Song of Sorcery Read Online Free Page B

could he tell this pushy female, who even though she wasn’t anywhere near being what he would call sweet and innocent, nonetheless seemed pretty naive, what the perils of the road were? Fresh from the Academy this spring, he truthfully hadn’t experienced a great many of them himself. He was sure there were some, however, as his fellow students from parts of Argonia more exotic and sophisticated than East Headpenney, where he’d been raised, had told absolutely harrowing tales. And the history the masters gave in Lyric Appreciation classes, he felt sure, was not born of the sort of conflict, be it magical or unmagical, that could be warded away merely by hanging a medicine bundle in a tree fork. But go tell that to Mistress Know-it-all.
    So they jogged along in silence for a long while. The dull clop of the horses’ hooves and the occasional jangle of the strings on Colin’s instruments as he shifted weight in the saddle were the only sounds. They had quite passed all the farms that surrounded Fort Iceworm, and were negotiating the more rugged, unmaintained track that was the South Highway when Maggie, who had been sneaking an occasional guilty side-long glance at Colin’s tight-lipped face, cleared her throat.
    “Lovely day, isn’t it?”
    Colin’s expression thawed just a bit. “Can’t say as it is, really.”
    “No? Beastly I suppose, actually, from your point of view.” Having made herself an opening, she had very little idea how to proceed. Diplomacy, as had been frequently pointed out to her by loved ones who had occasion to know, was not Maggie’s long suit. “See here, minstrel, you really mustn’t be so bloody touchy about every little remark I make. A person makes a simple topographical observation and you get all huffy.” She noted with increasing exasperation that her humble apology wasn’t exactly producing instant rapport, but nevertheless plunged ahead. “I only meant that any fool should be able to find their way down a road that’s the only one there IS…don’t you think?” she ended in a voice rather smaller than the one she’d begun in.
    Colin blew an angry breath out over clenched teeth. “And I only meant, milady , that I have perhaps had occasion to learn things about traveling that might prove instructive to a girl who’s never been off her father’s estate, that is, if she chose to listen instead of biting people’s heads off all the time.”
    “Biting people’s heads off? Did I bite anyone’s head off? What do you think I am, an ogress, that I bite people’s heads off?”
    “Please stop snapping so loudly, witch,” yawned Ching as he shifted to a more comfortable napping position in the basket. “Your dulcet tones are giving me a pain in the whiskers.”
    Maggie’s shoulders drooped and finally she nodded. “Alright, maybe a little bite. But you met my Gran, and Dad, though he’s a nice sort of fellow for one of the ruling class, cares more about hunting than managing things, and has a head to match those boar trophies on the walls at the tavern sometimes. Winnie, when she was home sort of kept things smoothed over and everyone peaceful. I’ll be the first to admit those tactics can be very effective but, toads, minstrel,” she looked directly into his eyes now, a plea for understanding, “sweetness and light just don’t get the hearth laid or the sheep sheared. Someone has to see to it that things get done. And one can’t forever be saying, Please, sir, I beg yer pardon, sir, would you kindly toss the slops out if it isn’t too much trouble and you’ve nothing better to do?” He still didn’t say anything. “It’s all right, you know, if you want to turn back north. There’s a little path that skirts round the village, so no one would know. I’ll really be fine.”
    “I wouldn’t be so fine, though, if something should happen to you while I’m supposed to be with you, and your father found me elsewhere. I’ll accompany you, as arranged,