Talon of the Silver Hawk by Raymond E. Feist Read Free Book Online Page B

strap. Talon did as Pasko instructed and saw that he had made the loop where he had sewn the end together too short; this belt had triple stitching below the buckle for added strength.
    Talon nodded, and picked up a heavy leather knife and began cutting the stitches. He pulled them loose, careful not to damage the leather, then adjusted the strap so that the holes on one side would be where the first line would be stitched and the holes on the other piece would match up with the third. He carefully stitched those two lines, then added a third halfway between.
    â€œThat’s right,” said Pasko when Talon was done. “If you need to do something for the first time, and there’s an example of the work close to hand, take a moment and study what you’re attempting. It makes for fewer mistakes, and mistakes can cost a man his life.’’
    Talon nodded, though he thought the last remark odd. He said, “Pasko, may I talk with you?’’
    â€œAbout what?” asked the older servant.
    â€œAbout my life.’’
    â€œThat’s something you need to take up with Robert,” said the servant. “He’ll let you know what it is he expects as things move along, I’m certain.’’
    â€œAmong my people, when a youth becomes a man, another man is always ready to guide him, to help him make the wise choices.” Talon stopped and stared into the imagined distance a moment, as if seeing something through the walls of the barn. “I have . . .”
    Pasko said nothing, merely watching the boy closely.
    Talon remained quiet a long time, then he went back to working on the harness leathers. After more time passed, he said, “I was to be wed. I was to have joined the men in the long house, and I was to have joined in the hunt, planted crops, fathered children. I know what it was I was born to be, Pasko.” He stopped and looked at the servant. “A man was to guide me in those things. But none of those things matter now. I’m here, in this barn, with you, and I do not know my lot in life. What is to become of me?’’
    Pasko sighed and put down the leather he was working on. He looked Talon in the eyes and put his hand upon the boy’s shoulder. “Things change in an instant, lad. Nothing is forever. Remember that. For some reason the gods spared you among all those of your race. You were given the gift of life for a reason. I do not presume to know that reason.” He paused as if thinking for a moment about what to say next, then added, “It may be your first task is to learn that reason. I think tonight you should speak with Robert.” He put down the leather harness and started walking out of the barn. Over his shoulder he said, “I’ll have a word with him and see if he’s of a mind to speak with you.’’
    Talon was left alone in the barn. He regarded the work before him and remembered something his grandfather had once said to him: tend to the work at hand and set aside worrying about the work to come. So he turned his mind to the leather in his hand and concentrated on making the stitches as tight and even as he possibly could.

    Weeks passed, and summer became autumn. Talon sensed the change in the air as might any wild creature who had lived his entire life in the mountains. The lowlandmeadows around Kendrick’s were different in many ways from the highlands of his home, but there were enough similarities that he felt one with the rhythm of the season’s changes.
    When he hunted with Caleb he saw the coats on rabbits and other creatures thickening, anticipating winter’s approach. Many of the trees were losing leaves, and soon a cold snap would turn them red, gold, and pale yellow.
    Birds were migrating south, and those beasts that spawned in the fall were in rut. One afternoon he heard the roar of a male wyvern, bellowing a challenge to any other male who might trespass on his range. With