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

Ahead lies the smoke of home, the cradle of his tribe. Who
has arrived before him ? Will he and his soldiers have to fight
just to set foot on shore, or has he come first to make his
claim before OldMother so that she may prepare the knife of
decision ?

The fjord waters mirror the deep blush of the heavens, the
powerful blue of the afternoon sky. The waters are so still that
each tree along the shore lies mirrored in their depths. Off to
one side a merman's slick back parts the water and a ruddy
eye takes their measure; then, with a flick of its tail, the
creature vanishes into the seamless depths.

Teeth closed on his hand and, coming to himself, he looked
down to see Sorrow pulling on him to get his attention. Only
three hounds remained; the others had vanished. He started
around to see his attendant sitting cross-legged, arms
relaxed, as if he'd been waiting a long time.

"My lord!" The man jumped up. "The other hounds ran back to
the count, and I didn't know how to stop them, but you was so
still for so long I didn't know how to interrupt youЕ" Trailing
off, he glanced nervously at the remaining hounds: Sorrow,
Rage, and poor Steadfast, who sat whimpering and licking her
right forepaw.

"No matter." Alain took Steadfast's paw into his hand to
examine it. A bramble thorn had bitten deep into the flesh, and
he gentled her with his tone and then got hold of the thorn and
pulled it out. She whimpered, then set to work licking again.

A flash of dead white out in the streaming flow of the river
distracted him. Downstream, a fish appeared, belly up. Dead.
Then a second, a third, and a fourth appeared farther
downstream yet, dead white bellies turned up to sun and air,
gleaming corpses drawn seaward by the current. Beyond that
he could make out only light on the water.

Rage growled.

"My lord." The servant had brought his horse.

But he walked back instead, to keep an eye on Steadfast. The
thorn had done no lasting damage. Soon she was loping
along with the others in perfect good humor, biting and nipping
at her cousins in play. Alain would have laughed to see them;
it was, after all, a pleasant and carefree day.

But when, across the river, he saw the fishermen trudging