp. Her stomach
might be empty, but her mind was full. She had chosen Llewellyn without his
consent. Perhaps now he accepted that. They were alone together, and she could
help him on his quest. But what about when they returned to his homeland? He
might not be as enamored with the idea of being married. He had been in love
with his brother’s wife—he’d admitted as much. She was now Queen of Hivernia.
They would be expected to spend time there. None of her clan sisters or mothers
had ever, to her knowledge, been to Hivernia. For one thing, the clan was not
allowed to stray out of their valleys. And that was another thing bothering
her. She’d had time to think her actions through and knew what she’d given up.
But now that the act was done and she’d committed herself, she was starting to
doubt.
    She looked up and saw Llewellyn’s tall silhouette near the entrance
of the cave. Her heart gave a funny flutter then. His straight black hair was plaited
and he’d affixed a blue feather to the braid. His eye patch covered the deep
hole where his eye had been, but his other eye was deep amethyst, sometimes
cold, sometimes burning. He turned and saw her, and a tremor seemed to run
through him. He flashed her a wide, white grin. Something deep inside her
unknotted and she smiled back.
    “I’ve got some roots for us.”
    “Splendid. I managed to snare a rabbit and brought down a
pheasant. If you want, there is some meat on the spit. We should leave soon. I
want to make it to Frostbone’s territory before the real snows start.”
    They ate and then set the camp up for the next travelers.
Taking their meager belongings, they set out once again. Tamara felt better
each day. She was still not perfectly healed, but each hour that passed gained
her new strength. She was glad, for she knew she would need it to face the ice
demon king.
    Three days passed before they reached the outskirts of
Frostbone’s land. It was marked by standing stones. Huge menhirs, some thrice
as tall as a man, stood in ragged lines. Tamara paused before stepping through.
    Llewellyn put his hand on the stones and spoke clearly. “Frostbone,
it is I, Llewellyn Fairnight. I have come to speak of matters that concern us
both.”
    “Can he hear you?” Tamara turned and watched, disquiet
prickling up and down her back.
    “He said to use the stones to call him. I think we best wait
here.”
    Tamara looked around. They stood on a windy plateau. The
stones stretched as far as the eye could see in both directions, and in both
directions there were no trees, no shelter from the biting wind. “Even I, a
stone elf, as you call me, can feel the bitter cold of this place. I hope we
will find shelter soon.”
    “Don’t count on it,” said Llewellyn. He wrapped his cloak
twice around himself for warmth and nodded to Tamara to do the same. “Conserve
your body heat and strength. The ice demons need cold to survive. I think we
may find out what it feels like to freeze before this interview is over.”
    They huddled together. Night fell, and the stars blazed
above them. Tamara started to feel the chill seeping into her bones. It made
her remember lying on the floor of the cave when the