Page 54 (1/1)

Gripping his crutch, he turned and started hobbling briskly "Come, come When we receive the will of the Medium, we obey it Obey it prontis Never delay Come, to the sword and to the chaen And the tunic The pethet ear the tunic into battle, I think A battle that will soon rage near Winterrowd" He grunted as he started up the shallow stone steps "Then we climb the Tor, for I must show you the safe path The road is too treacherous You will not h the Bearden Muir"

CHAPTER TWENTY:

Su thing It was heavy at the top, with a flat narled, bent, and tapered at the end Lia did not recognize the wood, all knobby and veined He planted his hand on its neck near the crown, and he was off walking at a pace that defied Colvin and Lia to keep up One of his legs was crooked, but with the staff, it did not seem to slow him at all In fact, they both had to hurry to keep up with him

"This way, this way!" Maderos hissed over his shoulder, bounding down the path "Hurry along Always obey, when the Mediuer speaks to her in Pry-rian In Pry-rian Eh! I should have known"

The hedge opened up to a rass at the base of the Tor Several looked up at theain, his eyes narrowed into slits His very posture spoke of distrust and wariness as he yanked the reins to pull the stallion after him

Sweat trickled down Lia’s cheek and she wiped it away Maderos ambled up a small hillock to where a lone tree stood It was an apple tree, but it looked nothing like ones from the orchard in Muirwood The width of the trunk, the massive branches whispered of centuries In fact, to Lia’s eyes, the sturdy branches seemed the same color as Maderos’ staff As she entered the shade, she nearly stumbled over a stone Only it was not a stone, she realized as she reached down and lifted a Muirwood apple

Maderos looked back at her and their eyes met "Wise, child Gather more for the horse More for you You will need food where you are going The fruit will sustain you"

An apple so out of season should have been mush – or desiccated This one was firht sight of a Leering near the trunk of the ancient tree, but she had felt it before she had seen it Power emanated from it If it were fire, she would have been able to warm her hands from the stone The face carved into it was so old, it was scarcely s in the nearly-smooth surface A bearded face She approached it, drawn in by its eyes She reached out her hand, but Colvin caught her wrist He shook his head no, his eyes angry

Maderos went around the trunk "There we are Right where I left them Here, pethet Treasures for you to carry Gather the apples, sister There will be rass There will not be any in the branches It is not the season yet"

As Lia searched and gathered apples, she brought theh to feed the beast one first

"Ah, the sword," Maderos told Colvin as she searched the grass "It belonged to the father A knight- it to the brother And this…this is the chaen You already wear one, so it is not for you The lad is alh to be a maston himself It will be his You are his father now And his brother No, no, that will not do Do not scowl at this, pethet This is your trust Your duty Now the tunic Yes, you see the blood But you do not hear its screams No, you cannot hear that Thank the Medium you do not Take it away froe here at this hill but elsewhere Wear it, pethet Yes, you must Wear it It is Demont’s You must!"

Lia du The stallion swung its head, itsand watched from the corner of her eye as Colvin released his sword belt, pulled on the tunic, and then belted it again over it The tunic was of dark fabric, but she could see the slits and stains from a dozen sounds In herThe blood of your Family is still on my sword The moans have never rubbed clean But I will tell you of them Of their traitorous hearts Of their punishrandfather Your uncle Their heads spitted on spikes Hoe played with their corpses…

An ill feeling churned inside her Looking at the bloodied tunic, seeing the evidence of violence, h her She nearly vo her hands around the saddle horn, she waited until it subsided Somewhere deep in her h no more than whispers