"Kenneth C. Flint - Gods of Eire 01 - The Riders of the Sidhe" - читать интересную книгу автора (Flint Kenneth C)

"My Queen, we've waited on this island for fifteen years, guarding this lonely
fortress, watching, our weapons always ready. We've prayed to every god for a
chance to fight again. There's not a band of fighting men who'd have a better
chance of holding them than we!"

She nodded, satisfied.

"Who is it coming against us?" she demanded. "What is their look?"

"The ships and sails are like none I've seen before. The hulls are as shiny
and black as the hardest bog-oak. The sails stay full and steady regardless of
the winds."

"And the men?"

"Their appearance is just as strange to me. They're big-bodied, square,
hard-looking men, dressed in like tunics and trousers of smooth grey."

"There's no doubt of it, then," she told him with a chill certainty. "We have
been found by them at last!"

"How can that be?" asked Cecht in surprise. "I've never seen any warriors of
theirs who looked or dressed as these do."

"You've seen only their garrison troops. The worst of them. These are the
household troops of Balor himself. He must know!"

She thought a moment, deepening those lines which fear of this day had etched
into her face. Then she spoke, harshly and without compromise:

"Cecht, they'll not be easy to stop," she said. In fact, she knew that these
attackers could not be stopped at all. But she had no wish to wound her
commander's pride. "You must make this as hard as you can for them. It may
mean the death of every one of usтАФevery warrior, woman, childтАФbut we must hold
them as long as we can!"

"We know, my Queen," he replied. "We've always known."

THE SEA GOD 5

She smiled at him gently, sadly, placing a hand lightly upon

his arm.

"Loyal Cecht," she said. "It's glad I've been to have you beside me until this
day. And it's glad I am to have you with me now."

He nodded, understanding the depth of feeling behind the simple words. She
dropped her hand and added in a brisk