Blaze of Silver Read Online Free Page B

the archer. It was only after Will shouted for the archer to stand down that he seemed happy to cross the drawbridge and follow Kamil into the heart of the castle.
    From his place by the wall, Hosanna watched, and when Amal disappeared into the keep, he blinked, and all the nerves shivered down his flanks.
    At supper that evening, Amal sat at the top table. The fresh clothes hung from his fleshless bones and with his pale coloring, as unusual as the horse’s, he would have looked sinister except that the expression on his face was one of permanent apology, even at rest. Kamil spoke to him, sinking back into his own language as somebody sinks into a familiar bed, unable to prevent questions bubbling out. What was the news from Palestine and Arabia? Like a parched flower, he couldn’t get enough and Amal responded with apparent enthusiasm, expanding his answers until Kamil was satisfied. It was some time before Kamil asked Amal about himself. The man was a horsetrader, he learned, and not a very successful one. He wondered about a reward. This brought Kamil up short and his habitual stiffness returned. Then,as Amal prattled on, he grew suspicious. “Why is it, old man,” he asked, “that you ask no questions about me? Do they say back home that it is usual to find a Saracen in the household of an English earl?”
    Amal was ready for this. “No, indeed, Excellency,” he replied quickly. “It is just that I do not like to pry. A Muslim living among Christians must have his own reasons. If you wish to tell me, I wish to hear. If you do not, I will happily remain in ignorance.”
    The answer amused Kamil. He was certain that Amal did know who he was, for the whole of the Arab world had known Saladin, and Kamil, as Saladin’s ward, had been as famous as his master. Nevertheless, he admired a man who could use his wits. However, there was little opportunity for further conversation. Determined to make her mark, Marissa began to bombard Amal with questions of her own, insisting that Kamil translate, and when Marie pressed her arm to stop her, redoubled her efforts. What did Marie know about anything? She would, in time, marry Hal and vanish from Hartslove, leaving Marissa to lonely spinsterhood. If spinsterhood was her fate, why should she not enjoy herself now? “Where have you come from? How did you know the horse had been given to Gavin? Where did you find her? Who told you the way to Hartslove?” She allowed nobody else to speak.
    Amal cleared his throat and looked around as if to beg everybody’s pardon for being a nuisance. “I am of no interest,” he began in his scratchy voice, “but the silver mare, ah! It is said that her father is the wind and her mother the evening tide. You can believe that if you will.” He clasped his hands together. “I have seen her raceacross the desert, a blaze of silver in the sand, and nothing could come near her. She won many prizes. Some say she is Allah’s own horse but we know only that after your King Richard stole her, she fell into strange hands and ended up in the bazaar where I found her and was told she belonged here. I had nothing else to do, so I brought her. That’s all I can say.” He looked at Kamil for support.
    â€œIf the mare’s so wonderful, why did you not ride her to Hartslove?” asked Marissa, hoping to have found somebody worse at riding than herself.
    â€œThe horse is not easy to ride,” Amal said simply, “and if the fastest horse in the world takes off with you, who knows where you might end up.”
    Everybody laughed except Marissa. “She’s not the fastest horse in the world,” she said, annoyed. “Hosanna is.”
    Will shook his head as Elric’s treble piped through. “Hosanna may be the
best
horse in the world, Marissa, but I doubt that he’s the fastest.”
    Marissa turned on him at once. “Don’t be so disloyal,”