"Kenneth C. Flint - A Storm Upon Ulster" - читать интересную книгу автора (Flint Kenneth C)

They drove on slowly and in silence for a time. Then Meave smiled ruefully at
him and shook her head,

"You know, it seems to me it was the jiorses and not our skill that decided
this. My team was no match for yours."

"And glad I am of that!" said Fardia. "For had your animals been as good as
mine, I'd likely be the one left behind."

"Ah, but then nothing is solved. We might never know which driver is the
better."

"But we may," he said knowingly, *'My Queen, you've many fine animals for your
chariots of war, but they're bred to size, not speed. No driver with your
skill should be without racing horses, and my people have animals the like of
which can be found nowhere else. Let me give you a pair I have in mind, both
tall and proud and with a fire blazing in their black eyes. They'd suit you
well."

"I'm certain now your people will achieve success with a poet's tongue like
yours to speak for them. I'll accept your offer gladly."

Again Fardia flushed with pleasure and embarrassment, and for a moment his
youthfulness was very evident in him.

"Good, my Queen. Tomorrow you will have a team like no one in Connacht..." he
paused and smiled "... except, perhaps, for me. The next time we race, we will
be matched for certain!"

"A bond I'll hold you to," she said. "But there must be no gifts. These horses
must be bought."

He tried to protest, but she stopped him.

"No, Fardia. Some token amount at least must change hands, or else I'll not
feel the animals are truly mine."

He nodded. "AH right, my Queen. I understand."

12

A STORM UPON ULSTER

MEAVE

By this time they had entered the town about the dun's base and they drove up
its broad street toward the fortress gates. At the town's outer edge they
passed only the small, stone huts of the many workers who provided service to
the dun, but nearer the palisades these huts were replaced by the larger