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

The goblin grunted skeptically. "He told me. This is old news, Inosolan."
"But perhaps still timely. The millennium has not come yet."
"Never mind the sorcerer," Karax rumbled. "Stop evading the question. Why are
you here?"
"There is a magic portal between my kingdom and the house at Kinvale. I came
through and was captured by Death Bird's troops."
The Dwarf cleared his throat harshly and spat toward the fire. "That's all? Then
you are a blundering fool. Your loyalty is to the Impire. You are spies, or will
be if you get the chance. We should kill the boy now, then give you and your
daughter to the troops."
Inos hoped that was merely an initial bargaining position, although dwarves were
notoriously suspicious and untrusting. She turned her head to study Death Bird's
reaction. "My husband was a good friend to you once."
"Long ago. For him I spared your town many times, when my young men wanted it
for sport. What happened to Quiet Stalker?" His angular eyes glinted with cold
anger.
"He tried to rape my daughter. A sorcerer's daughter. That was unwise."
The goblin showed his white tusks, but he did not seem to be smiling. "No, he
didn't. Your son gave him the girl for the night to seal a treaty. So it was not
rape! Your son knew she bore an occult sword, one that cannot be seen unless she
wishes it to be seen. He is a cheat and a murderer." Inos's heart was beating
much too fast now. She could feel sweat streaming down her face, and that was
not all due to the heat of the fire. "He did not promise she would submit. The
condition was that your nephew could subdue the girl. He failed."
"Against an unmentioned sorcery. Perhaps we should try another man or two,
without the sword?"
She faced the threat as defiantly as she could manage, clenching her fists. "Rap
is a sorcerer, as you well know. If any of us comes to harm he will hold you
responsible, Death Bird. Dare you risk the vengeance of a sorcerer?"
"Yes." The goblin scratched the bristly hairs around his mouth, peering across
her at the dwarf. "General, I give you the choice. Tonight one of us will take
the daughter and one the mother. Which do you want? All three of them can amuse
the troops afterward."
Karax's permanent scowl deepened. "There is more to this than we have heard yet,
I think."
"Yes, there is," Inos said quickly. "Bring in your entertainment, your Majesty."
For a moment the gruesome assembly seemed to swim before her eyes and she feared
she would faint. "I ... I have a surprise for you."
If Gath was wrong, it would be she who got the nasty surprise.
Death Bird studied her for a moment, then turned to bark an order. He had known
about the sword. He was not frightened of Rap. There could be only one
conclusion-he had sorcerers of his own in attendance. Suddenly things began to
seem a great deal clearer, and a great deal worse, were that possible. If this
ravaging horde was occultly aided, then it might itself be the great evil that
Rap had foreseen. Could the Gods Themselves imagine anything worse?
"And summon my son," Inos added.
For a moment she thought the goblin would refuse, but he gave the order.
She heard laughter, then Gath came around the fire, stumbling barefoot on the
rough debris, clad only in one of the goblins' skimpy breechclouts. He looked
absurdly skinny and pale pink in this company, far taller than anyone else