Marguerite Krause & Susan Sizemore - Children of the Rock 02 by Moons' Dancing

Author:Moons' Dancing
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2012-05-31T12:13:10+00:00

Jordy watched Pepper polish the old harness strap. “Rub it in, there’s my girl. A dry section can develop cracks and eventually break.”

His daughter bent closer over the piece of leather, small hands working diligently. Jordy leaned back against the wagon, hands in his trouser pockets, and gazed fondly at her bent head.

Cool air drifted in with the opening of the stable door. Lim stepped in, breathing quickly, face flushed. “Excuse me, carter. Tob said I could find you out here.”

Pepper looked up at the young man critically. “Could you please close the door?”

“What can I do for you tonight?” Jordy asked as Lim hastily drew the door closed.

“Herri says he’d like you to come to the inn. Greenmother Jenil has just arrived.”

Jordy straightened. “Has she, indeed?”

“He’s also sent for Jenk and Kessit. I saw the Greenmother. She looked solemn.”

“Jenil is always solemn,” Jordy complained automatically. And Herri never over-reacts, he added silently. “Ah, well, I’d best go down. Thanks for telling me, lad.”

Lim left on his next errand. Jordy sent Pepper to the pasture with a few carrots to catch Stockings while he went to the house to tell Cyril where he was going. When Pepper returned with Stockings, he allowed her to help him strap the riding pad across the horse’s broad back. Squinting up at the sky, he judged that the evening’s clear weather would continue all night and that the coat he was wearing would be warm enough.

Stockings, well rested from several days’ idleness, carried him to the inn in good time. Kessit was only just coming down the path from his farm. Jordy left the horse in a loose box in the stable, then went inside, where he found Canis and Lannal already talking with Herri.

Jenil remained quiet while they waited for Jenk. Lim had not misrepresented her mood, nor was it the self-important solemnity that so grated on Jordy’s nerves. She was worried. She was also sitting in his favorite chair. He sat across the table from her and talked archery with Canis.

When Jenk arrived, Jenil waited until everyone had found seats and the beer jug had been passed once around before speaking.

“The minstrel Ivey visited me in Garden Vale several ninedays ago,” she began. “On his way to Edian. At that time, things were very tense along the Rhenlan-Dherrica border.”

“Define ‘tense,’ ” Canis said.

“Guards on both sides questioning travelers, searching merchants’ wagons, establishing camps near bridges and crossroads.”

Kessit lifted his mug in Jordy’s direction, the gesture earning several nods of acknowledgment. “Jordy told us that sort of thing has been happening all over Rhenlan.”

“Your news, Greenmother,” Herri suggested.

Jenil refused to be hurried. “The tension, in Ivey’s opinion, is the result of uncertainty. This has been Dherrica’s problem for years, but since the end of the summer conditions have also worsened in Sitrine and Rhenlan. The king’s guards of Rhenlan are more numerous than ever. In Sitrine, Prince Chasa himself is patrolling the border.”

Jordy leaned toward her. “Stop delaying, woman. What news?”

“The messenger reached Garden Vale at midday.

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