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

family, from traveling to Suinomen. His teachers
never spoke about it in school, it never even appeared
on maps, and it never had diplomatic relations with
any country. After a while, one just forgot it existed.
The only contact Althea had with Suinomen was a
light, seasonal trade in animal hides. Alaire didn't even
know who was ruling the country nowadays. Suino-
men. Why, in the seven hells, are we going there?
Their home at Fenrich was near the northern
boundary with Suinomen. This probably explained
why King Reynard picked them, since the border was
a days travel away, the capital two; and since Naitachal
had often run "little errands" that involved diplomatic
maneuvering for the royal family. This still didn't
explain why they were going.
"Found it," Naitachal said, selecting a thin leather
book from the shelf and placing it on the desk. In the
dim candlelight Alaire could make out vague Elvish
script on the cover, but couldn't decipher its meaning.
"You still haven't said why we're going to this place,"
Alaire said, trying to sound nonchalant.
Since the Dark Elf had so few visitors to this room,
it took the boy a moment to find something to sit on.
He finally found an old stool, layered with dust. Since
his backside was already dusty he didn't have any
qualms about using it.
Naitachal was perusing the book. "The land is only
off limits to those who wield magic," he said, as if in an
afterthought.
"So where does that leave us?" Alaire asked. "Did
the King forget what you are, and what you are train-
ing me to be?" Even before all the facts were in, he
found himself resisting the whole idea.
"No one in Suinomen knows we are Bards," Nai-
tachal replied absently. "Let me explain, before you
prejudge the entire mission. You know Suinomen has
been an uncomfortable neighbor for centuries, but for
the most part our two nations left each other alone.
Now they are making vague, but disturbing war
threats."
Alaire was about to say something else, but at the
mention of war, he kept his silence.
Naitachal turned a page. 'This was why I destroyed
the letter. Our mages, through their own spells, have
Seen an impressive military buildup. The Suinomese
have stepped up their recruiting efforts despite a pro-
ductive harvest. Why should they draft youngsters
when the family farms need them the most? The war
threats must be taken seriously."
Alaire shook his head; it made no sense. "We've