"Katherine Kerr - Deverry 02 - Darkspell" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kerr Katherine)

a young lassтАЩs.

тАШWell, Gwen,тАЩ she said. тАШYouтАЩve been telling me for years that you want to be a priestess. Has the
time come upon you now or not?тАЩ
 тАШI donтАЩt know, my lady. You know that IтАЩve always had doubts about my calling . . . well, if I have
any choice in the matter now.тАЩ

тАШDonтАЩt forget that youтАЩve got the Wolf lands for a dowry. When the news spreads, IтАЩll wager that
many a man among your fatherтАЩs allies will want to come fetch you out.тАЩ

тАШBut oh ye gods, IтАЩve never wanted to marry!тАЩ

With a little sigh, Ardda unconsciously reached up and touched her right cheek, which was covered
with the blue tattoo of the crescent moon. Any man who touched in lust a woman with that mark was put
to death. Not only the noble lords, but any freeborn man would have slain the defiler, because if the
Goddess were wrathful, the crops would fail and no man ever sire a son again.

тАШYouтАЩd have to marry to keep the Wolf lands,тАЩ Ardda remarked.

тАШItтАЩs not that I want the lands. I want to keep my clan alive, and thereтАЩs my sister. If I swore to the
Goddess, then the right of inheritance would pass to Maccy. She always had lots of suitors, even when
she only had a small dowry.тАЩ

тАШBut could she rule the clan?тАЩ

тАШOf course not, but if I pick her the right husband - oh, listen to me! How am I going to get to the
King to lay my petition? IтАЩll wager that the BoarтАЩs riding this way right now to make sure weтАЩre penned
here like hogs.тАЩ

Her prediction came true not an hour later. Gweniver was restlessly pacing round and round the
grounds when she heard the sound of many men and horses riding their way. As she ran toward the
gates, priestesses joined her, yelling at the gatekeeper to close them up. Gweniver was just helping slam
the iron bar into the staples when the horsemen arrived in a clatter of hooves and jingle of mail. Ardda
was already up on the catwalk over the gates. Trembling with rage, Gweniver climbed upтАЩ and joined
her.

Down below, milling around a respectful twenty yards away, was the seventy-man warband of the
Boar. Burcan himself edged his horse out of the mob and insolently rode right up to the gates. A man in
his late thirties, he had a thick streak of gray in his raven-dark hair and heavy mustache. As she leaned
onto the rampart, Gweniver hated him, the man who had killed her clan.

тАШWhat do you want?тАЩ Ardda called out. тАШTo approach the Holy Moon ready for war is an insult to the
Goddess.тАЩ

тАШNo insult meant, Your Holiness,тАЩ he called back in his dark, gravelly voice. тАШItтАЩs only that I rode in
haste. I see that Lady Gweniver is safe here with you.тАЩ

тАШAnd safe sheтАЩll remain, unless you want the Goddess to curse your lands into barrenness.тАЩ

тАШWhat kind of a man do you think I am, to violate the holy sanctuary? I came to make the lady an