Consorts of Heaven by Jaine Fenn Read Free Book Online Page A

did. But he is quiet enough now.’
    Who were these people? Did they even really exist? He couldn’t be sure of anything any more. He realised he was swearing under his breath when Kerin shushed him gently. She spoke to the older man. ‘You startled him. We will come, as commanded. But please allow us a moment.’
    When the youth started to object, his companion spoke over him. ‘We will wait outside. Do not be long.’
    As they left, Kerin turned to Sais, her face full of concern. He tried to focus on her, to get control of himself again. She reached up and took hold of his shoulders. He looked down at her and forced himself to speak as though everything were all right, and the nightmare wasn’t about to engulf him again.
    ‘Those men - what do they want?’
    ‘T’will be all right, do not fear. We just have to go see the chieftain.’
    ‘The chieftain? Why?’
    ‘I should perhaps have said, but I did not want to worry you—’
    ‘Worry me?’ Never mind worried, he felt as though everything he had managed to build up so far could be swept away at any moment. ‘Should I be worried?’
    She smiled, no doubt trying to reassure him. ‘No, no. All will be well. I will not let anything happen to you. But we must obey Arthen’s command.’
    Of course, she was right. This was her village, her people. She knew best. He just needed to keep calm and trust her. She’d keep him safe.
    She kept hold of his hand and led him to the door, pausing for a moment to grab a small pot from a shelf with her free hand, bundling it into her apron.
    Once outside, the fear flared up again. He wasn’t ready to face strangers. He needed more time to recover, to remember how the world worked. Even the night sky was wrong: there was full cloud cover, so surely it shouldn’t be that bright?
    The youth led the way, with the older man bringing up the rear. They started to walk up into the heart of the village. The ground didn’t swallow him up, though the mud sucked at his feet and the night air made him shiver. As he trudged up the slope, these ordinary discomforts began to reassure him. What he was experiencing might be unpleasant and unfamiliar, but it was real, and constant. After a little way he whispered to Kerin, ‘I don’t know what came over me just now. I - I was scared, and I felt trapped. I had to try and get out of there.’
    ‘No harm has been done.’
    ‘Why does the chieftain want to see us anyway?’
    ‘Arthen wants us to defend ourselves before the council.’
    That didn’t sound good. ‘Defend ourselves? Why?’
    ‘They think your presence may have caused a return of the winnowing times.’
    ‘The what ?’
    ‘It is the time when the falling fire rages. The disease comes as the Mothers will it.’ They had reached a relatively open area, flanked by two big huts, one long and low, the other taller. Firelight spilled from the high-peaked porch of the taller hut.
    ‘What’s that got to do with me - with us?’
    ‘Nothing.’ She paused. ‘But not everyone thinks that.’
    He took a deep breath. ‘Kerin, did you know something like this might happen if you helped me?’
    ‘Aye,’ she said bitterly.
    ‘Then why didn’t you just leave me where you found me?’
    ‘Because you would have died.’
    As they crossed the threshold of the big hut he murmured, ‘Whatever happens, I just want to say . . . thank you.’
    Kerin gave his hand a last squeeze, then let go.

CHAPTER SIX
    Arthen sat in his usual chair before the hearth, his face in shadow. All ten of the stools ranged to either side of him were occupied. Kerin was dismayed, though unsurprised, to see the position at the chieftain’s right occupied by Fychan, taking the place of his sick brother. Sending his crony Adris with Gwilym, the village’s bravest warrior, to fetch them showed that Arthen’s younger son was already making his voice heard amongst the men.
    After Adris led them to stand before the half-circle of councillors he scurried across and