"David Farland - Runelords 5 - Sons of the Oak" - читать интересную книгу автора (Farland David)

hopped over his head and landed on a lilac leaf when he was only two. He'd
thought it was a "squishy grasshopper," and felt the most amazing sense of
wonder. After that, Fallion and his brother had become ob┬мsessed with hunting
for animalsтАФwhether they be hedge┬мhogs in the fields above the castle, or bats
in the guard towers, or eels and crayfish in the moat. Jaz spoke up, "What is
a burr?"
Daymorra frowned, men made big eyes and spoke as she rode. "A fawn, I think
you call it. It is a forest fawn?"
Jaz shrugged and looked to Fallion for help. Though Fal┬мlion was only a few
months older man his brother, Jaz al┬мways looked to him for help. Fallion was
both much larger than Jaz and more mature. But even Fallion had never heard of
a "forest fawn."
Waggit answered, "Among the islands where Daymorra's people come from, the
burr is a small antelopeтАФnot much taller than a catтАФthat lives in the jungle.
It is a timid crea┬мture. It is said that die burr can taste the thoughts of
those that hunt them. The fact that Daymorra was able not only to catch one,
but to take an endowment from it is ... remark┬мable."
They rode around a bend in silence, plunged below a thin cloud, and climbed
again, only the thud of iron-shod hooves and the slithering sound of ring mail
announcing them. To the left, me dull sun floated on the horizon like a molten
bubble in a vat of ore. For the moment there were clouds above him and below,
and Fallion pretended that he was rid┬мing through the clouds. The road ahead
was barren, riddled with rocks and roots.
Fallion caught a movement out of the corner of his eye, glanced to his right,
under me shadowed pines. A chill crept up his spine, and his senses came
alive.
Somediing was under the shadows. Perhaps it had just been a raven flitting
under the trees, black against black. But

Fallion saw Borenson reach down with his right hand and grasp his long-handled
warhammer, whose metal head had a bird on it, with spikes sticking out like
wings.
Fallion was young enough to hope that a bear hid in the woods, or a huge stag.
Something better than the ground squirrels and cottontail rabbits he'd been
spotting along the road.
They crested a small hill, overlooking a vale.
"Look there, my young princes," Waggit said soberly to both Fallion and Jaz.
'Tell me what you see."
A cottage squatted below, a tidy home with a freshly thatched roof, surrounded
by ruby-colored roses and butter┬мfly bushes. Birds flitted
everywhereтАФyellow-headed bee eaters hovering and diving around the bushes.
A woman was out late, handsome, in a burgundy work dress, her hair tied back
with a lavender rag, raking hazelnuts onto a ground cloth while her red hens
clucked and raced about pecking at bugs and worms in the freshly turned
leaves.
The woman glanced uphill at the riders, no doubt alerted by the thud of hooves
on hard clay, the jangle of weapons. Worry showed in her eyes, but when she
saw Borenson, she flashed a smile, gave a nod, and went back to work.
Hearthmaster Waggit whispered to the boys, "What do you know of that woman?"
Fallion tried to let his mind clear in the way that Waggit had taught him, to