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

тАШMy lady?тАЩ Dagwyn said at last. тАШAre you staying in the temple, then?тАЩ

тАШIтАЩm not. WeтАЩre packing up and riding for Cerrmor today. Load up as many provisions as the
captured horses can carry.тАЩ

All three nodded in unquestioning obedience. Ricyn couldnтАЩt look away from her face. Although no
one would ever have called Gweniver beautiful (her face was too broad and her jaw too strong for that),
she was attractive, tall and slim, with the grace of a wild animal when she moved. For years he had been
hopelessly in love with her, when every winter he would sit on one side of her brotherтАЩs hall and watch
her, unobtainable on the other. Seeing that sheтАЩd sworn the vow was grimly satisfying. Now no other man
would ever have her.

тАШIs somewhat wrong?тАЩ she said to him.

тАШNaught, my lady. If itтАЩs my place to ask, I was only wondering about the tattoo. Why is it on the left
side of your face?тАЩ

тАШYouтАЩve got every right to know. It marks me as a Moon-sworn warrior.тАЩ When she smiled, she
seemed to change into a different woman, cold, hard-eyed, and fierce. тАШAnd here you all thought that
such existed only in bard songs, didnтАЩt you?тАЩ

Ricyn was as startled as if sheтАЩd slapped him. Dagwyn caught his breath in a gasp of surprise.
 тАШLady MaclaтАЩs the head of the Wolf clan now,тАЩ she went on. тАШSheтАЩs made me captain of her warband
until such time as she marries and her husband brings her riders of his own. If weтАЩre still alive by then,
youтАЩll all have a choice: to pledge to her new man, or to follow me. But for now, weтАЩre going to Cerrmor
for the summerтАЩs fighting. The Wolf swore to bring men, and the Wolf never breaks its word.тАЩ

тАШWell and good, then, my lady,тАЩ Ricyn said. тАШWe may not be much of a warband, but if anyone says
one wrong word about our captain, IтАЩll slit the bastardтАЩs throat.тАЩ

When they rode out, they went cautiously, in case some of the Boarsmen were lurking on the roads.
Dagwyn and Camlwn took turns riding point as they made their way along the bypaths through the hills.
Although Cerrmor was a good ten daysтАЩ ride away, safety lay much closer in the duns of the WolfтАЩs old
allies to the south and east. For two days they skirted the Wolf demesne, not daring to ride on their own
lands in case the Boars were patrolling them. On the morning of the third, they crossed the River Nerr at
a little-used ford and headed more east than south, aiming for the lands of the Stag clan. That night they
camped on the edge of a stretch of forest that the Stags and the Wolves used jointly as a hunting
preserve. Seeing the familiar trees brought tears to GweniverтАЩs eyes as she remembered how her
brothers had loved to hunt among them.

While the men tethered the horses and set up camp, Gweniver paced restlessly around. She was
beginning to feel grave doubts. It was one thing to talk of riding to war herself, another to look at her tiny
warband and realize that their lives depended on how well she led them. On the excuse of looking for
dead wood for a fire, she went into the forest and wandered through the trees until she found a small
stream, running silently over rock between fern-lined banks. Around her the old oaks cast shadows that
seemed to have lain there since the beginning of time.

тАШGoddess,тАЩ she whispered. тАШHave I chosen the right path?тАЩ

In the flickering surface of the stream, she saw no vision. She drew her sword and stared at the blade,