"Dave Duncan - A Handful Of Men 3 - The Stricken Field" - читать интересную книгу автора (Duncan Dave)

3
The horde had enjoyed an unusually good day. As was his custom, Death Bird had deployed his men in
two columns. When they converged at sunset, they entrapped a large band of refugees. Camp was
pitched earlier than usual to enjoy the spoils: women for rape, horses for food, men for sportтАФeverything
a goblinтАЩs heart could desire.

For Kadie it had been an exceedingly bad day. The weather was unbearably hot now, bringing dust and
insects, but in the last few weeks she had learned to endure those. Her cramps and nausea did not come
from weather alone. Even goblins came down with fever, and why should she expect to be tougher than
them? Trouble was, sickness was weakness in this army. The ones who couldnтАЩt keep up were killed by
their friends. Sympathy was about as common hereabouts as killer whales. By afternoon, she was barely
managing to stay on AllenaтАЩs back. Running alongside as always, Blood Beak naturally noticed her
distress, but he jeered much less than she expected. Indeed, he seemed almost concerned.

The goblin army camped by totems. The prince himself was a Raven, but his bodyguards came from a
wide variety of tribes. The little band would attach itself to a different group each night. Blood Beak was
gaining authority. The men had begun to regard him more as their leader than their ward, and would
generally do what he said, as long as he did not try to overrule their standing orders. This night he
insisted on joining the Beavers, who were setting up alongside an unburned barn. He got his way,
probably because it was a good campsite, near a well.

With the magnanimous air of an imperor bestowing a dukedom, he told Kadie she could have the barn.
Shelter and privacy were rare treats, and she was grateful. Then he ordered one of the guards to
unsaddle the mare for her, and again was obeyed, although not very willingly. Blood Beak could be quite
pleasant at times, for a goblin.

Ignoring her own light-headedness and aches, Kadie first established Allena in a corner by the door with
hay and water, and only then made a nook for herself at the far end, behind some bales of straw. She
had no desire to eat, but she felt even more sticky and filthy than usual. She must wash before sleeping,
she decided.

That was when she discovered what the trouble was. Her mother had warned her, of course, that such
things would happen. Most of her friends had started long ago, and back in Krasnegar she had been
quite worried that she was taking so long. Lately she hadnтАЩt thought about it. Well, now it had started. It
should be an exciting milestone in her life, the start of womanhood. Thousands of leagues from home in
the middle of a barbarian host, it was a very unwelcome development indeed. Fortunately she had some
spare garments to use as ragsтАФthere was no shortage of such plunder and it wasnтАЩt really stealing
because anything she did not rescue would just be burned by the goblins.

As the sky grew dark, she settled down to try to sleep, sore and unhappy. She laid her magic rapier
within reach as she always did and pulled a tattered old cloak over herself for warmth. More than
anything, she thought she would like a hot brick wrapped in a blanket, just to cuddle. She had barely
closed her eyes before a nerve-curdling shriek rang out close by. It was followed at once by another,
even louder. The goblins had begun the eveningтАЩs entertainment, and the BeaversтАЩ fire was right outside
her barn. She was used to it by now, of course. Even Allena hardly flicked her ears any more at the
sounds or smells of torture, but it was rarely so close. There was rarely so much of it.

Every time Kadie began to settle, another scream would jar her awake. The night outside was bright
with moonlight and campfires, and loud with torment, far and near-agony and raucous merriment in
Evil-spawned choruses.