Blood of the Land by Martin Davey

Author:Martin Davey [Davey, Martin]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 2012-01-07T08:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 22

“Ysora! My child, you look terrible, come in.” Cioran looked as smart as she had ever seen him with his hair swept away from his eyes and his green tunic neatly pressed. He stood to one side in his doorway, holding out an arm to let her past. The house smelled of tea and soap suds.

She walked in, her long skirts brushing his leg. Her hands were clasped together, the thumb of one pressed against the knuckle of the other. Her mother had used to do that when she was agitated. Ysora dropped her hands to her side and turned to face the Guardian. “I...I had a restless night last night.” A restless night dreaming of a god of the sea, of prisoners being offered to the god as people danced and prayed with shells bouncing from ears and seaweed dangling from shoulders and hair, the ship rocking and reeling and creaking beneath their feet as ropes were lashed about the prisoners’ ankles. When she had woken she had crafted a crude ship with the wood at her desk, another dream memory to bury on her way to Guardian Cioran’s.

Cioran looked at her from the doorway, his eyes shadowed. “Yes,” he finally said, nodding back out of the door to where clouds hung overhead like stricken grey ships in a sea of grey. “I think many of us did last night. Despite the change in the weather, it’s still too warm on a night to sleep.”

Ysora nodded, smoothed her hands on her skirts as the Guardian closed the door behind him, the room bright after the greyness of the day outside.

“You seem troubled, distracted, child.”

She could hear Voroh pottering in the kitchen, the sound of splashing water, pots banging together, cupboard doors opening and closing. Ysora couldn’t think what to do with her hands. She folded her arms. “It’s not that...” she took a breath, started again. “I was wondering what the...what did the people pray to before the Keepers came to save them?” It was a question Ysora had always wondered, but never dared to ask before. She wondered what it said about her relationship with Guardian Cioran that she dared ask it now.

Cioran paused, then moved closer, touching her elbow to lead her to a chair, the cushion warm and comfortable as she sat down. The Guardian took a chair facing her and crossed his legs. Ysora couldn’t help noticing that Cioran had prepared exactly the same books for her on the table. Did he know she hadn’t read them the day before?

“So,” he settled back on his chair as though he had all the time in the world, though Ysora knew he would have a busy day travelling about the village and the surrounding farmsteads until near dark. “So, might I ask what brought you to ask this question?” He rested a hand on his knee, his breeches neatly pressed. “Much the same as understanding which books you choose to read, understanding why you ask certain questions helps me understand how your learning is progressing.

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.