Read Online The Heirs of Hammerfell by Marion Zimmer Bradley - Free Book Online
Authors: Marion Zimmer Bradley
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mountains, men show
more courtesy; they come properly to a woman's male kinsmen and ask leave to pay
court to her."
Well, she could not blame him; she had brought him up to the habits and customs of their mountain kinsmen, and bade him never forget that he was Duke of Hammerfell. If this was what he now thought himself, it was the product of her own teaching.
"Night is falling; we should go in," she said.
"The dew is falling; shall I fetch your shawl, Mother?"
"I am not yet so old as that!" she said, exasperated, as he took her arm. "Whatever you think of him, my son, Valentine said one thing which made sense."
"And what was that, Mother?"
"He said that you were a man, and that if you wished to recover Hammerfell, you would somehow have to recover it for yourself."
Alastair nodded. He said, "This has been much on my mind, Mother, these last three years. Yet I hardly know where to start. I cannot, after all, ride to Storn Heights and ask old Lord Storn, or whoever sits in his place these days, to give me the keys. Yet if these Hastur-lords truly value justice as they say, it occurs to me that they might be willing to lend me armed men to recapture it; or at least they might be willing to make public acknowledgment that Hammerfell is mine and Storn holds it unlawfully. Do you think our kinsman Valentine could get me an audience with the king?"
"I am quite sure of it," Erminie said; she was glad to know that her son had been thinking on the matter. So far there was not much of a plan; but if he was willing to seek counsel of older and wiser heads, at least that was a good beginning.
"Surely you remember we have a concert to attend this evening, Mother?"
"Of course," she replied. But for some reason, she did not wish to mention why this evening's plans had particular significance for her.
As Erminie went to her rooms to summon her lady-companion to dress her for the
concert, she felt a curious foreboding, as if this evening would be fateful, and she could not imagine why.
When she was dressed in a gown of rust-colored satin that set off her shining hair to perfection, a garland of green jewels at her slender throat, she went down to join her son.
"How fine you look tonight, Mother," he said. "I was afraid you would insist on wearing your Tower robes; but you have dressed as is fitting to our station and I am proud of you."
"Are you, indeed? Then I am glad of the trouble I have taken to dress tonight." Alastair himself was wearing a laced tunic and knee breeches of gold satin, set off with dark yellow sleeves and black lacings; around his neck he wore a pendant of gleaming carved amber. His red hair was curled elaborately just above his shoulders; he looked so much like her childhood playmate Alaric that even after so many years, Erminie felt a lump rise in her throat. Well, he was, after all, Alaric's half-brother; this tie to her long-dead kinsman was among the reasons, though not the primary one, which had impelled her to marry Rascard of Hammerfell.
"You, too, are handsome tonight, my dear son," she said, and thought, It will not be long that he is content to escort his mother to such events; I should enjoy his companionship while I still have it. Alastair went to
summon his mother a sedan chair, the commonest public conveyance in the streets of Thendara, and rode beside her chair toward the palatial building which had been
constructed last year for concerts and such performances in the great public market of Thendara.
The great square was crowded with sedan chairs, mostly the drab black public
conveyances, but a few richly hung and decorated brilliantly with embroidered or
jeweled coats of arms.
Alastair, giving his horse to one of the grooms of the public stable, assisted his mother to alight, and said, "We should have our own chair, Mother; you should not have to summon a common chair whenever you wish to go abroad; we should have one made
with the arms of Hammerfell. It would be much more fitting to
more courtesy; they come properly to a woman's male kinsmen and ask leave to pay
court to her."
Well, she could not blame him; she had brought him up to the habits and customs of their mountain kinsmen, and bade him never forget that he was Duke of Hammerfell. If this was what he now thought himself, it was the product of her own teaching.
"Night is falling; we should go in," she said.
"The dew is falling; shall I fetch your shawl, Mother?"
"I am not yet so old as that!" she said, exasperated, as he took her arm. "Whatever you think of him, my son, Valentine said one thing which made sense."
"And what was that, Mother?"
"He said that you were a man, and that if you wished to recover Hammerfell, you would somehow have to recover it for yourself."
Alastair nodded. He said, "This has been much on my mind, Mother, these last three years. Yet I hardly know where to start. I cannot, after all, ride to Storn Heights and ask old Lord Storn, or whoever sits in his place these days, to give me the keys. Yet if these Hastur-lords truly value justice as they say, it occurs to me that they might be willing to lend me armed men to recapture it; or at least they might be willing to make public acknowledgment that Hammerfell is mine and Storn holds it unlawfully. Do you think our kinsman Valentine could get me an audience with the king?"
"I am quite sure of it," Erminie said; she was glad to know that her son had been thinking on the matter. So far there was not much of a plan; but if he was willing to seek counsel of older and wiser heads, at least that was a good beginning.
"Surely you remember we have a concert to attend this evening, Mother?"
"Of course," she replied. But for some reason, she did not wish to mention why this evening's plans had particular significance for her.
As Erminie went to her rooms to summon her lady-companion to dress her for the
concert, she felt a curious foreboding, as if this evening would be fateful, and she could not imagine why.
When she was dressed in a gown of rust-colored satin that set off her shining hair to perfection, a garland of green jewels at her slender throat, she went down to join her son.
"How fine you look tonight, Mother," he said. "I was afraid you would insist on wearing your Tower robes; but you have dressed as is fitting to our station and I am proud of you."
"Are you, indeed? Then I am glad of the trouble I have taken to dress tonight." Alastair himself was wearing a laced tunic and knee breeches of gold satin, set off with dark yellow sleeves and black lacings; around his neck he wore a pendant of gleaming carved amber. His red hair was curled elaborately just above his shoulders; he looked so much like her childhood playmate Alaric that even after so many years, Erminie felt a lump rise in her throat. Well, he was, after all, Alaric's half-brother; this tie to her long-dead kinsman was among the reasons, though not the primary one, which had impelled her to marry Rascard of Hammerfell.
"You, too, are handsome tonight, my dear son," she said, and thought, It will not be long that he is content to escort his mother to such events; I should enjoy his companionship while I still have it. Alastair went to
summon his mother a sedan chair, the commonest public conveyance in the streets of Thendara, and rode beside her chair toward the palatial building which had been
constructed last year for concerts and such performances in the great public market of Thendara.
The great square was crowded with sedan chairs, mostly the drab black public
conveyances, but a few richly hung and decorated brilliantly with embroidered or
jeweled coats of arms.
Alastair, giving his horse to one of the grooms of the public stable, assisted his mother to alight, and said, "We should have our own chair, Mother; you should not have to summon a common chair whenever you wish to go abroad; we should have one made
with the arms of Hammerfell. It would be much more fitting to
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