Jack Whyte - The Skystone

"I knew it, Caius! I knew you would see it! The lake is it! A huge bowl full of water! Not circular, because the hillside absorbed much of the shock. And the debris and boulders blocked the flow of water down through the valleys below, and turned the impact ring into a lake!" I set him back on his feet and together we stared down at it.

"And that explains the cattle, too, " I added, suddenly realising the truth.

Caius looked at me. "What cattle? What d'you mean?"

"The dead cattle. " I realized then that he had not heard that part of the story. "There was a herd of cattle, Jack apparently, in the valley the night the skystones landed. They were all killed, naturally enough, but there was something about it that didn't make sense. It bothered me. I thought it was highly unlikely that anyone would drive those animals all the way over the hills, into the valley, when the grazing was just as good on the other side. " I nodded down again towards the lake.

"But there's the answer. The valley must have been open at that end before the cataclysm, so it would have been accessible to the cattle, offering shelter from the winds. The upheaval caused by the skystone blocked off the access and threw up the rim that now contains the lake. "

"But didn't Meric say there had always been a lake there?"

"Aye, and there probably was. But it would have been smaller, and shallower. That's where the mud came from that coated everything the day after. The skystone must have blasted every drop of water and mud out of the lake and punched a deeper bed for it. "

I turned to Equus and he was gaping at both of us as though we had gone mad. Caius saw this too, and we both broke out in laughter.

"Equus!" I asked him, "what's the matter? Can't you see it, man?"

"Aye, I can see it. It's a massy lake! So what's all the excitement about?

How will you find a skystone at the bottom of a lake? That's what I'd like to know. "

"The same way he found the others, Equus!" Caius was jubilant. "He will dig for it!"

Now Equus knew that we were both quite mad. It was plain on his face. We fell about with laughter as he became completely confounded. Finally I took pity on him and pulled myself together enough to put his mind at ease.

"Equus, " I said gasping, "it's a simple matter of military engineering. We'll drain the lake, letting the water run down into the other valleys. Then, when the mud at the bottom of the lake has dried out, we'll dig up the skystone. "

Poor Equus! He was enormously relieved, and we soon sat down to eat the meal that we had brought with us. We had not brought much wine, but we were so light-headed that what we had was ample.

XXVII

The buck was magnificent — sleek, beautiful, graceful and not yet come to prime. He had emerged almost unnoticeably from the copse in the dawn light, solidifying magically from the low-lying mist and moving forward delicately, picking his way on tiptoe through the knee-high, dew-drenched grass of the meadow. His breath steamed visibly in the motionless air so that it seemed he was producing the mist by himself, and through the screen of young leaves that hid me from him, I could see water droplets hanging from his antlers like precious stones. Slowly, careful to make no sudden sound or motion, I drew my bowstring back towards my ear, feeling the tension of the braided sinew on my calloused fingertips and the long, lethal glide of the shaft of the iron-barbed arrow against my thumb. My drawing thumb touched my cheek and as it did so the buck froze, head up, ears forward, a perfect target. I closed one eye, sighting carefully.

"No, Publius! No!"

The cry startled me as much as it did the buck, shattering my concentration so that I flinched and jerked the bow high, straining my muscles against the instinct to release the arrow. By the time I looked again, my beautiful buck had vanished. Slowly, gritting my teeth, I released the tension on my bow. Then I turned around to where Luceiia stood watching me, the fingertips of one hand touching her lips and her eyes wide and filled with apprehension. With her other hand she clutched a blanket she had wrapped around her against the morning chill. I made no move towards her and she simply stood there, waiting for my anger to break over her for the first time.

"Why did you do that?" I asked her, calmly.

She blinked her own deer-like eyes at me. "I... he was too beautiful. I didn't want you to kill him. "

"I divined that much already, Luceiia. But why did you find it necessary to frighten me out of a year's growth as well as tonight's dinner?"

"What? Frighten you? How did... ? " Her eyes changed slightly, crinkling to a smile. "Did I startle you?"

I nodded slowly, seriously, drinking in her marvellous beauty as she stood there unaware that her nakedness beneath the blanket was clearly visible.

"Half to death, " I said. "What would you have done had I fallen dead?

How would you have felt? Would the buck have comforted you?" Her hand moved up to cover her mouth completely, masking the laugh that now danced in her eyes. "You are not angry?"

"I asked you how you would have felt had I died of shock, woman. Answer me. "

Instead of speaking she shivered, giggled and turned to dart back towards the leather tent hidden among the saplings behind her. I chased her and caught her at the entrance flap and bore her down onto the still-warm pile of furs inside.

Hours later, riding through a golden springtime morning, she was still talking about the deer whose life she had saved, pointing out that, had I killed him, I would have had to spend time cleaning, skinning and butchering him, so that we would have lost the glory of the early day. Besides, she said, the buck was young — too young to have experienced life and the wonders of mating. Was I so jaded and indifferent to life that I could deny its pleasures to another, even to a deer?

The spring sun shone warm and strong on us, and her eyes sparkled with health and humour. The long, clean lines of her thigh filled out the soft leather breeches she wore for riding. My breath thickened in my throat as I followed her contours with my eyes, although for the moment I was content to ride alongside her, listening with pleasure to her prattling and feasting my eyes on her crystalline beauty. This was my wife! Even after almost a full month of marriage I still had to keep reminding myself of this. She was mine! I could have her and enjoy her any time I wanted to, for the remainder of our lives.

"You are not listening, Publius. "

The singsong notes of her comment brought me back to attention with a start.

"I was day-dreaming. Forgive me. What were you saying?"

"I was saying, husband dear, that I feel a sorrow, a sympathy, for the poor animals. "

"What animals? Deer? Why?"

"Not merely deer — all animals. " She was grinning at me, mischief dancing in her eyes. "Because of the way they are tied to seasons and have no hands. "

I felt myself frowning. "I don't follow you. "

"I know you don't, because you haven't been listening. But you would follow me if I slipped from my horse and from my clothing here in this long, lush grass, would you not?"

"What?" I felt my stomach tighten with anticipation and glanced around me involuntarily. "You mean here? On this open hillside?"

"Open?" Her laugh was tinkling bells. "We are miles from anywhere, husband, and I want you. I want to feel your hands and your body and the cool greenness of this grass on my skin. "

Somehow our horses had stopped moving, and the air between us seemed to solidify and tremble, drawing me towards her.

"You are a shameless wanton, " I muttered, hoarsely.

"Completely, with you. "

She laughed again and seemed to flow down from her horse's back and into the long grass, and I almost fell from my own mount in my rush to join her.