The Crystal Chalice (Book 1) by R.J. Grieve Read Free Book Online Page A

we had lost so long ago. The victorious
allies returned home, hoping that the forest would remain empty.” He shook his
head sadly. “It was not to be. They crept back, one by one, like some horrible,
invasive weed that had seeded itself, they sprang up from nowhere. Now we face
them again, but this time there is no alliance. I do not know what Celedorn has
done to poison our allies on the coast against us, but this time we stand
alone.”
     “Perhaps what your father hopes will come true. If
you defeat Celedorn, the alliance will be reborn.”
     They were walking their horses along a pleasant
country lane set deep between banks topped by hawthorn hedges. The sunken lane
was warm and somnolent, dozing in the gentle sunshine, the quiet broken only by
a disturbed blackbird clucking in the hedge. But Elorin knew he saw none of it.
His gaze had that distant, unfocused look of someone who looks inward towards
their thoughts.
     “I don’t know if that is the answer. It is true that
at the time of the last alliance, Ravenshold was under the rule of the Lord of
Westrin and the passes afforded safe passage to the coast, but somehow I think
there is more to it than that. Celedorn is an opportunist, a man who exploits a
situation rather than creating it. His band of cut-throats has grown large and
bold but I do not think that it could resist an army. The Serendarians could
have rid themselves of him if they chose - although he would make them pay
dearly.”
     “You almost sound as if you have a grudging respect
for him.”
     “I do not respect him,” Andarion almost snapped. “He
betrays his own kind. He preys on our trade with the coast to make himself
richer. He kills those sent against him, and all the while the old order falls
to pieces around him.”
     “Relisar said he hunts the Turog.”
     “Yes. I think he finds in them an outlet for his
cruelty. His savagery has made even them afraid of him. I do not think,
however, he does this to help Eskendria. Celedorn helps no one but himself.”
     Suddenly, as if becoming aware that he was not
fulfilling his role as a host, with an effort he shook off his gloomy mood.
     “Look what I’m doing!” he exclaimed. “Burdening you
with all this talk of doom and disaster when my purpose in asking you to come
for a ride was to cheer you up.”
     She smiled. “Do you think I need cheering up?”
     “You make light of it, but your situation is very
difficult. To lose one’s past as you have done, must be devastating. The past
is all we have as a reference point for the present and a guide for the
future.”
     She nodded, appreciating his perception. “I tend to
drift these days,” she observed. “Like Tissro the Wanderer, I lack purpose. It
makes me feel rather detached, as if I merely observe everything happening
around me from a great distance.”
     “Only the passage of time will cure that problem.
After all, each day that passes gives you a little more history. I will help
you in any way I can. My sister will too. Illiana has great sympathy for you.”
     Somehow, remembering those cool emerald eyes, Elorin
doubted that, but she said nothing for she knew the Prince was devoted to his
sister.
     
     
     Life for Elorin soon began to settle into a
recognisable pattern. In the mornings she had breakfast with Relisar - a meal
fraught with peril, as he had the habit of setting whatever potion he was
working with on the breakfast tray. Several times when he had his nose stuck in
a book, she had seen him reach absent-mindedly for a glass of wine and lift up
some vile-smelling brew instead.
     Skah usually observed proceedings, occasionally
exhibiting his regard for her by bringing her a dead mouse, which she quietly
disposed of when he wasn’t looking. Keesha made her invisible presence felt by
indulging in occasional bouts of tidying, interspersed by the disconcerting
habit of moving objects to places they hadn’t been before. She moved Relisar’s
favourite chair