"Kerr, Katharine - Westlands 02 - A Time Of War v1.1" - читать интересную книгу автора (Dragon Stories)

СWell, if you do miss it so much, why donТt you go back?Т
СWe canТt. Jahdo, listen. This is very important. When the Slavers attacked the homeland, we fled. We deserted our north country and fled south, stinking in our shame, cowards and slave-hearted, every one of us. For what is one of the thirteen worst things but to desert oneТs homeland in its hour of need? And in our rage and shame we fought and burned and pillaged our way through the cities of the south. Oh, woe to the Gel daТThae! That we should desert the homeland and then destroy the cities that the gods themselves had built for their children! Woe and twice woe, that we raised our hands against those children themselves and did slay and smite them! And for that shame and that sin, we can never return. The long meadows of the north, the fire mountains of the ancestors and the warm rivers that forbid winter their banks - all, all are lost forever. Do you understand?Т
СI donТt, truly. Meer, you must be awfully old, to remember all that.Т
СI donТt remember it, you irritating little cub. This is lore.Т
СWell, I do be sorry if I were rude again, but it does seem to mean so much to you. ItТs like it just happened last winter.Т
When Meer growled like an enormous dog, Jahdo decided to let the subject drop.
Once the horses were tended and tethered, Meer hunkered down beside the leather packs, which theyТd piled up in the driest spot. Although Jahdo was expecting him to pass the time in prayer, instead he merely sat, as still and in the same way as one of the tree trunks around them, alive but utterly silent. At times he turned his head or cocked it, as if he were hearing important messages from every drop of rain, every scuttling squirrel. Even when the rain slacked and died, Meer sat unmoving, until Jahdo finally could stand it no longer.
СMeer? I feel so awful.Т
СNo doubt you do, lad. My apologies. Here, take off those wet boots. Wet boots rub wet feet raw. What does the sky look like?Т
СClearing up pretty good. It must be twixt noon and sunset by now.Т
СHuh.Т Meer considered for a moment. СAnd what does the land ahead look like?Т
СMore hills. Bigger ones, and all broken up, like.Т
СWeТll camp here, then. I hear a stream nearby.Т
СI can just see it, truly. I thought IТd take the waterskins down. Do you want a drink?Т
СI do, if you donТt mind fetching me one. The lore says that one of the fifty-two contrary things is this: sitting in the rain makes a man thirsty. And as usual, the lore is right.Т
Jahdo slung the pair of waterskins, joined by a thong, across his shoulders and picked his way through the trees and tangled bracken. The little stream flowed between shallow banks, all slippery with mossy rocks and tiny ferns; predictably enough, he lost his footing and slid into the water. Stones stung his bare feet, and he yelped, righting himself.
СCareful.Т The voice sounded directly behind him. СItТs not deep, but itТs treacherous,Т
When Jahdo spun round he saw a strange man sitting on the bank and smiling at him. He was a tall fellow, slender, dressed in a long green tunic and buckskin trousers. His hair was the bright yellow of daffodils, his lips were the red of sour cherries, and his eyes were an unnatural turquoise blue, bright as gemstones. Yet the strangest thing of all were his ears, long and delicately pointed, furled tight like a fern in spring.
СThat Gel daТThae has no eyes,Т he said.
СHe be a bard. They get them taken out.Т
СDisgusting custom, truly, but no affair of mine. YouТre his slave?Т
СI am not!Т
СThen what are you?Т
Jahdo considered.
СWell, I didnТt even know him a fortnight ago, but heТs my friend now.Т
СVery well. Give him a message. What the legends say is right enough, and east lie the Slavers, sure enough, but south, south is the way to turn. Follow this stream, and it will swell to a river. Cross at the ford marked with the stone, and head into the rising sun. Beware, beware that you go too far, or youТll reach the SlaversТ towered dun. Can you remember that rhyme?Т
СI can indeed, sir, but please, who are you?Т
СTell the bard that my nameТs Evandar.Т
СI will, then. But sir, will you come back if we get lost?Т
СNow that I canТt promise. I have other affairs on hand.Т
With that he disappeared, so suddenly and completely gone that Jahdo was sure heТd dreamt the entire thing - until he realized that he could never fall asleep standing knee-deep in cold water. He filled the skins and rushed back to the bard, who was currying the white horse.
СMeer, Meer, the strangest thing just happened! I did see this man, and then he were gone, all at once like.Т
СIndeed? Suppose you start at the beginning of this peculiar tale, lad, and tell it to me slowly.Т
Jahdo did, paying particular attention to the fellowТs directions. For a long time Meer said nothing, merely laid his huge hands on the horseТs back as if for the comfort of the touch and stared sightlessly up at the sky.
СWell, now,Т he rumbled at last. СI told your mother, didnТt I, that you were marked for a great destiny?Т
СWell, you said maybe I was.Т
СAnd I was right.Т Meer ignored the qualification. To have seen one of the gods is the greatest honour a man can have.Т
СThat were one of your gods?Т
СIt was. Did I not pray for guidance in our travelling? Did he not come to provide it?Т
Jahdo shuddered. He felt as if snow had slipped from a roof down his back, and it took him a long time to be able to speak.
СYou be sure that were a god? He didnТt look like much.Т
СYou ill-got little cub! ItТs not for us to question how the gods choose to appear to us.Т
СMy apologies, then, but you be sure it werenТt one of those demons you do talk about?Т
СNot if he gave his name as Evandar the Avenger, the archer of Rinbala, goddess of the sea, he whose silver arrows could pierce the moon itself and fetch it from the sky.Т
СWell, he only said Evandar, not all the rest of that stuff.Т
СThe rest of that stuff, as you so inelegantly put it, happen to be two of his major attributes and one of his minor ones, as attested by the holy hymns themselves. Humph. I can see that IТd best attend to your education. Besides, if heТd been a demon, heТd have tried to snatch you away, to make me fail in my quest.Т
Jahdo went cold again, a bone-touching chill worse than any god-induced awe.
СI smell fear,Т Meer said.
СWell, do you blame me?Т
СOf course not. Lead me over to our gear, lad, and open the big grey saddlebags. IТve got some very powerful amulets in there, and a feather talisman wound and blessed by the High Priestess herself, and I think me youТd best wear them from now on.Т