VIII by H. M. Castor

Author:H. M. Castor
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9781848775022
Publisher: Templar Publishing
Published: 2012-07-31T17:00:00+00:00

♦ ♦ ♦ IV ♦ ♦ ♦

The child – my son – is brought to me within an hour of his birth.

It is the darkest part of the night: the first hours of the new year. I have been sitting up with Compton, playing chess by firelight, wrapped in my sable cloak.

I get up when the women enter. They curtsey low and pass him to me: I don’t know how to hold him. He is swaddled tightly; he lies on my palms like a prize fish.

Two puffy eyes open and he looks at me with a slow dark look. He blinks; he tries to turn his head. I have the women unwrap him in the warmth of the fire. He lies on the fur mantle they spread for him – uncrying, his tiny hands curled shut, his legs like a frog’s. His cheek is downy to the touch, and the size of a doll’s.

“Look, Compton,” I say. “Proof of God’s favour – right there, lying on a rug.”

“Such a fine child, sir. The hope of the whole nation.”

It feels like standing on a ridge and looking down across a bright plain: my great future, laid out before me. Away to the right, a battlefield, where I will win great victories; to the left, a venerable cathedral, where I will be crowned king of France. And directly ahead, a youth in armour: this boy.

Empire and sons.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.