Storm Warriors by Brian Craig

Author:Brian Craig
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Black Library
Published: 2002-11-19T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TEN

Trystan’s absence from Caer Plennydd allowed Herla pause for reflection too, and he saw a new opportunity to become more fully united with his wife.

On the day of the bard’s departure, there seemed reason enough to be optimistic; Morgana was more inclined to take pleasure in his company on that day than she had ever been before. But when night fell, her spirits fell too, and Herla saw that she had valued his company only as a temporary and ultimately futile distraction from her disappointment. Then he too became bitter, and asked himself why he should play the comforter when his lawful wife was sad for the lack of another’s voice and another’s presence. Instead of persisting in his attempt to draw Morgana closer to him he became deliberately cold, and thus accentuated her sense of loss.

The next day, Herla went hunting on the forested slopes to the north of Caer Plennydd. The thrill of the chase filled him up as no other activity could, driving everything out of his mind but the excitement of the moment. His new bow was such a lucky weapon that he hardly ever returned empty-handed.

The party with whom he rode out was not large, including only three knights – Meilir Larne, Huw Peredur and Hywel Heilyn – and two squires, but it was an enthusiastic group. Late in the morning the riders found a stag at the peak of its power, which showed no trace of the sickness which had come into the herds, and they pursued it fervently for many a mile.

All the knights had fine coursers, Herla being mounted on his favourite black stallion, and they stayed close together for more than an hour, racing through the undergrowth, ducking beneath low branches and hurdling fallen trees. It was not a race, but it felt like a race, and every clever turn or bold leap which moved one rider ahead of his fellows brought exhilaration to the one and dismay to the three.

In any ordinary matter, bound by Code and custom, politeness required that every man must defer to the king, but in the hunt it was different; it was as though the hunt took place in a world which was slightly apart from the kingdom, where there were no kings or knights or commoners, but only hunters and their prey. Here, if nowhere else, it was acceptable for men to outdo their lawful liege-lord – and because it was the one arena where such endeavour was permitted, it was one where effort to do so was never lacking.

In ordinary times the outcome of a chase was determined by tricks of fate which favoured no man: the jinking of the stag in its flight, the unfortunate footfall of a horse. But the times had not been ordinary since Lugnasad Day, when Herla’s hunting had seemingly fallen under the spell of a lucky star; his black stallion never stumbled, and even though a stag might run directly at another man it was always Herla’s arrow which brought him down.

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.