"Bard's Tale 03 - Prison of Souls - Mercedes Lackey & Mark Shepherd 1.0" - читать интересную книгу автора (Bard's Tale)

quickly."
"And you were a hero," Alaire said.
Naitachal shook his head. "Hardly. It was Bard
Kevin, for he was truly a Bard by then, who should get
the credit for what happened In a short time he mas-
tered the spell, and delivered it flawlessly, once
Volmar and Carlotta appeared. There, before every-
body, she returned to her original, fairy form."
"I thought she died," Alaire said. "That's what
Mother said. Gawaine thought so, too."
Naitachal laughed, but it had no humor in it. "That's
what the Queen wants to believe, but alas, I'm afraid
that simply isn't what happened. Carlotta escaped in
the melee that followed. It was all we could do to keep
Volmar's soldiers from executing us on the spot. His
men followed him blindly, and it was only when they
saw Charina's ghost, who openly accused the Count of
her murder, that their loyalties turned. And I had
nothing to do with that! By then I'd had my fill of Nec-
romancy." He took a deep breath and his face cleared
of the shadows of the past. "And that is the end of that
tale. Where Carlotta went after that is anyone's guess.
She didn't die. She only changed."
"Do you think Carlotta is still alive?" Alaire had to
admit he didn't feel too comfortable with the chance
that Carlotta still lived.
Naitachal seemed to consider this seriously for a
moment, but Alaire suspected he already had an opin-
ion formulated "Simply put, yes, though I haven't the
first clue where she would be, or when she might sur-
face. It's not worth worrying about, at least not at the
moment. You have more important tasks at hand, such
as learning real swordsmanship." He laughed again,
this time with real humor. "When I think how Kevin
begged the Amazon and me to teach him the sword!
And how horrified his Master was when he learned
that we had!"
Alaire's thoughts, and gaze, had drifted during the
brief history lesson. Perhaps this was why he didn't
notice when Naitachal slipped over to the swordrack
and retrieved his weapon. He even managed to hide
it, until now.
"I hold a weapon," Naitachal said, smirking, and
saluting him with the practice sword. "Why don't you?"
Alaire opened his mouth to say something, but
nothing came out. Damn him, the boy thought. He
knows when I'm not paying attention! That's when he
pulls these little stunts!
The Dark Elf tossed Alaire the wooden sword,
which he caught skillfully by the hilt, then took