"Kerr, Katharine - Deverry 01 - Daggerspell v1.1" - читать интересную книгу автора (Dragon Stories)

УI just forgot. I couldnТt think.Ф
УI suppose not. WhatТs that on your mouth? Did you throw up?Ф
Jill wiped her face on her sleeve. He was still her da, her handsome wonderful da, but she had just seen him kill a man. When he laid his hand on her shoulder, she flinched.
УIТm not going to slap you,Ф Cullyn said, misunderstanding. УI threw up myself the first time I saw a man killed. Ah by the hells, another man dead over pig food! I hope that fool ends this here.Ф
УYnydd, you mean?Ф Abryn said.
УHim, too,Ф Cullyn said.
The warband took the dead manТs body back to the dun for the Tieryn to send to Ynydd in honorable return. Since the dead manТs horse had fled in the rout, Abryn had to give up his pony and ride behind Cullyn. When the riders tied the corpse over the saddle, Jill made herself look at it, flopping like her rag doll, not a man anymore at all. She felt sicker than before. When they reached the dun, Glyn and the servants ran out to meet them. In the confusion, Jill slipped away, going around behind the broch and finding a quiet spot to sit in the shade of the ruined wall. She knew that Abryn would run to his mother, and she envied him bitterly.
SheТd been there for some time before Cullyn found her. He sat down next to her on the ground. She could hardly look at him.
УThe heraldТs riding out now to take that poor lad home,Ф Cullyn said. УThis corpse should end the thing. The honor of BraeddТs piss-poor warband has been avenged, and YnyddТs had all the gas scared out of both ends of him.Ф
Jill looked at CullynТs hands, resting on his thighs. Without his heavy gauntlets, they looked like his hands again, the ones that gave her food and combed her hair and patted her on the shoulder. She wondered why sheТd thought that they would have changed. HeТs killed lots of men, she thought, thatТs why he has all that glory.
УStill feel sick?Ф Cullyn said.
УI donТt. I didnТt think blood would smell like that.Ф
УWell, it does, and it runs like that, too. Why do you think I didnТt want you riding with us?Ф
УDid you know someone would get killed?Ф
УI was hoping I could stop it, but I was ready for it. I always am, because I have to be. I truly did think those lads would break sooner than they did, you see, but there was one young wolf in the pack of rabbits. Poor bastard. ThatТs what he gets for his honor.Ф
УDa? Are you sorry for him?Ф
УI am. IТll tell you something, my sweet, that no other man in Deverry would admit: IТm sorry for every man I ever killed, somewhere deep in my heart. But it was his Wyrd, and thereТs nothing a man can do about his own Wyrd, much less someone elseТs. Someday my own Wyrd will take me, and IТve no doubt itТll be the same one IТve brought to many a man. ItТs like a bargain with the gods. Every warrior makes it. Do you understand?Ф
УSort of. Your life for theirs, you mean?Ф
УJust that. ThereТs nothing else a man can do.Ф Jill began to feel better. Thinking of it as Wyrd made it seem clean again.
УItТs the only honor left to me, my bargain with my Wyrd,Ф Cullyn went on. УI told you once, and no doubt IТll tell you a thousand times over, never dishonor yourself. If ever youТre tempted to do the slightest bit of a dishonorable thing, you remember your father, and what one dishonor brought himЧthe long road and shame in the eyes of every honest man.Ф*
УBut wasnТt it your Wyrd to have the dagger?Ф
УIt wasnТt.Ф Cullyn allowed himself a brief smile. УA man canТt make his Wyrd better, but itТs in his hands to make it worse.Ф
УDa?Ф Jill said. УDo the gods make a manТs Wyrd?Ф
УThey donТt. Wyrd rules the gods, too. They canТt turn aside a manТs Wyrd no matter how much he prays and carries on. Do you remember the story of Gwindyc, back in the Dawntime? The Goddess Epona tried to save his life, but his Wyrd was upon him. She sent a spear at the Rhwmanes, but Gwindyc turned and took the spear in his own side.Ф
УSo he did, and he didnТt even complain. But that lad you killed screamed.Ф
УI heard him.Ф CullynТs face went dead calm, just as it had in the battle. УBut donТt hold it against him. I donТt.Ф
Jill thought for a moment, then leaned against his shoulder. Cullyn put his arm around her and pulled her close. He was still her fathierЧand all she had in the world.
Close to nightfall, the herald returned. After conferring with the Tieryni and the herald, Councillor Glyn sought Cullyn out.
УLord Ynydd will sue for peace in the morning,Ф Glyn said. УAnd Tieryn Braedd will grant it.Ф
УThanks be to all the gods,Ф Cullyn said. УHere, Jill and I will be riding on in the morning.Ф
That night Cullyn let Jill sleep in the same bunk with him. She cuddled up to his broad back and tried to think of things other than the battle, but she dreamt about it. All over again she ran up to Cullyn and saw the dead rider, but when she looked up, Cullyn was gone, and Aiva stood there, just as Jill had always imagined herЧtall and strong, with golden braids coiled about her head and a long spear in her hand. She was carrying a shield with the device of the moon in its dark phase. Jill knew she couldnТt see the moon if it was dark, but in the dream she could. Since she refused to disgrace herself in front of Aiva, Jill made herself look at the rider. As she watched, his whole body turned to blood and soaked into the earth until there was nothing but grass, growing thick and green. When she looked up, Aiva was smiling at her, and the moon on her shield was full.
Jill woke up and listened to the comfortable sound of Cullyn snoring beside her. She thought over the dream to make sure that she remembered all of it. Although she wasnТt sure why, she knew it was very important.

I
For seven long years, ever since the lark omen down on the Eldidd coast, Nevyn had been wandering the kingdom and searching for the child who held his Wyrd in her soul. For all the power of his dweomer, it had its limits. He could never scry out a person whom he hadnТt seen at least once in the flesh. Trusting the luck thatТs more than luck, heТd taken his riding horse and his pack mule, laden with herbs and medicines, and lived by tending the ills of the poor folk as he traveled endlessly from place to place. Now, with another summer coming to an end, he was on the road to Cantrae, a city in the northeast corner of the kingdom. He had a good friend there, Lidyn the apothecary, with whom he could spend the winter in comfort.
The Cantrae road ran through endless grassy hills stippled with white birches in the little valleys. Nevyn traveled past roaming herds of horses, tended by mounted men, which were Cantrae provinceТs true wealth. That particular day, he was traveling slowly, letting his horse pick its own pace while the mule plodded behind. He was lost in thought that was close to being a trance, musing over the woman he would always think of as Brangwen, even though she was now a child with another name. All at once he was startled out of his reverie by the clatter and pounding of a mounted warband trotting straight downhill toward him. There were about twenty men with the silver dragon of Aberwyn blazon on the shields slung beside each saddle, and at their head was a young lad. One of the men screamed at Nevyn to get off the road and out of the way. Nevyn hurriedly swung his horseТs head to the right, but the lad rose up in his stirrups and yelled at the warband to halt.
Sulkily, with a clatter of hooves and the jingle of tack, the men did as they were told. As Nevyn rode toward them, he realized with a sense of absolute amazement that the young lord at their head was ordering them to get off the road and let the aged herbman pass by. The lad was only about ten, dressed in the blue, silver, and green plaid of Aberwyn, and easily one of the most beautiful children Nevyn had ever seen. He had raven-dark wavy hair, large cornflower blue eyes, and perfect features, his mouth so soft and well formed that it was almost girlish. Nevyn stopped his horse beside him and made him a bow from the saddle.
УMy humble thanks, my lord,Ф Nevyn said. УYou honor me too highly.Ф
УAny man with hair as white as yours, good sir, deserves some courtesy.Ф The young lord shot his men a haughty glance. УItТs easier for us to handle our horses than it must be for you.Ф
УWell, true spoken. Would his lordship honor me by telling me his name?Ф
УLord Rhodry Maelwaedd of Aberwyn.Ф The lad gave him a charming smile. УAnd IТll wager you wonder what Eldidd men are doing all the way up here.Ф
УWell, truly, I did have a thought that way.Ф
УWell, I was a page at my uncleТs, Yvmur of Cantrae, but my father sent part of his warband to fetch me home. My brother Aedry just got killed.Ф
УThat saddens my heart, my lord.Ф
УIt saddens mine, too.Ф Lord Rhodry looked at the reins in his hand and blinked back tears. УI loved Aedry. He wasnТt like RhysЧheТs my eldest brother, I mean. Rhys can be a true hound.Ф He looked back up with a sheepish smile. УI shouldnТt be saying that to a stranger.Ф
УWell, truly, you shouldnТt, my lord.Ф
When Nevyn looked into the boyТs dark blue eyes, he nearly swore aloud. For a moment he looked into another pair of eyes, looked through them into the soul of a man whose Wyrd was inextricably bound with his and BrangwenТs. Then the vision left him.
УAnd will his lordship be staying at the Aberwyn court?Ф Nevyn said.
УProbably.Ф Rhodry shrugged uneasily. УI guess my father wants me home because IТm the second heir now.Ф
СIt would doubtless be wise of him, my lord. I may see his lordship in Aberwyn. I often travel to Eldidd to gather herbs.Ф