The Stone Maiden (The Celtic Nights Series, Book 1) by King Susan

Author:King, Susan [King, Susan]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: ePublishing Works!
Published: 2013-06-27T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

"There is a boundary stone down there," Alainna called down to Sebastien. "Do you see it?" She stood on the shoulder of a steep hill far above him.

"I found it," Sebastien called, waving. He stood at the base of the hill, where a burn flowed fast. He dropped down to scoop a quick, cold drink with his hand, drying his fingers on his cloak. On the bank was a large rock painted white, the stone he sought. He stood again, narrowing his eyes to scan the hills and estimate how far he and Alainna had walked from the last boundary marker farther along the same winding burn.

For much of the morning, they had climbed ever higher into the hills, where the slopes were brown and barren and rocky, where the wind whipped past and thick white mist obscured the peaks.

He took his wax tablet and bone stylus from his belt pouch and wrote a few notes about the stone's location. Then he walked back up the hill, where Alainna waited beside a large boulder.

"May I see?" she asked, extending her hand. "Have you made a map of Kinlochan?"

He hesitated. "A simple one," he said, as he handed her the wax tablet. She studied the tiny drawing he had made showing the approximate shape of the property, with loch, fortress, and the long, wide burn marked there. Then she looked at the small, careful drawing in one corner.

"I did not know you had such a fine hand for drawing," she said. "This little castle is excellently made. Is it one that you have seen somewhere?"

He held his hand out, but she kept the tablet. "It is my own design."

"It is lovely. And I like the three towers in the walls. I imagine there is nothing like it in the Highlands. Is this what Kinlochan castle will look like when it is made?"

He shrugged. "Mayhap it will." He took the tablet from her hands, sliding it back into his leather pouch.

"So you understand mapmaking and building?"

He gave her a flat smile. "Did you think I am interested only in matters of war, or jousting, or standing guard for kings?"

"I have seen you practice for war and ride out to hunt. And of course I have seen you stand guard for the king. But that is all."

"I would design buildings," he said, "if I had not become a knight in the service of a liege lord. If I had been given the privilege of a university education, I would have studied the art of architecture."

He looked out over the sweep of the slope as he spoke, aware that he had rarely voiced that wish to anyone. The drawing of the castle might seem simple to someone else, but it represented something precious and private to him.

He had studied and sketched many structures over the years, fascinated since childhood by their design. He had learned much through observation, through reading whatever he could find in the libraries of the noble lords he served,

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