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The Petronicus Legacy
The Stones
of Petronicus
by
Peter Tomlinson
Excerpt from Prologue.
Petronicus
was glad to shake the dust of Bedosa from his feet as he left the town.
He still carried the child in his robe but there was no crying and it
seemed to sleep contentedly.
They camped that night by a lake and Petronicus started to make
a basket of reeds and grasses to tie onto his donkey for the child to
ride in. Feeding was difficult and he had to chew the bread in his own
mouth before giving it to the child.
"And what shall become of you, I wonder?" Petronicus asked
as they lay down for the night.
The darkness came over them but it was still warm with only a slight
hint of approaching winter in the night air. They continued their journey
the next day with the child safely in the basket on the donkey's back.
"Bobbing about makes the brain work," said Petronicus
to the smiling child. "The guard asked me what I should do with you.
Well, child, whoever you are, I will teach you the thoughts of Man and
the words that tell of them. I will teach you my trade and you will be
a man when I am old and I will die on clean straw that you will bring
for me."
Petronicus, the child and the donkey headed for the Land of the
Tall Trees where the winter's snow seldom fell and the wind blew warm
from the Inner Lands.
Excerpt from Chapter Seven
Just
then we heard a commotion from the other side of the market place. People
were running about and shouting but we could just see what was happening
through the narrow alleyways between the houses.
"Mercy on us," said Mentis as we watched. "It is
the Ruler and the head priest. And look, men with long blades!"
We watched as the horror unfolded. I could see clearly the immense
blades they carried and how they swirled them around themselves and nobody
could ever get near to them.
"They have taken them from the gods in the boat. Oh, there
is such evil here. They carry the weapons of the gods! Come we must go,
quickly," said Mentis.
"No, wait, Mentis! Look!" The Ruler of Bedosa, a young
man but very tall and muscular, approached a scribe who had been reading
a prayer for an old woman. He held one of the great blades in his hand.
He grabbed the scribe and pushed him to the ground, and then I witnessed
the greatest horror I had ever seen. The Ruler brought his long sharp
blade down and cut deeply into the scribe's leg. The people fell silent.
I wanted to run to the scribe and push my clenched fist into his wound
to stop the bleeding as Petronicus had taught me. But I felt the hand
of Mentis on my shoulder restraining me. Nobody moved in the market place
and then the people fell to their knees with their heads bowed before
them.
Mentis whispered to me: "Come quickly, Petronius."
He held me by the arm and pushed me into a side alley between the
houses. We moved quickly through alleyways and streets that Mentis was
familiar with.
"Where are we going, Mentis? Where will we hide?"
"We go first to the House of the Tablets. I must give you something
for Petronicus."
| Also by Peter Tomlinson | |
 |
The Time of Kadrik |
 |
The
Voyages of Delticos Coming Soon: October 2007 |
The moral rights of the author have been asserted.
The rights of Peter Tomlinson to be identified as the author have been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and patents act 1988
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