The Lady's Man Read Online Free

bear, let alone speak of yet, and he trusted us no more than he would trust any strangers.”
     
    “Do you know who his quarry is?”
     
    “No. Only that he is a wizard of great power. One who also knows he is being pursued by him, and one who can strike at a great distance. He sent a pair of black griffins against Yorik on the first day after we had been rescued. They struck silently and with great stealth, but Yorik was completely unsurprised by them. They did not last more than a few seconds after they attacked, and Yorik spent no time at all examining their corpses for clues as to who sent them or taking mementoes of a great battle. He just bid us carry on as though nothing had happened.”
     
    “Black griffins?” The Lady ignored his disbelief as he no doubt deserved.
     
    “It was not a great battle for him and he knew their master. So, just as his enemy is a powerful and surely black hearted wizard, so too is Yorik a powerful paladin and weapon aimed directly at his heart. Yet another sign of a paladin, one who is immune to much spirit magic and is trained to combat dark magic with both sword and spells. It will be a major battle when they truly meet, and I would not want to be nearby.”
     
    “Nor I honoured Lady.”
     
    It was only the truth. The human had scared him in the flesh, and that was before he had learned of his defeating griffins. Black griffins at that, creatures magically poisoned and controlled by dark magics. They were among the most powerful summonings of any dark sorcerer. Anyone who could take two on at once was more than simply a soldier. He was a force to be reckoned with, while a wizard who could or would conjure such terrible beasts belonged in Haldesfort with the great demon.
     
    “Good. See to it that when we reach Hammeral your other soldiers know the same. He is not an enemy, and he should not be treated as such, lest we find out how terrible a foe he might become. Besides, a debt of honour is owed, and I suspect we have not seen the last of Yorik.”
     
    “Lady?” Avenall was already bowing his head in agreement when the second part registered on his ears.
     
    “It is just a feeling young one. No more and no less. But this bitter young man's path and our own will cross again in due time. His journey, like our own, will be difficult and long, and for the most part in the same direction. I believe we also may share an enemy, perhaps even some friends. We should be allies. Best we learn to accept each other before the final battle arrives. We should not then be still divided.”
     
    Just a feeling? Avenall would have pointed out that she was a foreteller. Her feelings were the most reliable indicators of the future to come, and the basis of much elven policy. But she already knew that. If she had a feeling, it was almost certain to happen.
     
    Then there was the idea that they shared an enemy. The third class of friends. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Except, that the elves had no enemies, least of all from human wizards. Barbarians of course were the enemies of anybody who entered their forest realms, and paladins if the elder was correct about him, were only the enemies of evil. By and large most adversaries would know better than to mess with elven magics, and he had to assume the same of those who might wish harm to either paladins or wild hearts. And yet apparently some did not.
     
    “Enemy your Lady?”
     
    “Best you don't ask what none of our people will ever want to hear. My daughter will speak to the Council before I make home in Hammeral, and they can decide the actions to take. For now I would prefer to eat and reflect upon happier times.”
     
    “I thank you for your wise words Lady.”
     
    It was a dismissal Avenall knew, and he would learn no more from her. It would be rude to even ask. Instead he gestured to one of his soldiers, Guylen who was already busy washing the bowls from the children's meals, and who immediately went and filled one up with