"Sharon Green - The Woman Who Rides Like a Man" - читать интересную книгу автора (Green Sharon)

dismounted. She was staring at the body of the hillman who had wielded the
crystal sword. The blade lay beside him, gleaming against the sand. It
glimmered
and suddenly flashed, blinding her for a short moment. Alanna stared: against
the yellow-orange fire that filled her sight was a picture.
A dark fingerтАФor was it a pole?тАФpointed at a crystal-blue sky. Before it stood
a
man wearing tattered gray; his eyes were mad. She could smell wood smoke.
Her eyes cleared, and the vision was gone.
Reaching under her shirt, Alanna drew forth the token given to her by the
Great
Mother Goddess three years before. It had once been a coal in her campfire;
now
it was covered in clear stone, its fires still flickering under its surface.
Alanna knew that if she held it when magic was present, she could see power as
a
glowing force in the air. She saw magic now as orange light flickered around
the
sword, and she scowled. Recently she had dealt with magic of this particular
shade, and the memory was not pleasant.
The Bazhir who had followed her kicked sand over the sword. "It is evil," he
said, his quiet voice slightly raspy. "Let the desert have it."
Distracted from the magic, Alanna discovered she was crying. It was as if she
had lost a companion, not a weapon.
A glint of metal caught her eye and she stopped to pick up Lightning's
sheared-off blade. Sliding the length of metal into its sheath, she strapped
the
now-useless hilt in place. Unless she tried to draw the blade, no one would
know
it was not whole.
Mounting her horse, she settled Faithful before her as Coram brought his
gelding
to her side. "I'm sorry, lass," he told her quietly, putting a hand on her
arm.
"I know what the sword meant to ye. But ye can't be thinking of that now.
These
men may be friends or may not be; who knows why they saved our skins. Ye'd
best
be puttin' yer mind to talk with 'em."
Alanna nodded, trying to collect her thoughts. Their rescuers formed a loose
circle around her and Coram as the man who had covered the crystal sword with
sand joined them, guiding a large chestnut stallion with ease. The others
gave
way to him, letting him approach Alanna and Coram. For a while he said
nothing,
only stared.
Finally he nodded. "I am Halef Seif, headman of the Bloody Hawk tribe, of the
people called the Bazhir," he said formally. "Those who are dead were
trespassers on our sands, riding without leave. You also come here unbidden.
Why