"03 - The Stricken Field 1.0." - читать интересную книгу автора (Duncan Dave)

she was there and neither trusted the other alone with her. Gath was given a
patch of dirty floor on the opposite side of the fire, the smoky side. Kadie had
not been included in the invitation. After some grumbling, she was allowed to
remain, sitting in a corner by herself. Fair enough!
Inos thought Death Bind looked tired, although the heavy tattooing on his face
made it hard to read. His bulky torso and limbs shone greasily, and every now
and again she would catch a stomach-turning whiff of rancid goblin unguent. He
gnawed on a meat bone in ominous silence.
The dwarvish general was older than she had realized. There was silver in the
natural gray of his beard, and his rough-hewn face bore many tiny wrinkles, like
cracks in weathered sandstone. Even for a dwarf, he was surly. His table manners
were no better than Death Bird's.
Nor were hers, of course. She bit listlessly at her own hunk of meat, wiping her
mouth with her hand and her hands on her robe. The fire crackled and sprayed
sparks up into the night sky. There was very little talk anywhere in the
company, and where there was, goblins were conversing across dwarves and vice
versa, not to one another. Language was part of the problem, but distrust was
playing a part, also. Again she wondered how long this unlikely coalition could
survive.
Gods, but she was tired! Every bone ached. Six days in the saddle!
Eventually the diners began tossing their discards into the embers. She copied
them with relief. Then she licked and wiped her forgers as best she could and
waited for the greater ordeal to begin.
She wished she could see Gath more clearly. Being an hour or two ahead of her,
he could give her hints, were the fire not between them. Sometime soon she was
going to be asked what her mission was. To confess that she had blundered into
this disaster by sheer accident would leave her very little status to bargain
with.
At last Death Bird belched and threw away his bone. He shot an unfriendly glance
past her at Karax. "Start entertainment?"
The dwarf scowled as only dwarves could. "Just two." "Was agreed, two." Death
Bird spoke in goblin. He could manage fair impish when he chose, although he
still had the jotunn accent he had picked up years ago from Thane Kalkor's crew.
"But first I want to hear from Queen Inosolan," Karax said.
The goblin shrugged his enormous shoulders. "Speak, woman. Why here?"
Inos drew a deep breath. She decided to stick to the truth as far as she could.
If she tried lying and was disbelieved, then her later efforts to save Shandie
would be made more difficult. "Your Majesty ... your Excellency ... I thought I
was here by accident, but now I suspect otherwise." She could address only one
at a time, and watch only one face at a time.
"Tell where Rap!" Death Bird demanded, in no mood to listen to speeches.
"He went to Hub." "When?"
"Three months ago, or more."
"Why?"
Inos turned to the dwarf. "My husband is a sorcerer." "I know."
"He spoke with a God. He was given a warning to pass on to the Impire. And he
himself foresaw a great disaster." Death Bird chuckled coarsely and switched to
impish. "His warning was not believed then."
"Not you. Not this. The danger is occult, and it threatens goblins and dwarves
just as much as the Impire."