"part4" - читать интересную книгу автора (Keith Brooke - Lord of Stone)

"What were you looking at?" Bligh wandered deeper into the
bare room, keeping a safe distance from the boy. Sech's eyes
followed him relentlessly.

"I was listening," said Sech. "I'm hungry but they don't feed
me any more."

Bligh handed him a piece of cheese from his pocket. Sech held
it up to the light and examined it closely before putting it
in his own pocket. Bligh felt a terrible weight, seeing how
the war could damage one so young. He sensed Salas Benjennery
coming to stand beside him.

"You were listening to the Lords, weren't you, Sech?" he
said. "Which one was it today? Fire? Air? Flux?" He sounded
nervous, as if something was not right.

Gaspar Sech just looked at him. Eventually the boy said to
Bligh, "What does he mean? I'm hungry, can I have some food?"

Benjennery turned to Bligh and said, "He's refused food for
two days now. He hasn't said anything that makes any sense
for even longer. What did you do?"

"I'll get him something," said Bligh. He found the Company
supplies in an airy cellar and took some bread and a flask of
water back to Sech. The boy ate greedily and then drank the
flask dry.

At dusk, Captain Ivoro found Bligh and Bernie Rayner sitting
outside on the wood pile. "I was going to send you back with
the fool," he said.

"He seems well enough to me," said Bligh.

"That's what I mean," said Ivoro. "You'll win a reputation as
a healer if you're not careful. You're taking supplies to the
Front instead."

Over the next week, Bligh got to know his new Company a
little better. Apart from the newcomers, they were all native
Traians. Most came from the north but a few were from Anasty
and the coast. Gaspar Sech was soon back on the supply runs
doing his share of the work. It did not take long for Bligh's
compassion to fade under the onslaught of Sech's favouritism.
The boy would bring him pieces of food and glittering
fragments of quartz, he would march by his side and recite
muddled proverbs and litanies. "The fire that I breathe, the
ground that I drink upon, the thoughts that warm me ... "