The Icemark Chronicles: The Cry of the Icemark by Stuart Hill Read Free Book Online Page B

or so. I’m just thinking of the future,” Redrought bellowed good-humoredly.
    The servant returned with the jug of beer, and Grimswald poured a measure into Redrought’s tankard. The King took a huge swallow. “That’s better! I can always tell when a barrel’s past its best!”
    “Yes, sir,” the chamberlain said, and smiled to himself like a mischievous little boy.
    “And don’t forget Primplepuss! Where’s her bowl of milk?”
    “I have it, sir,” the wrinkled little man said, seeming to produce a dish from his sleeve.
    Redrought grinned, and fishing around inside the chest of his tunic he extracted the little cat. “Ah, there you are, my sweeting!” he said more softly, and the little creature meowed in agreement. The King’s huge fingers wrapped themselves gently around the kitten and set her down on the table before her dish of milk. He smiled on her indulgently for a few moments as she lapped, then turned to his daughter. “Well, why have you decided to have supper with me?”
    “Do I need a reason?”
    “No, but there’s usually a favor to ask if you choose to. Otherwise you’re in the mess with the housecarls or in the stables with the hands.”
    Thirrin felt suddenly guilty. Surely she ate with her father for reasons other than asking for favors? “I want nothing at all,” she eventually answered, defensively.
    “Just the pleasure of my company, eh?”
    At that point the food arrived, and she waited for the servants to place everything on plates and withdraw before she continued. “Yes, for the pleasure of your company … and to ask a few questions.”
    “Ha! “ the King shouted, as though his suspicions were confirmed, but then he smiled. “What do you want to know?”
    Thirrin chewed on her chicken drumstick for a while as she ordered her thoughts. Ever since she’d met Oskan in the forest, she’d been wondering about his mother and father. It then occurred to her that nobody ever mentioned his father. She made a mental note to ask the King if anyone knew who he’d been, once she’d satisfied her curiosity on several other points. Finally she asked, “Why weren’t witches banished after the war with The-Land-of-the-Ghosts?”
    “The evil ones were,” the King answered. “But the good ones were —
are
— too useful.”
    “How?” she asked.
    “They’re healers and midwives, they can drive blight from the harvest, and they’re a brilliant line of defense against any evil that comes from the Vampire King and Queen. Not only that,” the King said, pausing to drain his tankard of beer, “but they’ve been staunchly loyal, always the first to offer help when it’s needed. You’d do well to remember that when you take the throne.”
    She nodded as she digested the information. “What was White Annis like?”
    “One of the best!” Redrought boomed. “Powerful. I saw her draw a child back from the brink of death when all else had beentried and failed. And once, when out hunting, I watched her turn a charging boar with nothing but the threat of her eyes.”
    Father and daughter chomped in silence as the image of the witch was absorbed. “And I’ll tell you another thing!” Redrought continued, pointing at his daughter with a turnip. “She was beautiful. Hair as black as polished jet and eyes like the sea under a stormy sky!”
    Thirrin looked at her father in astonishment. She’d never heard anything even vaguely poetic cross his lips before, and yet here he was describing White Annis as though he were a praise singer.
    He blushed and cleared his throat. “Of course, she got a little ragged toward the end of her life. Witches always do, but her Power never faded.”
    “And yet this great healer couldn’t save herself,” Thirrin said.
    Redrought shrugged. “It was her time. Witches always know and leave life with dignity.”
    Thirrin beckoned to the servant, and he poured her a goblet of wine — three parts water, as was right for her age.
    “Her son lives in