Read Online The Last Light of the Sun by Guy Gavriel Kay - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Guy Gavriel Kay
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“Since I found a Cadyri raiding party looking at your farm.”
Brynn laughed aloud. His laugh, like his voice, could overflow a room. “Well, thank you for deciding I’d sort out that much.” He drank thirstily, refilled his cup again. “They seem good lads, mind you. Jad knows, I did my share of raiding when young.”
“And their father.”
“Jad curse his eyes and hands,” Brynn said, though without force. “My royal cousin in Beda wants to know what to do about Owyn, you know.”
“I know. I’ll tell him when I get to Beda. With Owyn’s two sons beside me.” The cleric’s turn to grin this time.
He leaned back against the cool stone wall beside the window. Earthly pleasures: an old friend, food and wine, a day with some good unexpectedly done. There were learned men who taught withdrawal from the traps and tangles of the world. There was even a doctrinal movement afoot in Rhodias to deny marriage to clerics now, following the eastern, Sarantine rule, making them ascetics, detached from distractions of the flesh—and the complexities of having heirs to provide for.
Ceinion of Llywerth had always thought—and had written the High Patriarch in Rhodias, and others—that this was wrong thinking and even heresy, an outright denial of Jad’s full gift of life. Better to turn your love of the world into an honouring of the god, and if a wife died, or children, your own knowledge of sorrow might make you better able to counsel others, and comfort them. You lived with loss as they did. And shared their pleasures, too.
His words, written and spoken, mattered to others, by Jad’s holy grace. He was skilled at this sort of argument but didn’t know if he would be on the winning side ofthis one. The three provinces of the Cyngael were a long way from Rhodias, at the edge of the world, the misty borders of pagan belief. North of the north wind, the phrase went.
He sipped his wine, looking at his friend. Brynn’s expression was sly at the moment, amusingly so. “Happen to see the way Dai ab Owyn looked at my Rhiannon, did you?”
Ceinion took care that his own manner did not change. He had, in fact, seen it—and something else. “She’s a remarkable young woman,” he murmured.
“Her mother’s daughter. Same spirit to her. I’m an entirely beaten man, I tell you.” Brynn was smiling as he said this. “We solve a problem that way? Owyn’s heir handled by my girl?”
Ceinion kept his look noncommittal. “Certainly a useful match.”
“The lad’s already lost his head, I’d wager.” He chuckled. “Not the first to do so, with Rhiannon.”
“And your daughter?” Ceinion asked, perhaps unwisely.
Some fathers would have been startled, or offered an oath—what mattered the girl’s wishes in these things? But Brynn ap Hywll didn’t do that. Ceinion watched, and by the lamplight saw the big man, his old friend, grow thoughtful. Too much so. The cleric offered an inward, mildly blasphemous curse, and immediately sought—also silently—the god’s forgiveness for that.
“Interesting song the younger one sang before the meal, wasn’t it?”
There it was. A shrewd man, Ceinion thought ruefully. Much more than a warrior with a two-handed sword.
“It was,” he said, still keeping his own counsel. This was all too soon. He temporized. “Your bard was out of countenance.”
“Amund? It was too good, you mean? The song?”
“Not that. Though it was impressive. No, Alun ab Owyn breached the laws for such things. Only licensed bards are allowed to improvise in company. Your harper will need appeasing.”
“Spiky man, Amund. Not easily softened, if you are right.”
“I am right. Call it a word offered the wise.”
Brynn looked at him. “And your other question? About Rhiannon? What sort of word was that?”
Ceinion sighed. It had been a mistake. “I wish you weren’t clever, sometimes.”
“Have to be. To keep up in this family. She liked the … song, you think?”
“I think
Brynn laughed aloud. His laugh, like his voice, could overflow a room. “Well, thank you for deciding I’d sort out that much.” He drank thirstily, refilled his cup again. “They seem good lads, mind you. Jad knows, I did my share of raiding when young.”
“And their father.”
“Jad curse his eyes and hands,” Brynn said, though without force. “My royal cousin in Beda wants to know what to do about Owyn, you know.”
“I know. I’ll tell him when I get to Beda. With Owyn’s two sons beside me.” The cleric’s turn to grin this time.
He leaned back against the cool stone wall beside the window. Earthly pleasures: an old friend, food and wine, a day with some good unexpectedly done. There were learned men who taught withdrawal from the traps and tangles of the world. There was even a doctrinal movement afoot in Rhodias to deny marriage to clerics now, following the eastern, Sarantine rule, making them ascetics, detached from distractions of the flesh—and the complexities of having heirs to provide for.
Ceinion of Llywerth had always thought—and had written the High Patriarch in Rhodias, and others—that this was wrong thinking and even heresy, an outright denial of Jad’s full gift of life. Better to turn your love of the world into an honouring of the god, and if a wife died, or children, your own knowledge of sorrow might make you better able to counsel others, and comfort them. You lived with loss as they did. And shared their pleasures, too.
His words, written and spoken, mattered to others, by Jad’s holy grace. He was skilled at this sort of argument but didn’t know if he would be on the winning side ofthis one. The three provinces of the Cyngael were a long way from Rhodias, at the edge of the world, the misty borders of pagan belief. North of the north wind, the phrase went.
He sipped his wine, looking at his friend. Brynn’s expression was sly at the moment, amusingly so. “Happen to see the way Dai ab Owyn looked at my Rhiannon, did you?”
Ceinion took care that his own manner did not change. He had, in fact, seen it—and something else. “She’s a remarkable young woman,” he murmured.
“Her mother’s daughter. Same spirit to her. I’m an entirely beaten man, I tell you.” Brynn was smiling as he said this. “We solve a problem that way? Owyn’s heir handled by my girl?”
Ceinion kept his look noncommittal. “Certainly a useful match.”
“The lad’s already lost his head, I’d wager.” He chuckled. “Not the first to do so, with Rhiannon.”
“And your daughter?” Ceinion asked, perhaps unwisely.
Some fathers would have been startled, or offered an oath—what mattered the girl’s wishes in these things? But Brynn ap Hywll didn’t do that. Ceinion watched, and by the lamplight saw the big man, his old friend, grow thoughtful. Too much so. The cleric offered an inward, mildly blasphemous curse, and immediately sought—also silently—the god’s forgiveness for that.
“Interesting song the younger one sang before the meal, wasn’t it?”
There it was. A shrewd man, Ceinion thought ruefully. Much more than a warrior with a two-handed sword.
“It was,” he said, still keeping his own counsel. This was all too soon. He temporized. “Your bard was out of countenance.”
“Amund? It was too good, you mean? The song?”
“Not that. Though it was impressive. No, Alun ab Owyn breached the laws for such things. Only licensed bards are allowed to improvise in company. Your harper will need appeasing.”
“Spiky man, Amund. Not easily softened, if you are right.”
“I am right. Call it a word offered the wise.”
Brynn looked at him. “And your other question? About Rhiannon? What sort of word was that?”
Ceinion sighed. It had been a mistake. “I wish you weren’t clever, sometimes.”
“Have to be. To keep up in this family. She liked the … song, you think?”
“I think
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