"Elliott,.Kate.-.Crown.Of.Stars.3.-.Burning.Stone" - читать интересную книгу автора (Elliott Kate)

hemmed and hawed, and advised her to ride carefully and on
no account to cut through the old forest itself.

"Young fools have tried it now and again," said Merla, the old
householder. She had about six teeth left and was proud of
them. "They always vanish. Killed by wolves and bears, no
doubt. Or worse things." She nodded with satisfaction, as in
pleased at their dreadful fate.

"Nay, I heard at market that foresters was cutting a roac
through the heart of the BretwaJd at the king's order,"
protested one of the men. He had a face made bright red by
many hours working in the sun.

"As if any could do so," retorted the old woman. "But you've
said nothing of the king. Has he named an heir yet? This
Prince Ekkehard, perhaps?"

"He has an eldest daughter, Princess Sapientia. She's old
enough to be named as heir now that she's ridden to battle
and borne a child."

"Ach, yes, proven her fertility and led soldiers in war. God
have marked her as worthy to rule."

They nodded sagely all round, much struck by this sign oi
God's favor, all except one thin man in the back. He sipped
beei and regarded Liath with pale eyes. He was almost as
brown as she was on his face and hands, but where his tunic
lay unlaced at his chestЧfor it was still warmЧshe could see
how pale his skin was where the sun didn't reach. "He'd
another child, a son, with a Salian nameЧSawnglawnt, or
something like that. Hi was a grand fighter, captain of the
King's Dragons. But I heard from a peddler that he and his
Dragons died when the Eika took Gent."

She flushed, and was grateful that people who did not know
her well could not see any change in her complexion, dark as
it was. "Not dead," she said. How on God's earth did she
manage to keep her voice from shaking? "He'd been held
prisoner, but he was freed by troops under the command of
Count Lavas-tine. He is now safe at the king's side."

They exclaimed over this miracle. She gulped down her beer.
But the damage had already been done. That night she slept
restlessly and in the morning blushed to recall her dreams.

Ai, Lady. What had he said to her six days ago as the dawn
light rose over the king's camp, set up outside Gent?