"Katherine Kerr - Deverry 04 - Dragonspell" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kerr Katherine)

Elaeno gaped.

The same lass thatтАЩs off with that lackwit Salamander,тАЩ Nevyn said. тАШOn her way to Bardek after
Rhodry. The very same one indeed.тАЩ

The storm blew itself out finally after two long days of rain. Everyone was glad to get free of the
enforced leisure of drowsy hours spent huddled near the hearths in the great hall, and the ward was
a-bustle that morning when Cullyn went out just to be going out, walking in the fresh and rain-washed air.
He was strolling across the ward, aiming for the main gates merely to have a goal, but about halfway
there he paused, struck by some odd observation that for a moment he couldnтАЩt identify. Someone heтАЩd
passed, back by the wash-house, was somehow out of place. He turned back and saw a young man he
vaguely recognized, Bryc by name, one of the undergrooms, but he was carrying a load of firewood, and
his walk was wrong, not the shuffle or scramble of a servant, but the confident stride of a warrior. Cullyn
hesitated only a moment before following him. Sure enough, Bryc carried the anomalous firewood right
past first the wash-house, then the cookhouse as well. There was no other building where that firewood
might belong between him and the outer walls.

Cullyn stayed with him until the lad passed the armoury, then ducked into it, ran down to the door at
the far end, and opened it a crack to look out. His hunch paid off. Bryc was indeed looking back to see
if anyone was following him, but he did not notice that the armoury door was ever so slightly open. When
he angled round a shed towards the broch complex, Cullyn slipped out and followed at a good distance,
keeping close to the shadows of the various buildings. The lad never glanced back again until he reached
the low brick wall that separated the gwerbretтАЩs formal garden from the work-a-day rest of the ward.
Cullyn hid in a doorway as Bryc unceremoniously dumped his load of firewood, looked cautiously
around him, then leapt over the wall. As Cullyn went after, Bryc hurried across the lawn, where, some
distance away, little Rhodda, RhodryтАЩs illegitimate daughter and only heir, played with a leather ball while
her nursemaid, Tevylla, sat and sewed on a small stone bench. There was absolutely no reason for Bryc
to be in the garden at all.

With an oath, Cullyn drew his sword and broke into a run. He leapt the wall just as the fellow made a
grab at the child. Screaming, Tevylla jumped up and hurled her sewing scissors at his head - a miss, but
he had to duck and lost a precious moment. As he charged across the lawn, Cullyn saw that Bryc had a
dagger and that he was swinging down.

тАШRun, lass!тАЩ

Rhodda twisted away and dodged as Bryc spun around, saw Cullyn coming, and turned to flee.
Tevylla grabbed the leather ball and threw it under his feet. Down he went just as the captain reached
him. He grabbed Bryc by the shirt, hauled him up, and broke his wrist with the flat of his sword. The
dagger spun down to the grass. He kicked it far out of his prisonerтАЩs reach.

тАШThanks be to the gods!тАЩ Tevylla snatched it up. тАШCullyn, IтАЩm so glad you were right there.тАЩ

тАШOh, I donтАЩt know. You seemed to be handling things pretty well on your own.тАЩ

Tevylla shot him a weary sort of smile, then tucked the dagger into her kirtle and scooped Rhodda up.
The child herself was oddly calm, only a bit pale as she stared at her rescuer for a moment, then turned in
her nurseтАЩs arms to look at the whimpering Bryc.