"David Gemmell - Drenai Tales 09 - Hero In The Shadows" - читать интересную книгу автора (Gemmel David)

he saw the fires. Leaving the bound girl where she lay, he ran back to the scene. Polian was grinning as Camran
came alongside him. He was still grinning as he died, Camran's dagger plunging between his ribs, skewering his
heart.
This sudden act of savagery cowed the men. 'Did I not tell you?' he thundered. 'Never property! Not unless
directly ordered. Now, gather supplies and let's be gone.'
Camran had returned to the young woman. He thought of killing her, but there would be no pleasure in it now, no
slow, pounding joy as he watched the light of life fade from her eyes. Gazing down at the six small skinning knives
in their silk-lined canvas pouch, he felt the dead weight of disappointment dragging at him. Carefully he rolled the
pouch, tying it with black ribbon. Then he hauled the girl to her feet, cut the ropes around her ankles and lifted her to
the dead Polian's mount. Still she said nothing.
As Camran rode away he gazed back at the burning building, and a deep sense of shame touched him. The
farmhouse had not been built speedily, but with great patience, the timbers lovingly fashioned, the joints fitting to
perfection. Even the window-frames had been carved and embellished. Destroying such a place was an act of
sacrilege. His father would have been ashamed of him.
Camran's sergeant, the hulking Okrian, rode alongside him. 'Wasn't in time to stop them, sir,' he said.
Camran saw the fear in the man's eyes. 'It is what happens when one is forced to deal with scum,' said Camran.
'Let's hope there are better men available when we reach Qumtar. We'll earn little commission from Panagyn with
only eleven men.'
'We'll get more, sir. Qumtar is crawling with fighters seeking employment with one or other of the Houses.'
'Crawling is probably an apt description. Not like the old days, is it?'
'Nothing ever is,' said Okrian, and the two men rode in silence, each lost in thoughts of the past. Camran
remembered the invasion of Drenai lands eighteen years earlier, when he had been a junior officer in the army of
Vagria, serving under Kaem. It had been, Kaem had promised, the dawn of a new empire. And, for a time, it was
true. They crushed all armies sent against them, forcing the greatest of the Drenai generals, Egel, into the vastness of
Skultik Forest, and besieging the last fortress, Dros Purdol. But that had been the high point of the campaign. Under
the command of the giant Karnak, Purdol had held, and Egel had broken from Skultik, descending upon the Vagrian
army like a storm. Kaem himself had been slain by the assassin Waylander, and within two years Drenai forces had
invaded Vagria. And it had not ended there. Arrest warrants were issued against many of the best Vagrian officers,
charging them with crimes against the populace. It was laughable. What crime was there in killing your enemies,
whether they be soldiers or farmers? But many officers were taken and hanged.
Camran had escaped north into the lands of the Gothir, but even here agents of the Drenai continued to hunt him.
So he had drifted east, across the sea into Ventria and beyond, serving in numerous armies and mercenary bands.
At thirty-seven he was now in charge of recruitment for House Bakard, one of the four ruling Houses of Kydor.
There was no outright war for them to fight. Not yet. But each of the Houses was gathering soldiers, and there were
many skirmishes in the wild lands.
News from home rarely reached Kydor, but Camran had been delighted to hear of the death of Karnak some
years previously. Assassinated as he led a parade. Wonderful! Killed, apparently, by a woman wielding the bow of
the legendary Waylander.*
* From Waylander II: In the Realm of the Wolf (1993)
Jerking his mind once more to the present, Camran gazed back at his recruits. They were still frightened now, and
anxious to please, hoping that when they made camp Camran would let them have the girl. He would soon dash
those hopes. His plan was to use her, skin her, and leave the men to bury the body. He glanced once more at her, and
smiled. She looked at him coolly and said nothing.
Just before dusk Camran swung from the trail and selected a campsite. As the men unsaddled their mounts he
took the girl deeper into the forest. She made no resistance as he pushed her to the ground, and she did not cry out as
he took her. As he was reaching his climax he opened his eyes and found her staring at his face, expressionless. This
not only removed any pleasure from the rape; it also ruined his erection. Anger roared through him. Drawing his
knife, he laid the edge on her throat.
'The Grey Man will kill you,' she said, slowly, no trace of fear in her voice. The words carried certainty and he
paused.