"Kerr, Katharine - Deverry 04 - Dragonspell" - читать интересную книгу автора (Dragon Stories)

On the mid-morning of the third day he was sitting out in the grassy courtyard when Brindemo brought a customer to see him. He was a tall man, quite dark, with close-cropped curly black hair and two green diamonds painted on his left cheek. The straight-backed way he stood suggested that at some time he might have been a soldier, and his shrewd dark eyes often flicked BrindemoТs way in contemptuous disbelief as the trader chattered on, singing TaliaesynТs praises and creating a false history for him all at the same time.
СVery polished manners, sir, a merchantТs son and very well-spoken, but alas, he had a terrible taste for gambling, and fell in among bad company over in Mangorio, and . . .Т
СAre you good with horses?Т The customer broke in, speaking straight to Taliaesyn. СMost Deverry men are.Т
СI am. IТve been riding all my life.Т As he spoke he remembered another scrap of his earlier life: a sleek black pony that heТd loved as a child. The memory was so vivid, so precious that he missed what the customer said next while he groped and struggled to remember the little beastТs name.
All at once the customer swung at him, a clean hard punch straight at his face. Without thinking Taliaesyn parried with his left wrist and began to swing back. BrindemoТs horrified scream brought him to his senses. He could be beaten bloody for swinging on a free man, but the customer only laughed and gave him a friendly slap on the shoulder.
СI think youТll do. IТm leading a caravan into the mountains. One of my muleteers fell ill, and IТve no time to hire a free man to take his place.Т
СWhat, honoured sir?Т BrindemoТs jowls were shaking in indignation. СA valuable barbarian, used as a muleteer?Т
СOnly for a while. IТm quite sure I can resell him at a profit later on. Arriano told me that he needed to disappear, for your sake and his, and I can manage that.Т
СHe told you what?Т The traderТs voice rose to a wail.
СYou can trust me. Eight zotars.Т
СYou have larceny in your heart! You wish to drive me out of business!Т
The haggling was on in earnest. For a good long time they insulted each otherТs motives and ancestry at the top of their lungs until at last they settled upon sixteen zotars. Out came the original bill of sale, which TaliaesynТs new master read over quickly with a bitter twist to his mouth, as if he were amazed at the clumsiness of the forgery.
СIТll make out a new bill, of course,Т Brindemo said.
СOf course. My name is Zandar of Danmara.Т
When Brindemo waddled off inside the house to write out the new bill, Zandar crossed his arms over his chest and considered Taliaesyn carefully and coolly.
СYou deal honestly with me, boy, and IТll do the same with you. When your relatives catch up with us IТll sell you back for little more than I paid - provided you work hard and cause me no trouble. Is it a bargain?Т
СYes. I donТt suppose free men shake hands with slaves here, or IТd offer you mine.Т
СNo one shakes hands the way you do in your country, so donТt take it as an insult. Unsanitary custom, it always seemed to me, rubbing palms with someone you barely know. YouТll have a quarterstaff like the other men. Will you swear to me you wonТt turn it against me?Т
СOn the gods of my people.Т
СAll right, then. We wonТt mention it again.Т
In spite of himself Taliaesyn felt a grudging respect for the man. He would have liked him, he decided, if theyТd met in other circumstances. Zandar went on with his slow scrutiny.
СSilver dagger,Т he said abruptly. That mean anything to you, boy?Т
Taliaesyn felt his head jerk up like a startled stagТs.
СI thought it might. You look the type. It would fit what little IТve been told about your mysterious circumstances.Т
СSo it does. Oh by every god!Т He spun around on his heel and began to pace back and forth in sheer excitement as memories crowded at the edge of his mind. He could feel the weight in his hand, the perfect balance of the dagger, see the pommel with the three silver knobs, the device graved on the blade, a striking falcon. All at once tears sprang to his eyes, as he saw another picture in his mind, the grim, scar-slashed face of a man with grey-shot blond hair and ice-blue eyes, a cold man, hard as steel, but one who loved him. СI think I remember my father, and by the hells, he was no merchant.Т
СWe were all sure of that, boy. WhatТs his name? Think.Т He let his voice drop to a whisper. СTry to remember his name.Т
Taliaesyn felt it rising, just out of reach, tried to remember, and lost the memory cold.
СI canТt.Т Then he felt the stomach-wrenching cold of a loss of hope.
СWell, if I was a silver dagger, you donТt need to worry about my kin coming to ransom me back. Doubtless theyТll be glad enough to be rid of me forever.Т
СMany a manТs worked his way out of slavery, you know. All it takes is a little shrewdness and a willingness to take on paying jobs after your duties are done.Т
Taliaesyn nodded in agreement, but in truth he barely heard him. He was remembering the dagger again, and he knew now what Baruma had stolen from him, knew what he had to take back at the cost of BarumaТs life. Although he would never harm Zandar, heТd sworn no vow against escaping the first chance he got. Even though he would be torn to pieces as an escaped slave, he would take his revenge first, then die knowing heТd earned his manhood back again.
On the other side of the city from the harbour, Myleton sprawled along a shallow though broad river. Beside the water lay a tangle of alleys, tumbledown warehouses, and wooden jetties, where brightly-coloured punts bobbed in the flow. Beyond this disorderly district was a flat open pastureland where merchant caravans could camp with their pack-animals. ZandarТs caravan was waiting there, camped around two stone fire-circles and a pair of rope corrals. It was a big caravan, too: thirty pack mules and twelve riding horses, tended by nine freemen and now, of course, one slave.
Eking out his knowledge of the language with gesture and pantomime, the men introduced Taliaesyn to his new life. The extra horses were his responsibility, as well as all the odd pieces of work unworthy of freemen: cutting firewood, fetching water, stacking gear, and serving the food at meals, though one of the other men did double as the cook. Although everyone treated him decently, no one spoke to him unless it was to give him an order. As a slave he seemed to be almost invisible, like a tool or a cook-pot, hung up out of sight when not in use. When dinner time came, Taliaesyn was fed last and sat behind the others at a respectful distance. Afterwards, while they lounged talking around the fire he scrubbed out the cooking pots and washed the bowls. Even though heТd had some days at BrindemoТs to recover, he was still so weak from the long ordeal in the ship that by the end of the evening his head was swimming with exhaustion. As he fell asleep, he realized that it would be some time before he could seriously consider escape.
When the caravan broke camp the next morning, it headed out to the southeast, following the line of the river. After a few miles Taliaesyn realized why Zandar didnТt seem worried about his new slave escaping.
The countryside ran perfectly flat, perfectly featureless, mile after mile of small farms with only a few shade-trees to break the monotony. Before noon they turned away from the river to head straight south and soon left the settled farms behind to follow a narrow caravan track through grassland. A runaway slave would have no place to hide, no food to forage, no true road to follow. Well, by the gods of my people, Taliaesyn thought, IТll have to wait and see what the mountains bring me, then.
That time of year, when winter was already howling through Deverry, the Southern Sea was so rough that the small bark was forced to tack its way across to Bardek. Of a morning it might run miles out of the direct course before a strong west wind only to laboriously turn back in the afternoon when the wind changed. All around the ocean stretched wintry-blue and lonely, an endless swell off to a grey-mist horizon. Considering the time of year, it was doubtless the only ship out to sea. Its tattered crew of fifteen sailors grumbled at their captainТs decision to make the trip south, but then, they were usually grumbling about one thing or another. A rough lot, they went armed with swords and squabbled like the winds themselves, but they were quite respectful of the shipТs two passengers. Whenever Salamander the gerthddyn and his bodyguard, a young silver dagger with the supposed name of Gilyan, took the sea air or stood at the shipТs railing of a morning, the pirates bowed politely, left the deck to give them privacy, and made the sign of warding against witchcraft as they did so. If they had been able to see the small grey gnome that frisked along with the pair of them, they would have outright run away.
СAh, the call of the sea!Т Salamander remarked, one frosty morning. СThe vast and wind-swept sea, at that, and then, far ahead of us, an exotic land and strange clime.Т He leaned against the rail and watched the white water foaming under the prow. СBracing salt air, the creak of ropes and sails - ah, itТs splendid.Т
СIТm cursed glad you think so,Т Jill snarled. СIТd rather have a good horse under me any day.Т
СSpoken like a true silver dagger, Gillo my turtledove, but youТre overlooking a great advantage to shipboard life: spare time. Time to plan, to scheme, to brood revenge for the evils done our Rhodry, but best of all, time for you to learn Bardekian.Т
СIs it hard to learn?Т
СOh, not at all. I picked it up in a couple of weeks the first time I was there.Т
Salamander was forgetting, however, that he was not only half Elvish, with that raceТs natural proclivity for language, but also a man with a highly-trained and disciplined mind. Jill found her studies maddening. Although she submitted to SalamanderТs endless drills, after hours of sitting in the stuffy cabin her stubbornness began to wear on him. It only took a couple of days before his patience snapped.
СNow here!Т he snarled one morning. СYouТve got to put the adjectives before the nouns, you little dolt! If you say Уorno mannotoФ, youТre saying Уthe dogs are tenФ. Ten dogs is Уmannoto ornoФ.
СWhy canТt these idiots speak properly? If putting those ad-things after a name is good enough for the king, it should be good enough for them.Т
Salamander heaved an unnecessarily loud sigh.
СMayhap we need a bit of a rest,Т he said. СIТve been meaning to look over our coin, anyway. How much of Gwerbret BlaenТs bounty do we have left? These pirates are both bestial and of repellent aspect, but they do not come cheap.Т
After Jill barred the door, they pooled their coin and counted it out. His long nose quivering, the gnome hunkered down to stare at the precious gold. When Salamander set aside the second instalment on their passage, the pile left looked inadequate indeed.
СEven if we find Rhodry right away, weТre going to have to stay in Bardek all winter,Т Jill said. СIs it an expensive sort of place?Т
СIt is, but men like a good tale no matter where they live. I shall ply my humble trade, but itТs going to look truly humble in the sophisticated islands. The rich folk wonТt pay much for a storyteller, deemed fit only for farmers and slaves.Т
СWell, as long as we eat regularly, we donТt have to live in luxury.Т