For Camelot's Honor by Sarah Zettel Read Free Book Online Page A

all those tales were of honor and triumph. “That is a weak tie, Mother,” Elen said uncertainly.
    â€œBut better than none.” Mother’s hands fell back into her lap. She looked at them, and scowled at their weakness. “There are other reasons I might trust him more than his master, but I did not want to have to call on that trust until I had to. Now I think I must.” She raised her eyes, staring at the stout stone walls of their home, but not seeing them. “Unless we want our men to question any alliance we might make, we need proof of Urien’s lies.”
    Elen heard those words, but in her mind she also heard them spoken differently. In her mind she heard,
we must have proof
that
Urien lies.
    Elen shifted herself until she was on her knees. Gently, she took Adara’s hands in hers. They were ice cold. “Mother …”
    Let me help. Teach me what to do next. Yestin’s out there in the rain and the dark with that shiny new sword … let me also be of use to our family.
    Before she could speak her thoughts, a mad pounding sounded against the door, as if someone were trying to batter it down with bare fists alone.
    â€œBy all the gods, what is this now?” Mother got to her feet and strode to the doors.
    â€œMother …” Elen scrambled to follow.
Don’t,
something inside her tried to say.
It’s a bad night. Leave whatever, whoever, that is outside. Don’t …
    â€œHelp me with this, Elen.” Mother laid a hand on the bar.
    Elen bit back her fear and obeyed. What if it was Yestin? What if something had happened? She wrestled the bar aside and grasped the iron ring and pulled the door open.
    There in the rain crouched three people. Their sodden cloaks seemed to weigh them down. One of them carried a pierced lantern. The rain hissed and spat as it fell against the hot sides. They all looked pinched and starved and their eyes were too large for their faces. Elen thought they were all three men, but she found she could not be certain.
    â€œWe seek Adara,” said one.
    â€œOur lady’s time has come and it goes hard with her,” said the second.
    â€œShe must have a midwife,” said the third.
    They had small voices, like frightened birds. They huddled together in a tight knot, shaking, from cold, from effort, or from fear. Perhaps from all at once.
    Elen thought mother would invite them in, but she made no move. She only stared at the three strangers huddled there
    â€œI cannot come,” Adara said quietly. “I cannot midwife anymore.” She held up her misshapen hands.
    â€œOur lady’s time has come and it goes hard with her,” said the second.
    â€œShe must have a midwife,” said the third.
    The wind blew, whipping a curtain of rain through the door. The strangers shivered and drew closer together, and still mother did not invite them in. Elen wondered how they had come past the sentries, and past Yestin.
    â€œI’m most truly sorry,” said Mother. “It is beyond my power to aid your lady in this.”
    But they still did not move, and the third one only said doggedly. “She must have a midwife.”
    All at once, Elen knew. She knew who she was seeing, and why they were so small and so brown, and why they came this night, of all nights, and her heart went cold and still inside her.
    Mother nodded. “Very well.”
    Elen drew her mother aside at once, out of the light of the tin lantern and the glow of the fire. “Mother! You cannot!”
    â€œNo, I cannot.” Adara laid her hand over Elen’s. “But you can.”
    Elen’s heart thumped once. “No, Mother, I have not the skill.”
    â€œYou do,” said Adara steadily. “You have all the skill you need. It will be as any other birth. You know the ways in which you must take care. Be escpecially certain not not to eat or drink anything until you return to our lands again.”
    â€œBut