"Katherine Kerr - Deverry 01 - Daggerspell" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kerr Katherine)

tavern my last night there, and I see this lad with a silver dagger in his belt. ThatтАЩs Cullyn of Cerrmor, a
lad says to me, and donтАЩt you ever cross him, neither.тАЭ He shook his head dolefully. тАЬThem silver daggers
is all a bad lot.тАЭ

тАЬNow here! HeтАЩs my da!тАЭ

тАЬOh, is he now? Well, what harsh Wyrd youтАЩve got for such a little lassтАФa silver dagger for a da.тАЭ

Although Jill was furious, she knew that there was no use in arguing. Everyone despised silver
daggers. Although most warriors lived in the dun of a noble lord and served him as part of his
honor-sworn warband, silver daggers traveled around the kingdom and fought for any lord who had the
coin to hire them. Sometimes when Da rode to see Jill and her mother, he would have lots of money to
give them; at others, barely a copper, all depending on how much he could loot from a battlefield.
Although Jill didnтАЩt understand why, she knew that once a man was a silver dagger, no one would ever
let him be anything else. Cullyn had never had the chance to marry her mother and take her to live with
him in a dun, the way honor-sworn warriors could do with their women.

That night Jill prayed to the Goddess of the Moon to keep her father safe in the Gwingedd war.
Almost as an afterthought, she asked the Moon to let the war be over soon, so that Cullyn could come
see her right away. Apparently, though, wars were under the jurisdiction of some other god, because it
was two months before Jill had the dream. Every now and then, she would dream in a way that was
exceptionally vivid and realistic. Those dreams always came true. Just like with the Wildfolk, she had
learned early to keep her true dreams to herself. In this particular one, she saw Cullyn come riding into
town.

Jill woke in a fever of excitement. Judging from the short shadows that everything had in the dream,
Da would arrive around noon. All morning Jill worked as hard as she could to make the time pass faster.
Finally, she ran to the front door of the tavern and stood there looking out. The sun was almost directly
overhead when she saw Cullyn, leading a big chestnut warhorse up the narrow street. All at once Jill
remembered that he didnтАЩt know about Mama. She dodged back inside fast.

тАЬMacco! DaтАЩs coming! WhoтАЩs going to tell him?тАЭ

тАЬOh by the hells!тАЭ Macyn ran for the door. тАЬWait here.тАЭ

For a few miserable minutes Jill stayed inside, painfully aware that the men sitting at one table were
looking at her with pity. The looks made her remember the terrible night when Mama died so much that
she had to get away from them, and she ran out the door. Just down the street Macyn was talking to her
father with a sympathetic hand on CullynтАЩs shoulder. Cullyn was staring at the ground, his face set and
grim, saying not a word.

Cullyn of Cerrmor was well over six feet tall, warrior-straight and heavy-shouldered, with blond hair
and ice-blue eyes. Down his left cheek ran an old scar, which made him look frightening even when he
smiled. His plain linen shirt was filthy from the road, and so were his brigga, the loose woolen trousers
that all Deverry men wore. On his heavy belt hung his one splendorтАФa sword in a gold-trimmed
scabbard, a gift from a great lordтАФand his shame, the silver dagger in a tattered leather sheath. The silver
pommel with its three little knobs gleamed, as if warning people against its owner. When Macyn finished
talking, Cullyn laid his hand on his sword hilt, as if for comfort. Macyn took the horseтАЩs reins, and they
walked up to the tavern.