"Raymond E. Feist - Empire Saga 2 - Servant Of The Empire" - читать интересную книгу автора (Feist Raymond E)

brink of extinction. Mara concentrated on anticipating
future trouble as she manoeuvred to ensure her survival.
What was done was behind, and to dwell on it was to risk
being taken unawares.

While the man who had ordered the death of her father
and brother was finally himself dead, her attention
remained focused on the blood feud between House Acoma
and House Minwanabi. Mara remembered the unvarnished
look of hatred on the face of Desio of the Minwanabi as she
and the other guests passed his father's death ceremony.
While not as clever as his sire, Desio would be no less a
danger; grief and hatred now turned his motives personal:
Mara had destroyed his father at the height of his power,
while he hosted the Warlord's birthday celebration, in his
own home. Then she had savoured that victory in the
presence of the most influential and powerful nobles in the
Empire as she hosted the Warlord's relocated celebration
upon her own estates.

No sooner had the Warlord and his guests departed
Acoma lands than Mara had embarked on a new plan to
strengthen her house; She had closeted herself with Jican, to
discuss the need for new slaves to clear additional meadowlands
from the scrub forests north of the estate house.
Pastures, pens, and sheds must be completed well before
calving season in spring, so the grass would be well grown
for the young needra and their mothers to graze.

As Acoma second-in-command, Lujan had learned that
Acoma power did not rest upon her soldiers' loyalty and
bravery, nor upon the far-held trading concessions and
investments, but upon the prosaic and dull six-legged
needra. They formed the foundation upon which all her
wealth rested. For Acoma power to grow, Mara's first task
was to increase her breeding herd.

Lujan's attention returned to his mistress as Mara lifted her
robe clear of the dust. Pale green in colour, the otherwise plain
cloth was meticulously embroidered at the hem and sleeves
with the outline of the shatra bird, the crest of House Acoma.
The Lady wore sandals with raised pegged soles, to keep her
slippers clear of the filth that littered the common roadways.
Her footfalls raised a booming, hollow sound as she mounted
the wooden stair to the galleries that ran the length of the
palisade. A faded canvas awning roofed the structure, shading
Tsurani lords and their factors from the merciless sunlight.
They could rest well removed from the dust and dirt, and
refreshed by whatever breeze blew in off the river as they
viewed the slaves available for sale.