Read Online The Stumpwork Robe (The Chronicles of Eirie 1) by Prue Batten - Free Book Online Page B

forward in her hands. From the muffled space came an enquiry. ‘But you are Other, aren’t you?’ She looked up then, her face pale and wan.
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘And you won’t hurt me?’
    Liam stilled, a momentous silence in which his fingers moved the pawn backwards and forwards across the board. And then, ‘I think not.’
    She allowed him to help her up and he hoisted her bag over his shoulder. He saw her crook on the ground but unable touch it, he gestured. ‘Ana, your staff. I can’t...’
    She bent and retrieved the carved staff, the shiver of bells casting a twin shiver over Liam. ‘I’m sorry,’ she muttered, whipping off the woolen cap, tendrils of hair flying around her face. She wrapped the head of the crook in its soft confines so the bells were silenced. ‘I had no idea its power was so strong, I'm a mortal after all. Could I have used it against the wight?’ She ran her fingers down the smooth wood as if touching her father’s hand.
    ‘You could if the wight hadn’t enchanted you. After that, you had no control over anything you did. Your crook, even though it was lying by your feet, was no protection because you couldn’t hold it. Now come, I’ll take you away from here.’
    Liam had been guiding her gently toward his horse but she pulled back from the masculine hands, as if his touch had become repellent and repugnant in an instant. ‘No!’
    His eyebrows rose in response.
    ‘It’s kind of you.’ she stood still, brushing the loose hair out of her face. ‘But I must meet my friends on the highway in an hour.’ She avoided his gaze as if he represented something distasteful.
    As he had retired the evening before, he had stared at his reflection in the mirror and wondered what she saw when she gazed upon him. Not handsome, there were prettier fellows. But the planes of his face were equal and strong and his nose was long and well shaped and when he smiled he could charm and he believed she would feel drawn to him as iron filings to a magnet. He grinned. ‘Of course. I realise you had to be here in the Weald for a purpose. Let me take you to the highway on my horse.’
    She bit her lip. He could imagine her tremulous thoughts: Yes, no, should I, could I?
    ‘Come now, Ana. I am no shape-shifter. I am Faeran but my offer is harmless.’ He held out the hand that yesterday had swung her off the log and noticed a faint blush on her cheeks as she reached forward with cautious fingers. ‘Right then, if we can just work out how to deal with your crook, we can mount my horse and go.’ He began tying her tote to the pommel of the saddle and then turned as he caught sight of her wrestling the crook in the corner of his eye. She had taken off her coat and slipped the crook through the armholes and then re-buttoned it at her neck with the top button. It hung down her back like an absurd mantle, the arms horizontal and stiff like a scarecrow. Liam laughed. ‘Well if nothing else you’re resourceful. But I can’t haul you up behind. Climb the fallen log over there and slide on behind me.’ He jumped on his horse and guided it to the side of the temporary mounting block. With only slight difficulty, Ana slipped over the dappled back to position herself astride, arms tentatively holding Liam’s waist, trying to keep the crook clear of his body. The journey up the valley proceeded gently, the horse happy to amble with its added cargo. For a little while there was no sound from either Liam or Ana until she shifted and he reached behind and slipped a hand over her arm. She flinched. ‘You’re alright?’ he said.
    ‘Yes, I’m fine.’ She gave a sigh. ‘I often rode like this with my Pa.’
    ‘But I’ll wager not with a crook sticking out of your shoulders.’
    ‘No, Pa had a special sling made and it hung down his horse’s shoulder so he could grab it in a hurry if needs be.’
    ‘Ah. A Faeran horse wouldn’t cope with it at all, let alone his rider.’
    ‘What does it feel like?’