Read Online The Blight of Muirwood by Jeff Wheeler - Free Book Online
Authors: Jeff Wheeler
Tags: Fantasy
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seriously, regarding the bitten piece of fruit. “That we must be near the garden where the first Parents met. It was probably the garden where we found Maderos, remember? Imagine if that was it.”
Colvin shook his head. “That has not changed. You still mock subjects that you know little or nothing about.”
With a sweet smile, she asked, “How could I know all that, if no one will teach me to read?” She took another bite. “We know so very little about those ancient days, Colvin. What would have happened if our first Parents had not bitten the apple together, at the same moment?”
“You presume it was an apple. The tomes only say ‘fruit’. There are, after all, other things they might have eaten.”
“Yes, but there is something less than forbidding to the imagination about biting into a pumpkin. What would have happened if they did not eat it at the same time? What if Father ate it first?”
“There still would have been a punishment,” Colvin countered. “That is the point, Lia, not who ate it first or what fruit it was. Maybe in another world, she took the first bite and suffered the first punishment. But you did not come all this way here to talk about the fruit of knowledge and what it means. Sit down at that stump. I owe you an explanation for my actions. You may not believe me, but I do regret that it happened. You probably believe I was a faithless knave – I am sure you did. Please…sit while we talk.”
There was a patch of grass that looked much more inviting, so she sat there, enjoying another taste of the apple and the fact that Colvin had climbed a tree to find it, and then waited for him to speak. Because of what the Aldermaston had explained that morning, she thought she knew most of it already.
He did not join her on the grass, but stood nearby, examining a branch crowned with leaves. “The day I left you, I told the Aldermaston that I would pay for your learning. He knew I was to be invested as the Earl of Forshee. It was not an issue of money that he refused me. He said he did not want to draw attention to you more than had already been done. After Winterrowd, I thought it would be safe, but he warned me that I was mistaken. Other earls would oppose Demont and rise in rebellion. It came to pass just as he said. He warned me not to reveal what you had done for me to anyone, not even Demont. It was for your protection and the protection of Muirwood. The only exception I negotiated was my sister. She knows.”
Lia frowned. “Am I forbidden to see you?”
He looked down at her and shook his head. “No, the prohibition is over. I am a guest now, a personal guest of the Aldermaston. It is only natural that his hunter would be asked to accompany me or be seen with me. It is not an uncommon practice among my peers to hunt and hawk. I enjoy it myself. There is more, though. When our little army returned to Comoros with the young king for the coronation, Demont gave me a formidable task. He had depended on me during the battle and knew that my father had sworn, at one time, allegiance to his father. He told me about the existence of his niece – a secret that I knew from my father. I had been told of it as a child. You see, when the old king destroyed Pry-Ree, he wanted to ensure that no prince would rise in the future to unite the people against him. Years ago, the lord prince of Pry-Ree married Demont’s sister. They were husband and wife when the old king began his invasion. She was great with child at the time, and he had to leave her to defend his lands. During the war the child was born – a daughter. Sadly, the birthing killed the mother.” He looked at her seriously and Lia swallowed, unable to keep eating.
Her heart burned inside her.
Colvin’s voice was soft. “Much we do not know. Those who survived say the lord prince was so bereft losing his young wife that the Medium ceased aiding him. He fell into an ambush and was killed by the king’s men. His head was fixed to
Colvin shook his head. “That has not changed. You still mock subjects that you know little or nothing about.”
With a sweet smile, she asked, “How could I know all that, if no one will teach me to read?” She took another bite. “We know so very little about those ancient days, Colvin. What would have happened if our first Parents had not bitten the apple together, at the same moment?”
“You presume it was an apple. The tomes only say ‘fruit’. There are, after all, other things they might have eaten.”
“Yes, but there is something less than forbidding to the imagination about biting into a pumpkin. What would have happened if they did not eat it at the same time? What if Father ate it first?”
“There still would have been a punishment,” Colvin countered. “That is the point, Lia, not who ate it first or what fruit it was. Maybe in another world, she took the first bite and suffered the first punishment. But you did not come all this way here to talk about the fruit of knowledge and what it means. Sit down at that stump. I owe you an explanation for my actions. You may not believe me, but I do regret that it happened. You probably believe I was a faithless knave – I am sure you did. Please…sit while we talk.”
There was a patch of grass that looked much more inviting, so she sat there, enjoying another taste of the apple and the fact that Colvin had climbed a tree to find it, and then waited for him to speak. Because of what the Aldermaston had explained that morning, she thought she knew most of it already.
He did not join her on the grass, but stood nearby, examining a branch crowned with leaves. “The day I left you, I told the Aldermaston that I would pay for your learning. He knew I was to be invested as the Earl of Forshee. It was not an issue of money that he refused me. He said he did not want to draw attention to you more than had already been done. After Winterrowd, I thought it would be safe, but he warned me that I was mistaken. Other earls would oppose Demont and rise in rebellion. It came to pass just as he said. He warned me not to reveal what you had done for me to anyone, not even Demont. It was for your protection and the protection of Muirwood. The only exception I negotiated was my sister. She knows.”
Lia frowned. “Am I forbidden to see you?”
He looked down at her and shook his head. “No, the prohibition is over. I am a guest now, a personal guest of the Aldermaston. It is only natural that his hunter would be asked to accompany me or be seen with me. It is not an uncommon practice among my peers to hunt and hawk. I enjoy it myself. There is more, though. When our little army returned to Comoros with the young king for the coronation, Demont gave me a formidable task. He had depended on me during the battle and knew that my father had sworn, at one time, allegiance to his father. He told me about the existence of his niece – a secret that I knew from my father. I had been told of it as a child. You see, when the old king destroyed Pry-Ree, he wanted to ensure that no prince would rise in the future to unite the people against him. Years ago, the lord prince of Pry-Ree married Demont’s sister. They were husband and wife when the old king began his invasion. She was great with child at the time, and he had to leave her to defend his lands. During the war the child was born – a daughter. Sadly, the birthing killed the mother.” He looked at her seriously and Lia swallowed, unable to keep eating.
Her heart burned inside her.
Colvin’s voice was soft. “Much we do not know. Those who survived say the lord prince was so bereft losing his young wife that the Medium ceased aiding him. He fell into an ambush and was killed by the king’s men. His head was fixed to
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