The Deryni Archives by Katherine Kurtz

Author:Katherine Kurtz [Kurtz, Katherine]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: deryni
ISBN: 9780345326782
Google: cawEMgEACAAJ
Goodreads: 537122
Publisher: Del Rey
Published: 1986-01-01T22:00:00+00:00

“Yes.”

“Then, I’ll buy him for what he’d bring from the butchers! And I-I’ll buy another proper horse from you as well. I had my eye on two others.”

The man stroked his jaw thoughtfully.

“Which two?”

“Well, there was a dark brown one-very muscular-and a bay with odd white forelegs.”

“Ah. The bay is one of mine,” the man said. “I’m asking two hundred gold marks for him. Give me three and you can have him and this one.”

“Julius!” the man in mail admonished. “That’s usurous! Dead, this animal isn’t worth twenty, hide and all.”

“He is if he can eventually stand at stud, my lord,” Julius said.

“But that’s a gamble,” the mail-clad man pointed out. “And you were ready to put the animal down. Let the boy have both for two-fifty, and you’ll have made far more from your bad luck than you deserve.”

Page 86

“Well-”

“Come on, Julius,” the man wheedled. “I’ll buy that black mare at the ridiculous price you’re asking.”

“And her foal?”

“And her foal,” the man agreed. “But only for an additional fifty. And that’s doing you a favor!”

“Oh, very well. You drive a hard bargain, my lord.”

As the two men shook hands, Derry could hardly believe his good fortune, for the agreed price was hardly half what the chestnut was worth-if Derry could make good his boast to repair the injury.

A groom brought a bucket of water, and Derry began carefully sponging out the stallion’s wound, amazed that the animal did not protest. Indeed, the powerful warhorse had grown as meek and quiet as a lamb under the hands of the stranger lord in mail. Derry’s head was beginning to throb from the blow to his jaw, and his own blood ran down his left arm as he worked, mingling with the stallion’s, but he paid it no mind- nor to his own growing discomfort. He would be all right until he stood up, at least. His Uncle Trevor came to crouch beside him, unrolling a small medical kit with needles and sutures, and Romare, the blacksmith from Castle Derry, eased closer to inspect the injury.

“I’ve boasted about your talents, Romare,” Derry murmured, “but you’ve taught me everything I know about horses. Can we save him?”

“Since you’ve bought him, it’s certainly worth a try, m’lord,” Romare replied. “But why don’t you let me take over here? I can throw sutures as well as the next man. And someone ought to see your arm. You’re bleeding more than you think.”

“He’s right, you know,” said the man in mail, reaching across to grasp Derry’s arm below the laceration as Derry rose wobblingly, steadying himself with a hand against the stallion’s side. “From the looks of it, you’re going to need a few sutures yourself. That’s quite a lump you’ve got on your jaw, too.”

Bloodstained fingers lifted to lightly brush the knot, already bruising. “Randolph, would you take a look at this, when you’re finished with the groom?”

Derry had time to note only pale grey eyes and a shock of short-cropped yellow hair above the man’s mail shirt before his vision went dark, and he fainted.

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