The Heirs of Hammerfell by Marion Zimmer Bradley Read Free Book Online

whispered, through tears tearing her throat.
    "You came with me, then, oh, good dog!"
    She stumbled over something frighteningly soft, and almost fell; recovering her balance in the semi-dark of the courtyard, she felt a man's body under her feet. She had fallen to her knees and could not avoid seeing the man's face. To her shock and horror it was the groom who had led her children's ponies out that very afternoon. His throat had been cut, and Erminie cried out in dismay, then stopped as Conn began to sob in accord with her fear.
    "Hush, hush, my little son; we must be brave now and not cry," she murmured, patting him to quiet him.
    In the dark, a voice spoke her name, so softly it could hardly be heard over the child's sobbing.
    "My lady―"
    She barely withheld a scream; then, even as she recognized the voice, she made out the familiar face of old Markos in the deepening firelit darkness.
    "No need to fear; it's only me."
    At his familiar touch, Erminie let out her breath in relief.
    "Oh, thank the Gods it is you! I was afraid―" Her voice was drowned out by a great crash somewhere as of falling masonry, or thunder. Markos came close to her in the darkness.
    "Here, let me carry one of the babes," the old man said. "We can't go back; the upper courts are all afire."
    "What of the duke?" Erminie asked, trembling.
    "When I saw him last all was well; he was keeping the bridge with a dozen of his men.
    Those fiends set it afire with clingfire which burns the very stone!"
    "Ah, the devils!" Erminie's voice was a wail.
    "Devils indeed!" the man muttered with a grim
    stare at the heights, then turned to the woman. "I should be at the fighting, but His Grace sent me down to guide you to the village, lady; so gi' me one of the babes and we'll go faster." She could hear the creaking of some huge siege engine over the roar of the flames, and looking back saw it outlined against the dark sky, huge like the skeleton of some monstrous unknown beast, with dark missiles bursting out of the giant's maw and exploding into flame in midair. The twins in her arms were struggling to get down, and Erminie handed over one of the twins to Markos. She was not sure in the dark which one she had given to him. It was growing cold, and the night was dark and rain was
    beginning to make the path slippery underfoot. Clutching the remaining twin, she
    hurried after the shadowy form of Markos down the hill. Once she stumbled over the dog and dropped her basket; she had to retrieve it, and almost lost sight of her protector.
    She wanted to cry out to him to wait, but she did not want to hold him back, so she tried to keep him in sight, stumbling along without really taking much heed of where she was going. Before long she was completely lost, hampered by the dog who kept blundering under her feet and the weight of the heavy child in her arms. At least there was only one to carry and the other was safe with the only man save her husband whom she absolutely trusted.
    Slipping and sliding on stones and grass, she somehow reached the bottom of the hill, where she called • softly, "Markos!"
    But there was no answer.
    Again she called, afraid to raise her voice too much, for fear of attracting the attention of the enemies
    she knew must be all around her in the woods. Above her, at the top of the hill,
    Hammerfell was burning; she could see the flames rising as if from a volcano. Nothing could live in that inferno; but where was the duke? Had he been trapped within the burning castle? Now she could see that it was Alastair clinging round her neck, whimpering.
    Where was •Markos with Conn? She sought to try and find her bearings by the terrible light of her home burning above her. She called again, softly; but all round her in the woods she could hear strange steps and unknown voices, even laughter. She was not even sure whether she heard the voices with her ears or with her laran.
    "Ha, ha! So ends Hammerfell!"
    "That's the end of 'em all!"
    She watched,