Forest of Foes by Matthew Harffy

Author:Matthew Harffy [Harffy, Matthew]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781801102353
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

PART THREE

FLIGHT INTO DARKNESS

Chapter 21

Cynan’s head throbbed. Opening his eyes, he winced as the bright light lanced into his brain. With a groan, he pushed himself up on his elbow and looked about him. Slowly, the night before came back to him. Beobrand had left early with Gram and Halinard, wishing to be fresh for the big hunt. Cynan and the others had remained at Genofeva’s, where they had drunk too much of her good wine. Ingwald and Bleddyn were asleep on the floor nearby. There was no sign of any of the others. Cynan had a vague recollection of Eadgard mentioning a brothel. Grindan had been keen to go with his brother. They all knew he had been smitten by one of the girls there. A pretty young thing from a far-off land called Suriyah. Grindan spent much of his time, and all of his wealth, visiting the girl. Cynan had told him it was a bad idea to get so enthralled with a whore, but Grindan had merely shrugged and said with a twisted, sad smile, “I can no more choose what my heart will desire, than a man can choose his wyrd.”

Cynan could not argue with that, but he knew it would be hard on the man when it came time to leave. The rest of the men had been in high spirits as the drink flowed, and though they might not have been so enraptured as Grindan, they each had favourite girls they wished to visit before they departed Liyon.

Cynan had long since decided he would not seek solace between a stranger’s thighs. He wanted to continue drinking. Bleddyn, still moping over having had to leave Alpaida, was happy enough to join him. Ingwald had dutifully stayed too. Cynan knew the man had found a plump redhead he would have surely liked to see, so he urged him to go, but the older man declined.

“Emma will only cry when I tell her I must leave,” Ingwald had said. “And what man likes to hear a woman’s wailing?”

“Then don’t tell her you’re leaving,” Cynan had replied. “I thought you said you could barely understand each other anyway.”

“But if I said nothing, lord, that would be dishonest. Besides, a woman always knows such things, no matter if the man speaks the words or not. No, I will stay and drink with you until I can no longer understand anybody, or indeed speak.”

Cynan had not pressed him further, but he had never seen Ingwald so keen to drink himself into oblivion. He thought of what Grindan had said and wondered if Ingwald too might not have found love where he had not sought it.

“Good morning.” The cheery voice sliced through Cynan’s thoughts. He grimaced at the loud sound.

“Genofeva,” he said, looking up at the woman who had her back to him. She was kneading bread on a tabletop, every now and again picking up the dough and slapping it back on the board. Each thwack of the dough made Cynan flinch.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.