The Crow by Alison Croggon Read Free Book Online

goblet again with wine.
    "How do you know about the army?" Hem asked at last, to break the silence.
    Saliman looked up, startled. "I'm sorry, Hem, I was thinking. Where do you imagine I have been these past weeks? I and others with me have been finding out what we can about this army. The army that marches on Baladh is more than even Turbansk can resist."
    Hem looked at Saliman with renewed respect, and felt guilty for his resentment of Saliman's absences. He had had no idea that Saliman was doing anything as dangerous as spying out the forces of the Nameless One.
    "But, for all the hopelessness of our situation," Saliman continued, "we shall not despair. I do not think we will hold Turbansk, but that does not mean that we will give it up without a fight."
    Although Saliman spoke quietly, a passion throbbed in his voice that sent a strange shiver down Hem's spine, and he almost jumped up and shouted. But Saliman, who was not given to emotional utterances, visibly mastered himself, and smiled at Hem.
    "Which brings me to you, Hem. I ask again, what shall we do? In a few days, all those who cannot fight, the old, the infirm, the children – and they include the younger students of Turbansk School – will be leaving for Car Amdridh, where there is more hope of holding out against the Black Army than there is here. Shall you go with them?"
    "No!" It burst out of Hem before he could stop himself. "Not if you're not going! Don't send me away from you!"
    Saliman stared gravely at Hem, and the boy looked down at the table, feeling foolish. It was as clear a declaration of love as any he had made in his life. But Saliman did not smile; his dark face was sad and thoughtful, and the gaze he cast on Hem was full of a strange tenderness.
    "I have thought, for a number of reasons, that perhaps it would be better if you stayed with me," he said. "But it seemed also to me like a mad thought. Life will be very dangerous here, and to stay is to risk your life. I will demand a lot of you, if you remain with me."
    "I'll do anything you say," said Hem, his voice cracking with urgency. He most profoundly did not want to be sent away with the students: he did not want to be banished from Saliman's presence.
    "I will need you to be older than you are," said Saliman. "I will need you to be larger than you think you are, to think beyond your own petty concerns. I know you are capable of it."
    Hem thought again of his behavior over the past weeks, and regretted it sincerely for the first time.
    "I promise," he said. "I really do."
    Saliman studied Hem coolly, as if weighing his value, and the boy blushed and bowed his head under the scrutiny. "I don't want you to make a rash choice, Hem," the Bard said at last. "I would not contemplate your staying if I thought it was certain you would be killed, but the risk, all the same, is very great, and it will be harder than you now think. I do not walk safe paths."
    Hem looked up, and now the passion blazing within him was naked in his eyes. "I'll follow you anywhere," he said.
    There was a pause, and then Saliman smiled, but it was not a joyous smile.
    "Hem, my heart tells me that, like Maerad, you have some task in this struggle," he said. "I do not know what it is, but I believe it lies here, and not in Amdridh. And I think it is right that you stay here, as you wish. But it is not a decision I take without much misgiving."
    There was a long silence while Hem struggled with a strange exhilaration. He knew he ought to feel afraid, that he did feel afraid, but Saliman's promise to keep him in Turbansk filled him with a buoyant light. Saliman, he thought, with a surprise that was almost painful, trusted him.
    Ire, now wide awake, was bored by all the talk, and flapped onto the table to steal some food.
    "That means Ire too, doesn't it?" said Hem, his eyes shining. "I'm sure Ire can help. He could carry messages... and..."
    Saliman grinned suddenly, and all the strain seemed to vanish from his face. "As long as