Redrought fell silent as he thought this through. He'd spent most of his life
fighting the Wolf-folk and other creatures from beyond his northern borders.
He'd had neither the time nor the inclination to wonder if they thought about
anything. But he was a good king, and shrewd enough to know that something
important lay behind his daughter's questions. "Why do you ask? What's
happened?"
Thirrin took a deep breath. "The werewolf could have killed me today, but it
didn't. It disarmed me and could have ripped out my throat. But when I punched
it in the nose and told it to make it quick, it stopped and let me go. It even
stuck my sword in the ground and left it for me to collect. And I don't
understand why. If Wolf-folk can't feel and think, why did it let me live?"
Redrought didn't know, and at that moment he didn't care. He just felt an
enormous sense of relief sweep over him. Suddenly he gathered his daughter in a
bearlike hug that made her gasp for breath almost as much as the wolfman had
when it sat on her. "You will not take such risks again! Do you hear me?" he
roared, his anger fueled by the terrible realization that his daughter could so
easily have been killed.
"But, Dad, I didn't take any risks. Werewolves don't usually come into the
forest. How could I have known it was going to be there?"
Redrought knew this was true, but it didn't make him feel any better. He
released her from the hug and sat down again heavily. "I'll send out a full
patrol immediately."
"And I want to lead it."
"Oh no, young Madam. My daughter and heir will stay safely here in the
castle. Let some other hotheads earn their spurs," Redrought said decisively.
"But they'll need me to guide them to the right spot. Nobody else knows the
way."
"Apart from your soldier escort," the King said, a hint of triumph in his
tone.
"Apart from my soldier escort," Thirrin was forced to agree reluctantly.
"Good! Grimswald, call in the captain of the guard. You can give him details,
Thirrin, and then run along to your tutor. Geography today, if I'm not
mistaken."
Grimswald piped at the door for the guard, who arrived in a clatter of armor.
"Captain Edwald. The Princess reports a werewolf close to the city. Take
details and send out a patrol!" the King boomed, stroking Primplepuss gently.
The kitten screwed her eyes shut against the huge blast of Redrought's voice,
then as Thirrin and the captain withdrew to confer, she rubbed her tabby face
against the King's enormous finger as it tickled her cheek.
From The Cry of The Icemark by Stuart Hill, pages 1-11 of the hardcover edition. Copyright 2005 by Stuart Hill. Fist published in the United Kingdom by The Chicken House. Published in the USA by Scholastic Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book maybe reproduced without written permission from the publisher.
A bold, mesmerizing novel about the woman known as "Typhoid Mary," the first known healthy carrier of typhoid fever in the burgeoning metropolis of early twentieth century New York.
Two Lives is a memoir written by international best-selling author, Vikram Seth. In this interesting and engaging book, Seth writes about his great...
read more
Z, the novel about the life of Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald is at points charming and; like another reviewer, I kept thinking of the movie, "Midnight...
read more
Although heavy on the scientific details, which slowed down the story for me (OK, I admit, I was one of those liberal arts majors who skipped out on...
read more
Judge rules unused Borders gift cards to be worthless(May 23 2013) Borders owes nothing to holders of roughly $210.5 million of gift cards that had not been used by the time the bookstore chain shut down, a Manhattan federal...
Full Story
