"Simon R. Green - Forest Kingdom 3 - Down Among the Dead Men" - читать интересную книгу автора (Green Simon R)

leather headband. Cool grey eyes studied the world from a broad, smiling

face. His shoulders were wide, his chest was broad, and there wasn't an

ounce of spare fat on him. He worked hard to keep it that way. His

dothes were simple and functional, and he sat his horse with the

unthinking ease of a man who'd spent most of his working life in the

saddle. His sword hung at his side in a well-worn scabbard, and his hand

rarely moved far from it.



He'd lied about his age and joined the guards at fifteen, keen as

mustard for a life of action and adventure. The Demon War had knocked

most of that nonsense out of him, but deep down he was never content

just to do his job and pull his pay. He needed a little excitement in

his life to give it spice. His constant search for it got him into

trouble more than once, and lost him as many promotions as he gained.



After one particularly unfortunate incident, involving the wrecking of a

fashionable tavern after the innkeeper objected to MacNeil's complaint

about watered ale, he was presented with a simple choice by his

superiors: join the Rangers, or spend the rest of his life turning large

rocks into smaller ones in a military prison.



Rangers worked in small mobile teams, sent out ahead of a main force to
investigate dangerous or suspicious situations. Such teams tended to be

brave, competent and ultimately expendable. The money was good, but,

truth be told, MacNeil would have done the job for nothing. Though of

course he never told them that. They might have taken him up on it.