Blaze of Silver (28 page)

Since his return to the land of his ancestors, Kamil had worked hard to build a new life for himself. He had never forgotten Amal's face as the old spy found that he could not deliver the deathblow. Something had passed between them as Kamil lay, utterly helpless, and while Amal covered him with leaves, both men had been praying. After many hours, Kamil had dragged himself back to the river to drink and had been found, in the
end, by a peasant come to the river to find fish. The man had, with some reluctance, half carried Kamil to a village and dumped him on a kind woman who had looked after him until he could at least stand unaided. He had left Germany only after hearing of the Old Man's drowning, begging passage on a boat. Now, surely it would be safe for him to return home. As he had sat, watching the shores of Europe vanish, he had thought a great deal. His trust in Will was absolute. Will would explain to Ellie that he was no follower of the Old Man and that though he had caused the deaths of Hartslove men, he was no traitor. Kamil did not, however, know if Ellie would believe him and he found that this mattered to him, mattered very much.

The boy on the road came closer and salaamed. It was late and he was tired and dirty but he still walked with purpose, keeping up well with the colt, still sprightly at his side. When they reached Kamil, the horse shook himself for his coat was dusty and he regarded his surroundings with interested disdain. Despite the dust, between the colt's eyes a small star gleamed like a pearl. Kamil could not take his eyes off it. The boy handed over the colt's lead rope without a word and headed for the servant's quarters. Then he turned back. “Oh,” he said, “there's a message.”

“A message?” Kamil did not look, just held out his hand. Into it the boy dropped a silken purse. The feel of the embroidery was familiar. It was the purse in which Kamil had packed the comb he had made. He forced himself to look away from the horse, but then kept looking back as if it might disappear. Only when it licked his hand did Kamil begin to breathe again. He
looked at the purse properly now and opened it. In place of the comb he had sent was a plait of red and silver hair and a piece of parchment. Kamil fingered the plait, then took the parchment out and slowly unfolded it. On it, Ellie had written, in tiny but perfect Arabic letters, the names
Hosanna
and
Shihab
. He read them again and again.

A tugging at his shirt made him look down. Ella wanted to see. He crouched and they looked at the plait and the parchment together. Then the horse moved and the little girl grew nervous. Kamil slipped the paper back into the purse and picked her up. At once, the horse sniffed her hair and she laughed. More confident now, she put out a hand and began to sweep the dust from his coat. “What color do you call this?” she asked.

Kamil put her down and hung the new plait from his belt, alongside the rope of Hosanna's hair he was never without. “It's blood red,” he told her. Then he took the colt's halter and began to lead it toward the stables. He looked back as he turned the corner. Ella was waiting, expectant. Kamil stopped, full of things that he wanted to say but could not. The colt waited beside him and sighed. He wanted his supper.

And finally Kamil knew that there was only one more message to give. It was a message for his patient wife, the girl who had nursed him back to health and in whose eyes he had found the kind of peace he thought would never be his. He would send her a message that said everything and he knew that she would understand it, not quite as Ellie would, but enough. “Go and tell your mother,” he said as the colt rubbed his head against his new master's chest, “that at last I have a blood red
horse.” And as the little girl repeated the message so that she would not get it wrong, Kamil looked west, toward the setting sun. He touched the plait and felt the parchment, and though he sighed as deeply as the colt at his side, in the quiet of his heart he rejoiced.

THE DE GRANVILLE TRILOGY
BY K. M. GRANT

Blood Red Horse
Book One

Green Jasper
Book Two

Blaze of Silver
Book Three

Copyright © 2007 by K. M. Grant

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

First published in the United States of America in 2007 by
Walker Publishing Company, Inc.
Distributed to the trade by Holtzbrinck Publishers
Electronic edition published in July 2012
www.bloomsburykids.com

Originally published in the U.K. in 2007 by the Penguin Group, Puffin Books

For information about permission to reproduce selections from
this book, write to Permissions, Walker & Company,
104 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10011

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Grant, K. M.
Blaze of silver / K. M. Grant
p. cm.
Summary: Using principles of their shared Muslim faith to persuade him, an agent
of the Old Man of the Mountain convinces Kamil to lead Will and Ellie into a trap,
but Kamil repents and seeks a way to save his friends and redeem himself.
[1. Horses—Fiction. 2. Muslims—Fiction. 3. Knights and knighthood—
Fiction. 4. Great Britain—History—Richard I, 1189–1199—Fiction.] I. Title.
PZ7.G766775Sil 2007    [Fic]—dc22   2006012098

ISBN: 978-0-8027-2806-7 (e-book)