The Star Scroll Part 52

"And will he understand where that second heritage came from?"

Sioned gasped. "Rohan-"

"I'm sorry, love. But he's bound to realize it someday. He's grown so much this spring and summer, Sioned. Perhaps it's time he knew. He's old enough to understand."

"No! Not yet. Rohan, please. Not yet!" She held out one pleading hand.

After a moment he took her fingers. "You know, of course, that the longer we wait. . . ."

"But he's still so young. He wouldn't really understand why-"

"Why his father raped his mother?" He gave a small, bitter laugh. "I suppose so. Lleyn's teaching him to be too civilized, Sioned. Only barbarians comprehend rape."

"Stop it. Don't do this to yourself, Rohan."

"It's true, though, isn't it?" He shrugged and let go her hand. "Once again, for all my pretensions to civilization, I did the good barbarian thing. I killed Masul. You know, Sioned, it doesn't count for much that I resisted so long. Better to be an honest savage and just do do it." it."

"If you say next that if you'd killed him when we first knew of him, Andrade might still be alive, I'll-"

He smiled ruefully. "No threats. You're all too likely to carry through on them. Very well, no second-guessing. But there will always be those who believe Masul was indeed Roelstra's son. Somehow, I can't bring myself to care very much, as long as Pol's safe. But we'd better have a d.a.m.ned good explanation ready for him when he asks where his gifts really come from."

She stirred the fire again with the twig, staring moodily into the glowing red coals. "There's never been a word spoken anywhere, Rohan, in fifteen years. As far as anyone knows, you and I were imprisoned by Ianthe at Feruche and then let go. Even if someone knew that the child she bore was yours, they a.s.sume he died along with her when the castle burned." She met his gaze briefly. "I don't want him to know the truth. Ever. I don't want to hurt him."

"I don't want to lose him," he whispered. Sioned flinched, and he gestured aimlessly with one hand. "A lapse. Ignore it. I'm just tired." don't want to lose him," he whispered. Sioned flinched, and he gestured aimlessly with one hand. "A lapse. Ignore it. I'm just tired."

She was wise enough to let the matter drop. Banking the fire, she stretched out on the blanket. Lying close together, they stared up at the silent, dangerous stars for which Pol had been named.

"Oh, excellent, Sioned!" Meath rubbed his hands together gleefully. "Fresh stew tonight for dinner, thanks to that hawk of yours!"

The bird had settled daintily back on her wrist and was preening as if she understood every word of the praise. The hawk had indeed performed beautifully. Sioned had flown her once or twice during the journey, but never yet at prey. Today, however, she had brought back a rabbit twice her own size, deposited the kill gracefully at Sioned's feet, then leaped back up to her mistress' hand.

"And she only tore a little off for herself," Pol observed, adding the rabbit to the two small birds taken down by his and Tobin's hawks. Rohan and Alasen had yet to fly theirs; he gestured gallantly and she rode forward, loosening the bird's hood but not yet revealing the fierce black eyes in an amber face. She glanced back over her shoulder at Ostvel and smiled.

"If she makes a good catch, my lord, will you sing for us tonight?"

His brows arched. "It's a wife's duty to provide for her husband's needs. Why should I reward you for doing your duty?"

"Ostvel!" Chay reprimanded, grinning. "That's no way to talk to a bride of less than twenty days! Especially one who hasn't seen your keep yet. Until she does and approves it, she can still un un-Choose you. So take care!"

Alasen was laughing as she waited for Ostvel's answer "Well? Will you sing if I provide your supper?"

"No lullabyes," Lleyn told him sternly, eyes snapping with mirth. "I don't think singing her to sleep was exactly what she had in mind."

"Providing for my my needs was more what I meant," Alasen teased. needs was more what I meant," Alasen teased.

"You know," Sioned remarked, "I thought I'd see his last blush years ago. Seems there are a few left. Congratulations, Alasen!"

"Enough!" Ostvel roared, causing the hawks to shake their feathers irritably. "A song for a decent meal, eh? Very well, my lady. But it had better be a sizable catch. I find I've a hearty appet.i.te these days."

"Legitimately come by," Tobin drawled, winking at Alasen.

Sioned handed her own hawk to a servant after hooding the proud head and smoothing the iridescent blue feathers rippling down the bird's back. A memory of Camigwen tugged with painful suddenness at her heart. Ostvel's lute had been her wedding gift to him, mostly silent since her death. But Alasen had brought back his music.

The hood was removed and the amber-faced hawk flew. Gorgeous bronze and green and gold pinions flickering in the sunlight, she called out her joy in free flight. But instead of ranging through the low hills for grounded prey, she gave voice to a triumphant cry and wheeled northward.

"d.a.m.n!" Riyan exclaimed. "We'll never catch her if she keeps on like that!"

Sioned gave in to temptation and wove a few threads of sunlight together. She followed the hawk, eyes closed and spirit soaring. This This was what it meant to be was what it meant to be faradhi: faradhi: skimming as free and wild as if she, too, had wings, borne along on wind and sunlight and her own strength. After all the pain and trauma her gifts had brought her during the skimming as free and wild as if she, too, had wings, borne along on wind and sunlight and her own strength. After all the pain and trauma her gifts had brought her during the Rialla, Rialla, this, the most beloved of her powers, was sheer delight. She flew with Alasen's hawk above rich hillsides and meadows tucked between them, saw the bird circle above a valley and then dive too swiftly to follow even at sunlit speed. this, the most beloved of her powers, was sheer delight. She flew with Alasen's hawk above rich hillsides and meadows tucked between them, saw the bird circle above a valley and then dive too swiftly to follow even at sunlit speed.

"Come on!" Sioned cried, "I know where she is!"

It was a wild ride she led them, galloping through rolling foothills and jumping their horses across branches of a stream that within a measure became a summer-thin river. Thundering along its banks, Sioned called out a warning as the watercourse narrowed through a rocky, tree-lined defile that compelled them to ride slower and only two abreast. Pol splashed his horse through the shallows to catch up with her and Rohan. She could hear Meath cursing behind her, and Tobin laughing like a madwoman, and Chay yelling at them all to slow down. Sioned did no such thing, and when the path widened again, she coaxed her mare to prodigious speed through the forest.

All at once they burst out into the valley she'd glimpsed on sunlight. Sioned pulled her horse up short, gasping at the sight. A broad, lush flatland spread before them, fully ten measures long and half that across at its widest point. Trees heavy with fruit grew up the slopes, and lofty pines towered at the higher elevations where ragged gray stone thrust to the sky. The river wound its way on the eastern side, surrounded by meadow thick with blue and crimson flowers that together turned the land purple. In the distance, as the valley narrowed, was the sunlit s.h.i.+mmer of a small lake, tall gra.s.ses bending gracefully in the breeze, alternating gold and silver-green. Sioned caught her breath and flung an excited smile at Rohan, whose blue eyes had gone slightly gla.s.sy as he gazed at the beauty around him.

"Like the hollow of the G.o.ddess' hand," Tobin breathed. "Sioned-are those roses roses climbing up that hill?" climbing up that hill?"

"And wild grapevines, too," Chay affirmed. He turned to one of the grooms who had managed to keep up with them. "Go back and get the others. We camp here tonight." With a glance at Rohan's transfixed face, he added wryly, "And maybe for the winter!"

Rohan didn't hear him. He spoke his wife's name in a voice vibrating with suppressed excitement. "Tell me what the soil's like."

She blinked. "Rohan, it's been years since I-"

"Do it."

She jumped down off her horse and threw the reins to Pol. Walking-wading-into the ocean of wildflowers, she pulled off her riding gloves, knelt, and dug her hands into the rich dark earth. She squeezed it in her fists, inhaled its fragrance, sifted it through her fingers. The daughter of a farming lord remembered her lessons of a lifetime ago; she tested the soil with knowledge that had no use in the beautiful, dead Desert. Rising, she gave her husband a brilliant smile.

"This will grow anything you care to plant in it. Not that anybody should even have to test it by touching it-look around us! I've never seen anything so perfect!"

He nodded slowly, light dawning in his eyes. He dismounted and walked forward alone, the sun finding bright reflection on his blond hair, and the others watched in bewildered silence. All but Sioned; she knew exactly what he was thinking, and could barely restrain herself from telling everyone else.

At last he returned, and surprised even Sioned by seizing her around the waist and swinging her up into the air, laughing in triumph.

"You're right, you're right, it is is perfect!" he cried. "Sioned, it's the most beautiful place in the world! And it's ours!" He kissed her and set her down, then turned to the others. "Pol! Where do you think we should build your palace?" perfect!" he cried. "Sioned, it's the most beautiful place in the world! And it's ours!" He kissed her and set her down, then turned to the others. "Pol! Where do you think we should build your palace?"

"My-" The boy nearly fell out of his saddle. "Father!"

Tobin gaped at them. "Palace? What are you babbling about?"

"Oh, you know-walls, floors, painted ceilings and tapestries and carpets and-"

"And huge windows and stained gla.s.s and gardens and fountains and-and everything! everything!" Pol finished exuberantly. "I can see it all right now!"

"So can I!" Tobin started herself with the words, and laughed. "You're mad, every one of you! Where are you going to get the stone?"

"That's the nice thing about being rich!" Rohan grinned at her.

"Father-we won't have to spend a thing. Rezeld Manor!"

"Where?" Chay asked. Chay asked.

"It's a holding we visited this summer-remember, Maarken? They owe us," he added to his mother. "And they've got a quarry."

Rohan nodded happily. "I'd almost forgotten!"

"Hold it right there," Chay ordered. "I a.s.sume you're going to explain that later, but what I want to know right now is what in all h.e.l.ls you're talking about."

"I gave Castle Crag to Ostvel for a reason, you know. I want a new palace that embraces both the Desert and Princemarch. This valley isn't too far from the pa.s.s leading to Stronghold. And this is where the Rialla Rialla will be held in the future, not in Waes." He pulled Sioned to him and kissed her again. "So my Sunrunners won't have the bother of crossing the Faolain anymore!" will be held in the future, not in Waes." He pulled Sioned to him and kissed her again. "So my Sunrunners won't have the bother of crossing the Faolain anymore!"

A little while later Lleyn arrived with the rest of the party. His approval was instantaneous for the valley, a new palace, and a new site for the Rialla. Rialla.

"Clutha won't mind, and Gennadi will be grateful not to have it hanging over her head every three years. Besides, I've always felt the High Prince ought to have an accessible residence. Castle Crag is an impossible place. "This. . . ." He gazed into the valley and nodded. "This is indeed perfect." The old man grinned suddenly. "By the way, did you find Alasen's hawk?"

"Oh, G.o.ddess!" Sioned exclaimed. "I completely forgot!"

She wove sunlight while the servants and guards began organizing their camp for the night. But her efforts met with no success and she apologized to Alasen, who shook her head and smiled.

"She'll show up again, once she's fed full on whatever she caught."

"I gave her to you, and I don't intend to lose her through my own stupidity," Sioned replied. "Let's go find her. Pol, Rohan, Ostvel, come with us."

Maarken joined them after seeing Hollis comfortably settled in the shade with Lleyn to keep her company. She shook her head when he asked a silent question with his eyes.

"I'm feeling quite well, love. And I haven't had any wine since yesterday morning. I think it's over, Maarken-or nearly so."

He kissed both her hands and smiled.

Lleyn poked his leg with the end of his dragon-headed cane. "You've had her all to yourself for days now," he scolded. "Allow an old man to flirt with your pretty wife out of your hearing. I promise I'll make only the most scandalous suggestions, guaranteed to put a blush back in her cheeks."

"Old lecher," Maarken accused fondly.

They rode away from the trees, following the course of the river toward the lake. Rohan was full of plans that Pol amplified, the pair exchanging ideas as if they'd rehea.r.s.ed this for years.

"And over there we'll plant an orchard, and a grove of nut trees."

"More grapevines up that hill-"

"If we hold the Rialla Rialla here, we'll have to have a racing circle-but at the end of the valley so there won't be so much dust." here, we'll have to have a racing circle-but at the end of the valley so there won't be so much dust."

"Could we set up a horse farm with it?"

"Now, wait just a-" Maarken began, but neither heard him.

"Excellent! Nothing elaborate, just stables and a paddock-we'll breed for color! What would you say to a pasture full of golden horses? We can coax Chay into giving us a few good mares and a stud-"

"Giving you?" Maarken said, more loudly. you?" Maarken said, more loudly.

"Selling, then," Pol laughed. "You wouldn't begrudge us a few horses, would you?"

"Dangerous question," Sioned put in. "What about this palace?"

"A foundation of Rezeld stone, but a facade of that wonderful grayish marble from that quarry north of here-you remember we saw it this summer, Pol. It'll s.h.i.+ne silvery in the sun and rose-gold at dawn and dusk."

"With a blue tile roof," the boy affirmed. "Kierstian ceramic. Father! I have an idea! Why not have something from every princedom, the way it is in the Great Hall at home?"

"I like it," Rohan announced. "We'll have a whole palace to work with, after all."

Alasen had been listening to all of this with wide eyes; Ostvel, with an indulgent grin. He touched her arm and said, "Tobin's right, you know. They're utterly mad."

"Ha!" Sioned scoffed. "This from the man who redid Skybowl from cellar to tower, and before that changed Stronghold from one end to the other, and before that that ruled G.o.ddess Keep for all that Urival held the t.i.tle of chief steward! I know exactly how you're going to spend your first year of marriage, Alasen: wondering which room at Castle Crag you're not going to recognize next!" ruled G.o.ddess Keep for all that Urival held the t.i.tle of chief steward! I know exactly how you're going to spend your first year of marriage, Alasen: wondering which room at Castle Crag you're not going to recognize next!"

"A vile slander, unworthy of a High Princess," Ostvel told her. "Aren't you supposed to be finding a hawk?"

"A graceless change of subject, unworthy of a regent!" she shot back, laughing. "But you're right. Let's see if our wayward friend is airborne again."

They stopped half a measure from the lake. As she wove light once more, Maarken asked his uncle, "Why hasn't anybody lived in this valley before? It's beautiful, according to Sioned it'll grow anything, and it's not badly situated, though a little far from the main roads. Why do you think-"

He broke off abruptly. Rohan was not listening. He had reined in, his body rigid, his face turning to the north where the small lake spread its s.h.i.+mmer before the embrace of the hills narrowed. Sioned drew back from the sunlight and stared at him. He was tense with expectation, eyes s.h.i.+ning. Sioned exchanged a wry smile and a nod with Maarken.

"That's why," she said. why," she said.

Dragons.

Upwards of thirty adolescents and hatchlings, watched over by five adult females and a sire, flew down from the high hills into the valley. They wheeled in dizzying patterns before landing to drink at the lake. The hatchlings were nicely grown, almost half the size of their elders, sleek with good summer feeding in the Veresch. Some plunged into the lake for a wash, earning annoyed snarls from the others as they stirred up sediment.

The horses sidled nervously. The dragons condescended to give the humans a single disinterested glance before proceeding to ignore them.

"I wish Feylin could see them," Rohan murmured. "Look at those beauties!"

"Mother . . . how does he do do that?" Pol whispered. that?" Pol whispered.

She shrugged. "He's dragon-bred, too, you know." Suddenly she straightened in her saddle. A reddish-brown female dragon sprang up from the lakesh.o.r.e and soared lazily above them, calling out softly. Sioned calmed her restive horse and rode forward a few paces. The dragon spiraled down, wings spread wide to show their golden undersides and head extended to peer at Sioned. A raucous howl of greeting presaged a masterful display of flying skills, ending in a happy plunge into the middle of the lake that splashed water nearly to the sh.o.r.eline.

"It's Elisel!" Sioned waved. The dragon rolled over and over in the water before sculling to the shallows and standing erect. Another cry of joyous greeting sounded, and wings were shaken in a shower of sparkling drops.

"Elisel?" Rohan asked.

She glanced at him, embarra.s.sed. "My dragon. I've been calling her that in my mind. It means 'little wing.' "

He smiled. "And people accuse me me of being foolish about dragons! At least I never put a name to one!" He paused, then added thoughtfully, "But then, I never had my own dragon, either." of being foolish about dragons! At least I never put a name to one!" He paused, then added thoughtfully, "But then, I never had my own dragon, either."

"You think I do?" she laughed.

"Well, just look at her-showing off for you, calling out as if she'd been looking for you! I'd say you do indeed have your very own dragon, Sioned."