The Hawk Eternal by David Gemmell Read Free Book Online Page B

like her. And she's a good cook, and a fine clothes-maker. She made those clothes you are wearing. A man would be a fool not to keep her. I'm no hand with the needles myself.'
     
    'That's true,' said Gaelen. 'I hadn't thought of that. Will she try to bewitch me, do you think?'
     
    'No. She'll see straight away the strength in you.'
     
    'Good. Then I'll stay with you ... for a while.'
     
    'Very well. Place your hand upon your heart and say your name.'
     
    'Gaelen,' said the boy.
     
    'Your full name.'
     
    'That is my full name.'
     
    'No. From this moment, until you say otherwise, you are Gaelen of the Farlain, the son of Caswallon. Now say it.'
     
    The boy reddened. 'Why are you doing this? You already have a son, you said that. You don't know me. I'm... not good at anything. I don't know how to be a clansman.'
     
    'I'll teach you. Now say it.'
     
    'Gaelen of the Farlain,'the . .. son of Caswallon.'
     
    'Now say, “I am a clansman.” '
     
    Gaelen licked his lips. 'I am a clansman.'
     
    'Gaelen of the Farlain, I welcome you into my house.'
     
    'Thank you,' Gaelen answered lamely.
     
    'Now, I have many things to do today, so I will leave you to explore the mountains. Tomorrow I shall return and we'll take to the heather for a few days and get to know one another. Then we'll go home.' Without another word Caswallon was up and walking off down the slope towards the houses below.
     
    Gaelen watched until he was out of sight, then drew his dagger and held it up before him like a slender mirror. Joy surged in him. He replaced the blade and ran back towards the cave to show Oracle his finery. On the way he stopped at a jutting boulder ten feet high. On impulse he climbed it and looked about him, gazing with new eyes on the mountains rearing in the distance.
     
    Lifting his arms to the sky he shouted at the top of his voice. Echoes drifted back to him, and tears coursed from his eyes. He had never heard an echo, and he felt the mountains were calling to him.
     
    'I am going home!' he had shouted.
     
    And they had answered him.
     
    'HOME! HOME! HOME!'
     
    Far down the slopes Caswallon heard the echoes and smiled. The boy had a lot of learning to do, and even more problems to overcome. If he thought it was hard to be a thief in Ateris, just wait until he tried to walk among the youths of the Farlain!
     
    A lowlander in highland clothing...
     
    A sheep to be sheared ...
     
    And being the son of Caswallon would make life no more easy. Caswallon shrugged. That was a worry for tomorrow.
     
    For three days the new father and son wandered the Farlain mountains and woods, into the high country where the golden eagle soared, and on into the timberline where bears had clawed their territorial marks deep into the trunks of young trees.
     
    'Why do they do that?' asked Gaelen, staring up at the deeply-scored gashes.
     
    'It's very practical,' Caswallon answered him, loosening his leather pack and easing it to the ground. 'They rear up to their full height and make their mark. Any other bear in the vicinity will, upon finding the mark, rise to reach it. If he can't he leaves the woods - for the other bear is obviously bigger, and therefore stronger, than he is. Mind you, the bear that lives here is a canny beast. And he can't reach his own mark; in fact he's quite small.'
     
    'I don't understand,' said Gaelen. 'How then did he make the gashes?'
     
    'Think about it for a while. Go and gather some wood for a fire and I'll skin the rabbit.'
     
    Gaelen scoured the clearing for dead wood, snapping each stick as Caswallon had taught him, discarding any that retained sap. Every now and again he glanced back at the tree. Could the bear have rolled a boulder against the trunk? He didn't know. How clever were bears? As he and Caswallon sat by the fire he told the older man his theory about the boulder. Caswallon listened seriously.
     
    'A good theory,' he said at last, 'but not true. Now look around you and describe your