"Robin Hobb - Tawny Man 2 - Golden Fool" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hobb Robin)

and a relaxed readiness spread through me. Poised, I waited for them. It would
come as a sudden rush from all directions, the animals coming in low, and the
people attacking high, with weapons. I had only the knife. IтАЩd have to wait until
they were close. If I ran, I knew theyтАЩd take me from behind. Better to wait and
force them to come to me. Then I would kill them, kill them all.
I truly donтАЩt know how long I stood there. That sort of readiness can make time
stand slill or run swift as wind. I heard a dawn bird call, and then another
answered it, and still I waited. When light began to stain the night sky, I drew a
deeper breath. I took a long look around myself, peering into the trees, but saw
nothing. The only movement was the high flight of small birds as they flitted
through the branches and the silver fall of the raindrops they shook loose. My
stalkers were gone. The little creature that had snapped at me had left no trace
of his passage on the wet stone of the road. The larger animal that had crossed
behind me had left a single print in the mud at the roadтАЩs edge. A small dog. And
that was all.
I turned and resumed my walk up to Buckkeep Castle. As I strode along, I
began to tremble, not with fear, but with the tension that was now leaving me,
and che fury that replaced it.
What had they wanted? To scare me. To make me aware of them, to let me
know that they knew what I was and where I denned. Well, they had done that,
and more. I forced my thoughts into order and tried to coldly assess the full threat
they presented. I extended it heyond myself. Did they know about Jinna? Had
they followed me from her door, and if so, did they know about Hap as well?
I cursed my own stupidity and carelessness. How could I have ever imagined
the Piebalds would leave me alone? The Piebalds knew that Lord Golden came
from Buckkeep, and that his servant Tom Badgerlock was Witted. They knew
Tom Badgerlock had lopped off LaudwineтАЩs arm and stolen their prince-hostage
from them. The Piebalds would want revenge. They could have it as easily as
posting one of their cowardly scrolls, denouncing me as practising the Wit, the
despised beast magic. I would be hanged, quartered and burned for it. Had I
supposed chat Buckkeep Town or Castle would keep me safe from them?
I should have known that this would happen. Once I plunged back into
BuckkeepтАЩs court and politics and intrigue, I had become vulnerable to all the
plotting and schemes that power attracted. I had known this would happen, I
admitted bitterly. And for some fifteen years that knowledge had kept me away
from Buckkeep. Only Chade and his plea for help in recovering Prince Dutiful had
lured me back. Cold reality seeped through me now. There were only two
courses open to me. I either had to sever all ties and flee, as I had once before,
or I had to plunge fully into the swirling intrigue that had always been the Farseer
court at Buckkeep. If I stayed, I would have to start thinking like an assassin
again, always ├╝ware of the risks and threats to myself, and how they affected
those around me.
Then I wrenched my thoughts into a more truthful path. IтАЩd have to be an
assassin again, not just think like one. IтАЩd have to be ready ro kill when I
encountered people that threatened my prince or me. For there was no avoiding
the connection: those who came to taunt Tom Badgerlock about his Wit and the
death of his wolf were folk who also knew that Prince Dutiful shared their
despised beast magic. It was their handle on the Prince, the lever they would use
not just to end the persecution of those with the Wit, but to gain power for
themselves. It was no help to me that my sympathies were, in part, with them. In