"Rawn, Melanie - Dragon Star 2 - Dragon Token" - читать интересную книгу автора (Dragon Stories)

"Leading us," Urstra muttered. "Teasing us onward. But where? Why?" He turned to his nephew. "I don't like this."

"Oh, and the rest of us are just in love with it," Duroth snarled. "What do you propose to do now, dear Brother?"

Birioc squinted through the shadows to the dark hollow below. "We can wait for the rest of our levies, or we can march on them now."

"You'll have to find them first!"

"Be silent!" He chewed the tuft of beard beside his mouth. "What do they want us to do? Follow. What do they expect us to do? Grow impatient and attack, or stay here and wait for reinforcements."

"The question is, what can we do?" Urstra said.

"There must be another alternative."

"We're waiting," Duroth jeered.

Birioc's right hand went for his sword. But the abrupt and blinding flash did not come from unsheathed steel. Light sliced through the sky from a chink atop the Pillar in dazzling blades made all the sharper, all the brighter for the shadows cast at sunrise.

From those shadows and the gigantic rocks behind them thundered the alternative.

*

Rialt was back in his chamber at dawn, having spent most of the night prowling the docks. They knew him

there, and the guards allowed him to pass with nothing more than a nod. Rumor had it that Princess Chiana disliked him, but that was a matter for highborns. After all, had she not trusted him to supervise the loading of cargo sent south down the Faolain? He was a familiar face at the riverside warehouses, even at night in a pouring rain.

Mevita had stirred sleepily when he left. She was wide awake and shivering with cold when he returned.

"Don't ask," he told her before she could so much as open her mouth. "It's better that you don't know."

Her face grew even paler amid the tangle of black hair. "Rialt," she whispered, "what have you done?"

"Sky looks like it's clearing," he said determinedly as he stripped off his sopping cloak.

"Rialt!"

"Later on I'll go see how Thina's feeling. She slept all day yesterday in her rooms. Her maid says she has a cold."

"Damn you! Tell me what you've done!"

Flinging his shirt to the floor, he turned on her. "The less you know, the less you'll have to hide."

At that, Mevita went white to the lips. Sudden dread filled him. He strode to the bed and cupped her square chin in his palm.

"What is it you're hiding from me?" he asked quietly.

"It was the only way. Naydra and Cluthine and I all agreedЧ"

"To what?"