"Elenium 02 - The Ruby Knight" - читать интересную книгу автора (Eddings David)

muffled.
Every now and then the black shadows of trees loomed
suddenly out of the fog at the sides of the road as they
rode by. Talen shied nervously each time it happened.
'What's the problem?' Kurik asked him.
"I hate this,' the boy replied. "I absolutely hate it.
Anything could be hiding beside the road - wolves, bears
- or even worse.'
'You're in the middle of a party of armed men, Talen.'
'That's easy for you to say, but I'm the smallest one
here - except for Flute, maybe. I've heard that wolves
and things like that always drag down the smallest
when they attack. I really don't want to be eaten,
father.'
That keeps cropping up,' Tynian noted curiously to
Sparhawk. 'You never did explain why the boy keeps
calling your squire by that term.'
'Kurik was indiscreet when he was younger.'
'Doesn't anybody in Elenia sleep in his own bed?'
"it's a cultural peculiarity. It's not really as widespread
as it might seem, though.'
Tynian rose slightly in his stirrups and looked ahead to
where Bevier and Kalten rode side by side deep in
conversation. 'A word of advice, Sparhawk,' he said
confidentially. 'You're an Elenian, so you don't seem to
have any problems with this sort of thing, and in Deira
we're fairly broad-minded about such things, but I don't
know that I'd let Bevier in on this. The Cyrinic Knights
are a pious lot - just like all Arcians - and they disapprove
of these little irregularities very strongly. Bevier's a good
man in a fight, 'but he's a little narrow-minded. If he gets
offended, it might cause problems later on.'
"you're probably right,' Sparhawk agreed. 'I'll talk
with Talen and ask him to keep his relationship with
Kurik to himself.'
'Do you think he'll listen?' the broad-faced Deiran
asked sceptically.
"it's worth a try.'
They occasionally passed a farmhouse standing beside
the foggy road with hazy golden lamplight streaming
from its windows, a sure sign that even though the sky
had not yet started to lighten, day had already begun for
the country folk.
'How long are we going to stay with this column?'
Tynian asked. 'Going to Lake Randera by way of Demos
is a very long way around.'
'We can probably slip away later this morning,'
Sparhawk replied, ' - once we're sure that nobody's
following us. That's what Vanion suggested.'
'Have you got somebody watching to the rear?'