"Kerr, Katharine - Deverry 03 - Bristling Wood v1.1" - читать интересную книгу автора (Dragon Stories)

after his motherТs human folk; his smoky gray eyes had round
irises, and his ears, while slightly sharp, passed unnoticed in the
lands of men. They rode on, leading their eight horses, two of
which dragged travois, loaded with everything they owned. Since
Devaberiel was a bard and Ebaёy, a gerthddynЧthat is, a
storyteller and minstrelЧthey didnТt need large herds to support
themselves. As they rode up to the tents, the People ran out to
greet them, hailing the bard and vying for the honor of feeding him
and his son.

They chose to pitch the ruby-red tent near that of Tanidario, a
woman who was an old friend of the bardТs. Although sheТd often
given his father advice and help as he raised his half-breed son
alone, Ebaёy found it hard to think of her as a mother. Unlike his
own mother back in Eldidd, whom he vaguely remembered as soft,
pale, and cuddly, Tanidario was a hunter, a hard-muscled woman
who stood six feet tall and arrow-straight, with jet-black hair that
hung in one tight braid to her waist. Yet when she greeted him, she
kissed his cheek, caught his shoulders, and held him a bit away
while she smiled as if to say how much heТd grown.

УIТll wager youТre looking forward to the spring hunt,Ф he said.

УI certainly am, little one. IТve been making friends with the Forest
Folk, and theyТve offered to show me how to hunt with a spear in
the deep woods. IТm looking forward to the challenge.Ф

Ebaёy merely smiled.

УI know you,Ф Tanidario said with a laugh. УYour idea of hunting is
finding a soft bed with a pretty lass in it. Well, maybe when youТre
fully grown, youТll see things more clearly.Ф

УI happen to be seventy-four this spring.Ф

УA mere child.Ф She tousled his hair with a callused hand. УWell,
come along. The gatheringТs already beginning. WhereТs your
father gotten himself to?Ф

УHe went with the other bards. HeТll be singing right after the
Retelling.Ф

Down by the river, some of the People had lashed together a
rough platform out of travois poles, where Devaberiel stood
conferring with four other bards. All around it the crowd spread out,
the adults sitting cross-legged in the grass while restless children
wandered around. Ebaёy and Tanidario sat on the edge near a little
group of Forest Folk. Although they looked like the other elves,
they were dressed in rough leather clothes, and each man carried
a small notched stick, bound with feathers and colored thread,