"Alex Irvine - Wizard's Six" - читать интересную книгу автора (Irvine Alexander C)

тАЬI thank you, maтАЩam,тАЭ Paulus said. тАЬI am Paulus. Your man and I met
yesterday.тАЭ
тАЬI am Clio, sir,тАЭ she said. She was looking hard at himтАФseeing, Paulus knew,
the scars on his hands and the long sword on his right hip.
тАЬYour daughter has her destiny, Clio,тАЭ Paulus said. тАЬI am here to take her to
it.тАЭ
Baby turtles, he told himself. Another might have killed all three by now, and
moved on. The thought gave him no ease. He averted his eyes as Philo and Clio
made their farewells. Braver than either, Sophia took PaulusтАЩ hand and climbed onto
the saddle in front of him. A tremor ran through her small body, but she reached out
to get her fists into the horseтАЩs mane. She looked back at her parents as Paulus
spurred the horse northward, and he wondered what she saw.
****
When she spoke, much later when the northern pass out of Branchefort Valley
was behind them, Paulus didnтАЩt register her voice at first. He was thinking about the
boy who had been feeding his pig when Myros came. How easily children died.
тАЬSir?тАЭ the girl said. тАЬWhat do you call the horse?тАЭ
тАЬI never named him,тАЭ Paulus said.
тАЬCan I call him Brown?тАЭ
тАЬAll right.тАЭ
тАЬYour name is Brown,тАЭ Sophia told the horse.
He could kill her at any time, could have killed her at any moment since
crossing the pass. Could, for that matter, have cut her down with the empty bucket
in her hands while her father was drawing water. Hesitation kills, Paulus thought.
тАЬWhat are the wizards like?тАЭ she asked.
тАЬThey are wizards,тАЭ Paulus said. тАЬNot like men. But not cruel.тАЭ
тАЬHow long until we get there?тАЭ
тАЬA little while yet,тАЭ Paulus said. He was silent after that, and they rode the
edge of a canyon in which night fell early and forced them to make camp while the
sky above was still light.
At times, Paulus knew, he was slow to apprehend the consequences of his
actions. Now he realized that he had complicated his task first by concocting a story
and then by taking the girl. She was one of the apprenticeтАЩs six; Myros might well
know that Paulus had her, and if he also knew about the boy he might be provoked
into retaliation. Better to have killed her quickly and ridden on. Regardless of the
wizardтАЩs injunction, Paulus could not afford to carry her with him in his pursuit of
Myros. Nor could he return her, now that his mouth had run away with his reason
and pronounced that she might be returned if she did not satisfy the wizards. He
could easily imagine what such a stigma might mean to a child in a place like
Branchefort Valley. He stirred PhiloтАЩs eggs over the fire and damned himself for
losing sight of his task.
Over the sound of the night breeze in the canyon, he heard Sophia crying
quietly. End this, he thought, and rose into a crouch.
тАЬIтАЩm afraid,тАЭ she said, and the sound of her voice destroyed his resolve. He
sat next to her. Paulus had no knowledge of children. He had none of his own and
had been taken from his own home at about SophiaтАЩs age, leaving behind three
younger sisters whom he had never seen again.
тАЬNever been out of the valley before?тАЭ he asked her.
She shook her head and wiped at her nose before tearing a piece of bread
from the loaf and scooping eggs out of the bowl. Cowardice was a thick, bitter