"Flint, Kenneth C - Gods of Eire 02 - Champions of the Sidhe UC" - читать интересную книгу автора (Flint Kenneth C)

BRES RETURNS

21

The very few who had been able to keep up their warriors skills through the long period of Fomor oppression were laboring to restore the ability and strength and confidence of the rest.

It was difficult work. Most had been so long undernourished and brutalized that the will to fight was very weak. But the inspiration and courage of one man who moved through them, constantly encouraging, was helping to bring new spirit to them.

His name was Nuada, the High-King. He was an aging man, his long mane of hair frosted heavily with grey, his face seamed by years of wear But his powerful figure showed few signs of age, and his proud bearing gave him an aura of energetic youth. Beside him strode Angus Og, another son of the Dagda, a cheerful and vigorous young man who was helping to supervise the training.

One side of the great inner courtyard was given over to a line of men who practiced casting spears at man-sized targets carved of wood. Nuada stopped to watch and shook his head with doubt. After days of work, the targets were still distressingly free of spears that had hit their mark,

Across the court, other men were training with swords and shields. Most were clumsy and unsure, and doing themselves almost as much harm with the heavy weapons as they were their practice opponents.

Nuada watched this for a while, too, and then Angus heard him sigh heavily. But the High-King did not express his misgivings aloud. He only offered some ringing words of encouragement before passing on.

By the stables at the back of the courtyard, a large smithy had been set up beneath open sheds. Here a group of figures, black and streaming with sweat, labored over forges and anvils to shape weapons for the resurrected army of their comrades. At one of the forges, Goibnu, the master smith of the de Dananns, turned out the bright, slender, and lethal spearheads for which he was renowned with a speed and workmanship that seemed miraculous. Beside him worked a woman whose efforts matched his own. Her looks were as remarkable as her skill, for her face was divided, one side that of a beautiful woman, the other that of a withered hag.

When he saw Nuada and Angus approaching, Goibnu stopped to point proudly at the great pile of glinting spearheads beside them.

"We'll have all the weapons any army could need," he announced. "Bridget has learned the craft well."

"All we've need of now is hands that can use them with the same amount of skill that created them," said Nuada. Again Angus was aware of that doubting quality, not fully disguised by the High-King's attempt at heartiness.

"My King!" a voice called from above them.

Nuada and the others looked up toward the sentrywalk of the outer wall. A guard was hailing the High-King.

"Warriors are coming up from the town!" he proclaimed. "It's the party of Lugh Lamfada!"

"Are you certain?" Nuada called back.

"I couldn't be mistaking the figure of the Dagda," the guard replied with an irreverent smile.

"I wonder why they've come back so soon," Nuada said, that troubled note in his voice now clearly audible. He looked to Angus. "Come along. We'd better go meet them."

Angus nodded assent and the two started off for the main gates of the fortress. Those gates were open, as was usual during daylight, and the two men reached them just as Lugh, Gilla, and the Dagda rode through into the courtyard.

When Nuada saw them, his worry increased. They were worn by much hard travel, sagging on the horses' backs. The animals themselves were thickly caked with mud from fast travel on Eire's roads and plodded wearily, heads lowered. Even the great, stocky mount of the Dagda was near exhaustion.

As the three pulled up, the familiar black form sailed lightly down to land beside them and shimmer its way into Morrigan s shape. She was the only one of the party who looked fresh.

As Lugh and his friends eased their aching bodies from their horses, Nuada advanced toward them.

"What's happened?" he demanded. "Why have you come back so soon?"

"We've made a discovery," said Lugh. He and his comrades gave the horses over to a steward's keeping and Lugh moved closer to the High-King. "Lets move away a bit," he said in a confidential tone. "I don't think the others should hear this quite yet."

They moved away from the training area, into an open spot beside a small mound at one side of the yard.