"Sara Douglass - The Axis Trilogy 1 - BattleAxe" - читать интересную книгу автора (Douglass Sara)

Brother-Leader, Axis received the appointment of BattleAxe from his patron.
Jayme pretended not to see the horrified looks at court, arguing that despite his
relative youth Axis was the perfect man for the job тАФ which he has certainly
proved to be. So now the court has to live with a royal bastard, who everyone
hoped would fade into obscurity, holding one of the most elite military posts
within Achar. Rivkah's shame refuses to go away."
Faraday looked at the Brother-Leader. "Ah, I had heard that Brother Jayme
was a good and kind man, but this story is proof of it. To take a young babe no-
one else wanted and give him home and family. Artor bless him for that."
Axis noticed the young woman staring at him when he passed by her table
but thought little of it. He stepped lightly onto the dais, keenly aware of the
sudden tension his arrival had caused in many members of the royal table. He
clenched his right hand into a fist above the golden axes on his left breast in the
traditional salute of the Axe-Wielders and bowed low before Priam. "My King,
may Artor hold you in his care." "As He may you, BattleAxe," Priam replied
tersely. Axis straightened from his bow and looked Priam directly in the eye.
Sheer courtesy on the king's part should have made him offer Axis food and wine
and a place at the royal table at this point; the position of BattleAxe was one of
great honour within the realm. But Axis noted with some grim humour that the
king's sense of courtesy was noticeably absent when dealing with his sister's
bastard. Queen Judith fidgeted nervously with a tassel on her velvet sleeve,
staring at a distant point across the chamber. Her dead sister-in-law's fecundity,
whether in or out of marriage, was a continual reproach to her own barrenness.
"Your presence is most unexpected," Priam said, carefully folding his napkin
and dabbing delicately at the corner of his mouth.
Axis' mouth twitched. "Obviously sire, for I see you have begun dinner
without me."
Priam stiffened, slowly lowering the napkin to the table. "And what has
brought you home from Coroleas so precipitously, BattleAxe?"
Axis had taken six cohorts of Axe-Wielders south into the neighbouring
empire of Coroleas over two months
earlier to help the Coroleans with their eternal problem of vicious summer
raiders from across the eastern seas. It was a mission with dual purpose, to
strengthen the diplomatic ties between Achar and Coroleas and, more
importantly to Axis, to continue giving his own Axe-Wielders vital combat
experience. Axis had now taken his command south on seven different occasions
to help the Coroleans with both sea-raiders and internal rebellions. These
successful forays had earned Axis his reputation as a brilliant commander in just
five short years.
But eight days before Axis had received an urgent message from Jayme
asking him to bring himself and his Axe-Wielders home. The message had not
said what was wrong, and Axis had fretted about it for the five days it had taken
the ships carrying the Axe-Wielders to sail from Coroleas to the port of Nordmuth
in Achar. He had left his Axemen to travel at a more leisurely pace from
Nordmuth and ridden virtually nonstop to the Tower of the Seneschal,
exhausting himself in the effort. Arriving late this afternoon, only to find that
Jayme was attending Priam's nameday banquet across the Grail Lake in Carlon,
Axis had cursed the extra time it took to cross the lake. He sincerely hoped
Jayme hadn't called him home just to add his own good wishes to Priam's
nameday celebrations.