Traitor's Sun by Marion Zimmer Bradley Read Free Book Online Page B

Instead he had been treated to cold silence, which was, in his opinion, even worse.
    But Herm laughed in spite of himself, even knowing it would enrage her further, smelling the wonderful clean scent of autumn coming in from the west. He could not help himself. The cold stung his cheeks, bracing and familiar, but it had no hint of snow in it yet. He had forgotten how it felt, and until that moment had not realized how the ache of homesickness had been his daily companion. He had not been home for over two decades, and that was too long a time.
    He put his arm around her slender waist, drawing her against him. He could feel the warmth of her flesh, and smell the faint chemical odor from the ship’s fresher. She resisted his touch, and he let her go reluctantly.
    “A storm? Nothing like, Katherine. This is merely a refreshing breeze.” He sniffed knowingly, speaking with more ease than he felt. “But I would be surprised if it did not rain before nightfall.”
    Amaury, who had his mother’s dark hair and pale skin, gave his stepfather a skeptical glance, while Terése leaned against his leg, shivering. Herm bent down and scooped up the girl, even though she was rather big for that now. She was a pretty thing, with the red hair and green eyes so common in the Aldaran clan. Indeed, she very much resembled his sister Gisela when she was the same age. “Is it always this cold, Daddy?” She huddled against his shoulder trustingly. She had never seen snow, and rain never fell in the controlled climate in which they had lived their lives.
    “No, little one. This is nothing compared to winter. But soon we will be in a warm carriage—assuming that Lew got the message I sent from Vainwal—and after that, in a nice warm house.” He pointed across the peaked roofs of Thendara. “Do you see that big building up on the hill? That is where we are going, I believe.” He had never seen it before, but he knew the vast structure must be Comyn Castle.
    Even at a distance, it was enormous. The white of the stonework gleamed in the afternoon sun, and he could make out the movement of pennons and flags flapping from the towers and buttresses. On one side there was a dark ruin, as if part of the building had been struck by lightning and never repaired. For no reason he could name, the sight of it gave him a sudden chill of unease.
    “That is not a house,” Amaury protested.
    “No, it isn’t. It is a castle.”
    “Is that the castle you grew up in, Father?” Amaury had stopped calling him Dad a few months earlier, and adopted this more formal means of address. He was almost thirteen now, and was acting just as Herm had at the same age, finding ways to distance himself from his parents and starting to become a separate person.
    “No. Aldaran Castle is far away, up in the Hellers—tall, tall mountains—and you cannot even see them from here. Come along. We will be inside soon, and we can have a nice hot bath and some food that did not come from a dispenser.” He signaled to the porter, assigned to him by the Customs officer because he was, it appeared, still a Senator. The man, a civilian employee of the Federation, had a cart piled with the few belongings they had brought.
    They had left so much behind! Herm had promised he would have things shipped later, but he knew that this was unlikely to happen. Everything they had not taken would be confiscated. He was still amazed that he had gotten Katherine away without so much as a quarrel, bringing only those things which were precious or irreplaceable. She had not even questioned him after being awakened so abruptly, as if she sensed the urgency of his mood. “I have been called back to Darkover, dearest,” he had said. “I must leave immediately and I don’t want to leave you and the children behind.” It had been enough in the rush to leave, to get her moving and packing. He knew how frightened she must be, unlike the children who seemed to have decided this was a fine