Flewelling, Lynn - Tamir 01 by Flewelling Lynn

Author:Flewelling, Lynn
Language: eng
Format: epub

Chapter 27

'"Tphe castle town of Atyion dominated the fertile plain J. north of Ero. The castle itself had been built in the embrace of an oxbow in the meandering Heron River, in sight of the Inner Sea. The castle's two huge round towers were visible for miles around and could easily shelter a thousand men or more in time of siege.

Duke Rhius' family had earned their place by war and honor, but their great wealth flowed out of the acres of vineyards, groves, and lush, well-watered pastures full of horses that covered the plain. What had once been a village nestled in the castle's protective shadow had grown into a prosperous market town. The few plague markers found here were weathered white; Atyion had not been touched by disease for a decade.

Not since Tobin's birth.

lya rode through the muddy streets and across the lowered drawbridge that spanned the castle moat. Inside the curtain walls lay more land, enough to pasture sizeable herds, and ranks of barracks and stables for the duke's armies.

Many of these were deserted today; the duke's ally lords and vassals had gone home to tend their own lands.

The soldiers who remained moved at their leisure, practicing at arms or lounging around the corrals. Armorers and farriers were noisily at work over their smoky forges along the inner wall. A few saddlers sat beneath an awning, cutting leather and mending harnesses. Out of deference for the king, Rhius had no women soldiers among the ranks of his guard, but there were a number of them among the castle household who had once served his father with sword and bow. Cook, back at the keep, was such a one, too. They all still knew how to fight, and would gladly do so if given the order.

lya left her horse with a stable hand and hurried up the broad stair to the

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arched portal that let into the main hall. The doorway was flanked by rows of columns supporting a pointed arch. A painted relief of the Cloud Eye of Illior had decorated the peak of this arch since Atyion was built, but today lya saw that a carved oak panel had been fitted over it. This bore one of the more martial symbols of Sakor: a gloved hand holding up a flaming sword garlanded with laurel and rue. It had been fitted by a master craftsman; anyone unfamiliar with the house would never guess that another image lay hidden below.

It's like the brooch, she thought, saddened and angered. How has it come to this, that we have set the very gods against one another?

An ancient fellow with a paunch beneath his blue livery greeted her in the hall.

'How long has Sakor guarded the entrance, Hakone?" she asked, giving him her cloak.

'Nearly nine years, my lady," the porter told her. "It was a gift from the king."

'I see. Is the duke at home today?"

'He is, Mistress. He's in the open gallery.

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