"Rawn, Melanie - Dragon Star 03 - Skybowl" - читать интересную книгу автора (Dragon Stories)

Meiglan.
Rislyn.
Chayla.
Sionell....
Swords stabbing through-iron bars at a caged animal.
He turned as if to escape the pain and saw himself in the wall mirror. Only his own tense face was reflected, his own sleepless eyes. But within that other mirror, a dark and dangerous imageЧcaught? Trapped inside silver and glass, alive only in Fire, silent and helpless....
He watched his own face in the mirror, thinking of that dark reflection. Trapped. Helpless.
Meiglan.
Rislyn.
Chayla.
Sionell....
Oh, Goddess help him ... Sionell....
CHAPTER TVo
Tkл
1C only problem with sneaking into Faolain Lowland was the only thing that allowed Saumer and his troops to sneak in at all.
Rain.
He'd waited two nights for this storm that would obscure the army's movements. He could, however, have done very nicely without the deluge that obscured absolutely everything. He couldn't see more than a handspan from his nose. Torches were a sodden joke, and he didn't know much about conjuring a fingerflame. So he directed his people down an access tunnel dark as a Sunrunner's nightmare, listening to curses that told him feet had slipped on the ladder. A nice little shower to keep the Vellant'im in their shelters, some convenient concealing mistЧthat was all he'd wanted. Instead he sent his troops through an entry in the forest floor that reminded him forcibly of a rabbit hole, and huddled into a sopping cloak that weighed more than if he'd simply draped the wool around his shoulders while the sheep still wore it.
At last everyone was through the chimney Lady Hollis had described on sunlightЧa thing Saumer was convinced he would never see againЧ-and he began his own descent. As he reached up to shut the wooden covering, soil around it gave way. A silkweight of muck dumped on his head.
"Lovely," he grumbled, spitting grass, mud, and a few rocks. "Thanks."
But at least the torrents of rain were closed out. Sliding the iron bar home to lock the entryЧMirsath had had it
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opened a couple of days agoЧhe climbed down, jumping the last rungs to land in water halfway to his knees.
Havadi, Prince Kostas' captain and now Saumer's own second-in-command, was waiting, having already sent the rest of their people on ahead. "Lord Mirsath left a few dry ones for us, my lord," he said, holding up a lighted torch. "The passage is through there."
Saumer pushed mud-thickened hair from his face and eyed the darkness of the low tunnel uneasily. "Under the moat. We might as well have swum the thing."
They started off, following dim flashes of fireglow ahead and the sound of more swearing. The young prince tried to take his mind from the closeness, the cold, and his incredibly soggy self by concentrating on the torch Havadi held. Having only recently learned that he was faradhi like his aunt Alasen, Saumer wondered if he could sense anything different about fire. But he saw only a torch made of wood and pitch, and the flames were like any others he had watched in his life.
The sudden glowing quiver on the edge of his mind was made of another kind of Fire entirely.
Saumer straightened abruptly and bumped his head against the low ceiling. Havadi turned when an annoyed exclamation left his lips.
"My lord?"
Saumer was running his gloved fingers over the dripping overhead stones. "There's something here. Just above the rock...."
"Urn ... yes. The moat."
"No, something in the moat." He heard what he'd said and blinked. "Why would I think a crazy thing like that?" But in the next breath he ordered Havadi to douse the torch. "The light's distracting me."
He stripped off his gloves in total darkness and blew on his hands to warm them. Searching with only his eyes, he saw no telltale fiery flicker. So he closed his eyes, and, biting his lower lip, explored the ceiling with his fingertips. The shining itched at his mind stronger here, weaker there. He followed its pull, all formless black-rainbow iridescence, and all at once snatched his hands back as if they'd been burned.
"Saumer! What is it?" Havadi grasped his arm.
"I don't knowЧbut it's powerful, whatever it is." He
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touched the spot again, gingerly, and again his fingertip felt burned. "How thick is this ceiling, do you think?"
"I don't know, and unless you want the moat flooding in to drown us, we're not about to find out." Flint struck stone, and the torch flared to life again. "Come upstairs, my lord, before you catch a chill."
"ButЧ" He sighed. "Oh, never mind. I'll ask Mirsath about it when I see him. But I want to mark that place." He groped in his pockets and came up with a hoofpick. He jammed it into a seeping crack in the rocks near the source of the glow.
They continued down the tunnel, and the water dripping through from the moat began to rival the rainstorm outside. Saumer wouldn't have minded so much if it hadn't smelled so foul. Curiosity about that strange black-fire shimmer gave way to the pure and simple desire for a long, hot bath and clean, dry clothes.
They emerged at last into a circular room. The tallest staircase Saumer had ever seen spiraled upward, lit by torches and candles. A man and woman waited for them, prudently standing a few steps up from the ankle-deep water on the floor. Both were young, finely dressed, and had the look of family sameness stamped on their features.
"Lord Mirsath, Lady Karanaya," Saumer said politely, glad to stretch his backbone straight again. "Lovely weather we're having, isn't it?"
"Welcome to Faolain Lowland, your grace," Mirsath responded in kind, his eyes dancing with humor at the casual exchange of pleasantries. "I hope your journey wasn't too tiring."
Karanaya gave a snort. "Next you'll be asking after the comfort of your horse. At least one of us is practical here, your grace. Have some wine."
She turned, and from a candle-shelf took a crystal goblet footed in silver and set with gems. The deep ruby liquid in it steamed in the chill. Saumer drank gratefully as Mirsath remarked, "I notice you got out the princely guestcup, cousin."
"I hope I know what's due a Prince of Kierst-Isel, and a kinsman of the High Prince into the bargain."
Saumer handed the goblet to Havadi. "HereЧwarm your bones with this. As it happens, Lady Karanaya," he went on,
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