The Book of Knights by Yves Meynard

Author:Yves Meynard
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tor Publishing Group
Published: 2004-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

Adelrune sat down in a comfortable armchair of withe and shook his head in wonder. He put down his backpack next to the bed and stretched. Wandering about the house he found a bathroom with a small tub full of cold seawater. A sphere of hard soap fragrant with seaweed and spices rested on a shelf next to the tub. Adelrune undressed and washed himself, shivering from the touch of the water. He dared not wash his clothes in the tub and so put them back on, rumpled and stale though they might be. As he dressed, he heard a bell pealing eleven times, a deep sound that seemed to echo from the walls.

He went out of the house, leaving his weapons behind, save for his dagger. Again the scale of the Ship staggered him. People in their hundreds walked everywhere he turned. Some of them eyed him curiously. Adelrune, possessed of a sudden shyness, smiled at them but did not speak. He wandered here and there, crossed the Town and came to the stand of trees. He made his way inward a few hundred yards and it was as if he walked once more within a forest. He saw a russet squirrel perched on an oak limb, heard the twitter of small birds. In a small clearing, a fairy ring of mushrooms grew from underneath a carpet of ancient fallen leaves. Trees surrounded him in every direction, as if this forest were limitless.

Seized by an emotion that was not dread so much as a sense of psychic suffocation, Adelrune found himself running toward the Town, to stand suddenly gasping at the edge of the false forest, where the planking of the Ship’s main deck became visible.

He returned subduedly to his room and found a meal waiting for him. He ate in solitude, and afterward went out on deck and sauntered over to the gunwale, and stood gazing out at the land. From the town of Corrado a few small boats—like toys from his vantage—laden with merchandise came to the Ship, and returned shortly after, carrying bales of cloth and other trade goods.

The sun neared the western horizon. Adelrune returned to his room to pick up his lance and made his way to the aft-mast.

The palace was a large edifice of wood and stone, with tall towers and sweeping wings, and windows of colored glass. The wooden walls were carved to show scenes from myth and legends, half-human gods and nameless heroes fighting, loving, dying. Adelrune asked an old man where he might find the banqueting hall. Following his directions, Adelrune entered the palace and soon reached a grand hall at the end of which a pair of massive doors stood closed. A small crowd of people had gathered there, and awaited the opening of the doors. Aware of the unusual figure he cut, Adelrune stood to one side, eyes downcast. After a while Sawyd found him. She had taken off her armor and now wore a smart tobacco-colored vest over a gray shirt and dark breeches, with well-polished boots of whaleskin.

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