By Darkness Hid by Jill Williamson Read Free Book Online Page B

step forward, then stopped to keep the tonic down.
    “Poril has much to prepare for tomorrow, he does. Prince Gidon’s coming-of-age celebration. Over two hundred are expected. Could my good knight not find another assistant?”
    “Could you not?”
    Achan looked from Poril to Sir Gavin and back to Poril, unsure of which master to obey.
    Finally Poril decided for him. “Yeh heard the good knight, boy. Be quick about it.”
    Achan started for the spice baskets to get mentha leaves, but Poril yelled, “Now! And Poril had better not hear any complaints from the good knight, or Poril will punish yeh good.”
    Achan scrambled around the table and out the door, his stomach churning. The morning air was cool but warmer than previous days. The sky was a bright, cloudless blue.
    Sir Gavin paused for Achan to catch up, then set off in the direction of the stables. “Does he punish you often?”
    Achan shrugged and fought the queasiness in his gut. “I don’t know. Once, sometimes twice a week.”
    Sir Gavin halted. He went red again. Veins pulsed in his forehead and neck. He took a long breath through his nose and blew it out in a whistle. Without a word, he resumed walking toward the stables.
    Achan scurried to keep up. The outer bailey was crowded after breakfast, but even more so with the coming-of-age celebration. Sir Gavin stopped behind a crowd.
    “Make way!” someone yelled.
    The people jerked back. Achan backpedaled to keep from falling down. The sharp movement roiled his still-queasy stomach. He should have insisted on grabbing mentha leaves before leaving the kitchens. He wheeled around and heaved his breakfast at the backside of the armory. The nearness of the chimney’s bricks heated the right side of his face.
    Sir Gavin’s voice came from above. “Are you all right?”
    Achan cleared his throat and spat. “I usually chew some mentha to settle my stomach. The tonic doesn’t like to stay down.”
    “Then I’m sorry I kept you from it. But be glad the poison is out for the day. Your head will be clearer without it.”
    Achan wiped his mouth on his sleeve and stood. “You’re certain the tonic is poison?”
    “Aye. It won’t harm you, but you shouldn’t be taking it. I’ll speak to Lord Nathak about it the first chance I get.”
    Achan nodded, though he wanted to know what the point of poison was if not to kill or make ill. Why poison a stray? Achan was nobody to anyone.
    A chorus of gasps turned his head back to the crowd. Achan was tall for his age and could see easily from his position. A procession of black horses shrouded in green silk with silver trim passed by. The banners their riders held displayed a goat’s head. Achan smiled, thinking of Dilly and Peg.
    The men also wore green. Their skin was olive-toned, and they all had hair as black as their horses’ coats. They steered their mounts into the inner bailey. A litter mounted onto four horses, two in front and two in back, jerked past. It was larger than the litter Prince Gidon rode around in, and just as ornate, though the wood was dark and polished rather than painted.
    “Who are they?” Achan asked.
    “Jaelport,” Sir Gavin said.
    A shiver ran up Achan’s arms. Jaelport was a city in Darkness.
    When the procession had passed and the crowd dispersed, Sir Gavin continued toward the stables.
    They found Noam waiting with two saddled horses: a noble chestnut courser the color of Gren’s hair and a grey and white speckled rouncy. The courser was lean and sleek. The rouncy was round and bulky, though smaller in stature.
    Noam’s small, brown eyes darted over Achan and Sir Gavin, and he smiled.
    “Achan,” Sir Gavin said, stroking the nose of the rouncy, “this is Etti. She’s my pack horse but will be a good one for you to learn on. Take her reins and lead her into the field.”
    Achan swallowed hard, bubbling with excitement, and took the reins. Not only did he have the day off from his chores and all the preparations for the