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

and shut with a winch.

When Gweniver led her warband through to the cobbled ward, cheers rang out: itтАЩs the Wolf! By all
the gods, itтАЩs the Wolf! Men poured out of broch and barrack to watch, and pages in the KingтАЩs colors
of red and silver ran to greet them.

тАШMy lord,тАЩ a lad burst out. тАШWe heard you were slain!тАЩ

тАШMy brother was,тАЩ Gweniver said. тАШGo tell the King that the Lady Gweniver is here to honor Lord
AvoicтАЩs vow.тАЩ

The page stared goggle-eyed at her tattooed face, then dashed back into the broch. Ricyn rode up
beside her and gave her a grin.

тАШThey thought you were a ghost from the Otherlands, my lady. Shall I have the men dismount?тАЩ

тАШJust that. Here, youтАЩve been acting like the captain for days. ItтАЩs about time I told you that you
officially are.тАЩ

тАШMy lady honors me too highly.тАЩ

тАШShe doesnтАЩt, and you know it. You were never humble, Ricco, so donтАЩt pretend to be now.тАЩ

With a laugh he made her a half-bow from the saddle and turned his horse back to the men.

Gweniver stood beside her horse and nervously looked over the broch complex while she waited for
the page to return. Although her brothers had told her of the splendour of Cerrmor, sheтАЩd never been
there before. A full seven stories high, the massive tower joined to three lower half-brochs, the dark gray
complex like the fist of a giant turned to stone by dweomer. Nearby were enough barracks and stables to
house hundreds of men. Over it all flew a red and. silver flag, announcing proudly that the King himself
was in residence. When she glanced around at the swelling crowd, she saw all the noble lords watching
her but afraid to speak until the king gave his judgment on this strange matter. Just as she was cursing the
page for being so slow, the ironbound doors opened, and the King himself came out with a retinue of
pages and councillors in attendance.

Glyn, Gwerbret Cerrmor, or King of all Deverry as he preferred to be known, was about twenty-six,
tall and heavyset, with blond hair bleached pale and coarsened with lime in the regal fashion so that it
swept back from his square face like a lionтАЩs mane. His deep-set blue eyes bore a perpetually haunted
expression, because he took his responsibilities as seriously as he took his rights. When Gweniver knelt
before him, she felt an honest awe. All her life sheтАЩd heard about this man, and now here he was, setting
his hands on his hips and looking her over with a small bemused smile.

тАШRise, Lady Gweniver,тАЩ Glyn said. тАШMay I not sound like a churl, but never did I think to see the day
when a woman would bring me men.тАЩ

Gweniver made him a curtsy as best she could in brigga.

тАШWell, my honored liege, never has the Wolf clan broken its sworn vow, not once in all these long
years of war.тАЩ