The Bone Queen by Alison Croggon Read Free Book Online Page A

Nelac a long, frank look. “You’re not at all what I imagined,” she said at last. “You always look so…” She stumbled, and blushed again.
    “So…?”
    “Oh, you know, important, and solemn, and serious.”
    “I am certainly all of those things,” said Nelac gravely. “And I would thank you to keep any reports of my solemnity and seriousness unsullied.”
    At this, Selmana laughed out loud. Nelac limped over to a table on which stood a green bottle stoppered with a large cork.
    “I think we deserve something special, no?” he said, turning to smile at Selmana as he twisted the cork and drew it from the neck. He poured out two glasses of straw-coloured wine, handing one to Selmana. She sipped it hesitantly, and wrinkled her nose. Nelac regarded her with amusement.
    “It’s an excellent wine, you know,” he said. “It’s made from the white grapes picked on the slopes of Til Amon, which are justly renowned for their flavour.”
    “The bubbles went up my nose,” she said. “But it is nice.” She paused, and then spoke in a rush. “Were you are that meeting … it was about Cadvan, wasn’t it? Did they decide to – are they going to let him come back?”
    “I don’t know,” said Nelac. “I left before the vote. And even if they did, I don’t know whether he would return. Do you think we should allow him to?”
    Selmana looked surprised at being asked, and then frowned, seriously considering the question. “If it were up to me? Yes, I think so. He did wrong things, and terrible things happened. And on top of that, many people don’t like him, because they say he is arrogant and vain. And he
is
, you know. That doesn’t make him a – a bad person. There are lots of Bards much more vain than him.”
    “Do you know him?” asked Nelac.
    “I wasn’t a friend of his, but I did, a little. Ceredin was my cousin…” A deep sadness flickered over Selmana’s face. Nelac, his attention arrested, glanced at her sharply, and then looked away. There was a long silence.
    “I miss Ceredin, so much. Every day I miss her.” Selmana swallowed hard. “She – we are the only Bards in the family, and she looked after me, when I first came here and it was so strange. When she was killed, I hated Cadvan. I thought no punishment would atone for what he had done.”
    “And yet you believe he should be allowed to return?”
    Selmana met Nelac’s eyes. “I didn’t think so for a long time. He wanted to talk to me, after, but I wouldn’t speak to him, not for a whole year. But one morning I woke up, and it seemed clear to me. Ceredin came to me in a dream. And I remembered that she really loved Cadvan, and he really loved her. And she wouldn’t have loved him like that without reason. She wasn’t – foolish…”
    “Ceredin was one of the most gifted Bards I have taught,” said Nelac gruffly.
    “She was kind. She was one of the kindest people I ever knew. I know what she would say. She would say that sending Cadvan away won’t bring her back. Nothing will ever bring her back. And everything that happened was just a horrible accident…”
    “Ceredin’s death was wholly caused by Cadvan’s folly, and worse, by his dealing with the Dark,” said Nelac, his voice hard. “Were it not for that, she would be alive today.”
    “I know.” Selmana frowned again. “That’s exactly what he said to me, before he went away. He came to tell me – to say sorry. He said he understood there could be no forgiveness, that no punishment was enough. Maybe he’s right. But exiling him for ever seems – it’s such a waste! People say we need good Bards now, and I know he’s a good Bard. Maybe if he wasn’t before, he is now.”
    “You comfort me, Selmana,” said Nelac. He lifted his wine and saluted her. “And even if you struggle with the Reading, you know more of the Way of the Heart than some very deeply learned Bards I know.” He drained his glass, and set it down precisely on the table. “For what