"Kate Elliott - Jaran 2 - An Earthly Crown" - читать интересную книгу автора (Elliott Kate)

protection, his adopted sister's name granted him. "I had a fine teacher."
Feodor did not press the matter. "If you've come from the main camp, then your
news must be important. I'll get you a new mount, and ride with you myself, if you
need a guide."
' 'It's safe enough for the two of us from here on into the hills?"
"We have patrols running through all these hills. There are a few khaja bandits
left, but nothing more. These khaja aren't real fighters. Soon they'll all be subject to
us, as they should be." Feodor grinned. "And I'd like to go, anyway. It will be
something to tell my children."
"Ah. You've a little one?"
Grekov flushed. "Not yet."
"But you've a woman in mind for a wife, I take it."
"IтАФ" Feodor hesitated. "A man can't help looking," he said at last. Aleksi heard
the bitterness in his voice clearly.
"I'd like to marry," Aleksi agreed, feeling suddenly and surprisingly sorry for
Grekov, who ought to have had an easy life, being nephew of a tribal warleader and
nephew to its headwoman. And since the unnamed young woman in question had no
choice in marriage, Aleksi could only guess that the obstacles arose from Grekov's
elders. "But I suppose I never will."
"Of course, as an orphanтАФbut surely you've standing enough now, since
Bakhtiian's wife has adopted you into her tent."
"Adopted me by her customs, not by ours. Or a bit by both, I suppose. Still, you
may be right. I hope so."
"Gods," said Feodor, "there's enough trouble in the world without worrying about
women." And that sealed their comradeship. Aleksi felt a bit overwhelmed by how
easy it was, when you had a respectable name, a sister, a place in a tribe. "Come on,"
Feodor added, "we'll get you a new mount and something to eat, and then be on our
way." He led Aleksi into camp and introduced him round as if he was just another
young soldier like himself and the rest of the riders. A short time later, the two young
men rode out in charity with each other.
By midday they reached the butte known to the jaran as khayan-sarmiia, Her
Crown Fallen from Heaven to Earth. Once, the stories said, this range of hills was
known only to the jaran tribes, but in recent generations a few khaja settlements had
crept out across the plains from settled lands in the south and west to pollute the holy
ground where the Sun's Crown had come to rest on the earth.
At the base of the hill, an army waited. Countless soldiers, in their tens and
hundreds and thousands, gathered to acclaim the man who would lead them against
their ancient enemies. Aleksi and Feodor left their horses with the army and hiked up
the trail that ascended the steep hillside. The wind began to buffet them. Soon both
were breathing hard, despite their youth, because they were not used to so much hard
walking.
At last, the path leveled and gave out onto a plateau from whose height they
could see the shifting mass of the army below, the rolling spread of hills, and a few
distant wisps of smoke that marked khaja villages. Far to the south, past the flat haze
of plain, a suggestion of bluer haze marked the southern mountains. To the north and
east lay only the vast golden plains that blended at the horizon into the equally
monotonous blue of the sky. West, though they could not see it from here, lay the sea.
They admired the view for as long as it took to get their breath back. But of far
greater interest was the gathering now taking place on the plateau itself.
A single tent had been set up at the southern end of the plateau, a great tent