< previous page page_339 next page >

Page 339
each shed, stalk of wheat, foot of ground, was not in them. Simon hunted the forests around his keeps, but if he found other huntsmen in them, he gaily asked them their luck and, if it was time for rest, would share his wine and food. Kicva's cattle grazed the pasturage that belonged by right to Angharad's Hall, but if there was enough grass, she had no objections to a neighbor's herd joining hers.
In times of scarcity, of course, attitudes were not so friendly. Then Simon might order poachers killed, and Kicva might order the slaughter of intruding cattle. That was understood by all, as it was understood that a request for help in bad times must be honored if it was at all possible to do so.
It was shocking to Rhiannon that these women, who loved their men both passionately and devotedly, would send them out to fight for a nearly worthless patch of wasteland if that patch was theirs. Alinor might wince each time her husband's breath caught or he coughed rackingly, but she firmed her lips and set her jaw when Rhiannon asked questions. But it was Sybelle who answered.
"It is because land is the basis of everything," Sybelle said. "On the land men live, and from land wealth comes. With men and wealth, one has power. Without power, one is a helpless victim, at the mercy of anyone. I will be the Lady of Roselynde. I will die. But Roselynde will remain, and my sons' and daughters' sons and daughters will be free and strong because the land is theirs."
It was a very clear answer, but it meant little to Rhiannon, and Simon grinned and drew her aside. "Now do you see why I thanked God that my mother's lands go to my sister and then to Sybelle? Oh, I do not mind fighting for the land, but anything to do with it is given the same weight with them. If a single field yields less one year than another, my mother is there asking questions, looking at the soil, examining the

 
< previous page page_339 next page >