"Brooks, Terry - Heritage 01 - The Scions of Shannara" - читать интересную книгу автора (Brooks Terry)

He shivered at the prospect, brushed the matter from his mind,
and went quickly back up the hallway to find Coll.

The crowd was even larger for the second telling, the walls
lined with standing men who could not find chairs or benches
to sit upon. The Blue Whisker was a large house, the front
serving room over a hundred feet across and open to the rafters
above a stringing of oil lamps and fish netting that lent a sort of
veiled appearance that was apparently designed to suggest inti-
macy. Par couldn't have tolerated much more intimacy, so close
were the patrons of the ale house as they pressed up against the
platform, some actually sitting on it now as they drank. This
was a different group than earlier, although the Valeman was
hard-pressed to say why. It had a different feel to it, as if there
was something foreign in its makeup. cole must have felt it, too.
He glanced over at Par several times as they prepared to per-
form, and there was uneasiness mirrored in his dark eyes.

14 The Scions of Shannara

A tall, black-bearded man wrapped in a dun-colored forest
cloak waded through the crowd to the platform's edge and eased
himself down between two other men. The two looked up as if
they intended to say something, then caught a close glimpse of
the other's face and apparently thought better of it. Par watched
momentarily and looked away. Everything felt wrong.

cole leaned over as a rhythmic clapping began. The crowd
was growing restless. "Par, I don't like this. There's some-
thing . . ."

He didn't finish. The owner of the ale house came up and told
them in no uncertain terms to begin before the crowd got out of
hand and started breaking things. cole stepped away wordlessly.
The lights dimmed, and Par started to sing. The story was the
one about Allanon and the battle with the Jachyra. cole began
to speak, setting the stage, telling those gathered what sort of
day it was, what the glen was like into which the Druid came
with Brin Ohmsford and Rone Leah, how everything suddenly
grew hushed. Par created the images in the minds of his listen-
ers, instilling in them a sense of anxiety and expectation, trying
unsuccessfully not to experience the same feelings himself.

At the rear of the room, men were moving to block the doors
and windows, men suddenly shed of cloaks and dressed all in
black. Weapons glittered. There were patches of white on sleeves
and breasts, insignia of some sort. Par squinted, Elven vision
sharp.

A wolf's head.