The Hidden Coronet by Catherine Fisher

Author:Catherine Fisher [Fisher, Catherine]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Social Science, Apprentices, Fantasy Fiction, Juvenile Fiction, Antiquities, Fantasy & Magic, Fiction, Fantasy, General, Archaeology, Business; Careers; Occupations
ISBN: 9780803736757
Amazon: B00ANYKJJK
Publisher: Dial
Published: 2011-07-12T04:00:00+00:00

15

Like a bear to honey,

Moths to the flame,

We seek our destruction.

We have not learned how to be happy,

How to stop our headlong rush to death.

Poems of Anjar Kar

SOLON WAS WASHING.

He had stripped to the waist and Raffi could see the scars on his back and hands; horrible, twisted marks. He soaped himself in the hot water he had begged from the ale-wife, meticulously rubbing every inch of his skin. Maybe it was all that time in the cells, Raffi thought, that had made him so obsessive.

“He could go straight to them!” Galen raged.

“He won’t.” Solon groped for the towel. “He’s an outlaw.”

“Not if he sells us for his freedom.”

“My son.” The Archkeeper crossed the creaking boards and caught Galen’s arm. “You are sometimes like a tortured soul. Be still. I know Marco better than you do. He’s a rogue and a heretic, but he and I suffered in the same chains. He won’t betray me.”

Galen folded his arms. “I pray to God you’re right.”

“Which is exactly what we should be doing.” Solon pulled his shirt on over his head. Then he glanced back. “You have little fear of the Watch. But you have a deep hatred for what you think Marco is. Beware of it, Galen.”

Silent, Galen nodded.

They said the morning Litany, Raffi making the responses in a sleepy voice, wary of listeners at the door. Overnight the snow had fallen heavily; now it lay deep over the little town, clogging the narrow streets.

As they finished, Marco wandered in, chewing a large piece of bread.

“Breakfast is ready.”

Solon and Galen glanced at each other.

“So that’s where you’ve been.” Solon climbed to his feet.

“Where else? Chatting up the ale-wife. Her name is Emmy. She’s got three small sons and her husband is away.” He winked at Raffi. “She’s pretty too.”

Solon sighed. “Stop teasing the boy and lead the way. Sometimes I think I should have left you to the rope.”

“Not me, Your Eminence.” He glanced at Galen. “Just think how dull your life would have been.”

After breakfast they decided to work in pairs; Solon divided the money and they went out into the snow. All down the narrow streets shovels were scraping, voices rang sharp as bells in the frosty air. The wind raced, sending cloud shadows over the white plain below. Galen glanced up. “The wind’s rising.”

“The weather is certainly strange,” Solon mused. “We’d best keep enough money for another night’s lodging. We’ll meet you back at the inn.”

Watching Solon and Marco turn the corner Raffi said, “Will they be all right?”

Galen’s look was hard. “Solon thinks so.”

Trudging after the keeper between the heaps of cleared snow, Raffi tried a few sense-lines, but the world seemed icy and blurred, and all he felt was a cat in the house they were passing, rhythmically licking its tail, over and over.

He bumped into Galen.

“Stay alert,” the keeper snapped. He peered around a corner. “Any trouble, just walk away.”

The market was busy. People were desperate to buy food in case the weather worsened; there was an air of panic and fear.

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