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

only some twenty-five men of his warband along as an honour guard. They rode north first, stopping at
Cae Labradd and the dun of the tieryn, Riderrc. To celebrate the gwerbretтАЩs visit there was a great feast
one night, and a hunting party the next day, but on the third day Blaen told the tieryn that he wanted
merely to ride around the rhan on his own. With only five men for an escort he set out in mid-morning,
but rather than viewing the tierynтАЩs fields and woods, he rode straight for town.

Just at the outskirts of Cae Labradd, on the banks of a tributary that flowed into the Canaver a few
miles on, stood a brewery that was known as the best in all Cwm Peel. Set behind a low, grassy
earthenwork wall was a cluster of round buildings, freshly white-washed and neatly thatched, the
brewerтАЩs living quarters, the malt house, the drying house, the brewing house proper, the storage sheds
and, off to one side, the pigsty and the cow barn. When Blaen turned off the road and led his men
toward the brewery, they all cheered him, quite spontaneously and sincerely.

Over the door of the main house hung a rough broom of birch twigs, scented with strong ale, a sign
that customers could buy a tankard or a tun as it suited them. When Blaen and his men dismounted, a
stout grey-haired woman with a long white apron over her blue dress hurried out and curtsied.

тАШOh my, oh my, itтАЩs the gwerbret himself! Veddyn, get out here! ItтАЩs the gwerbret and his men! Oh
my, oh my! Your Grace, such a great honour. Oh you must try some of our new dark and thereтАЩs a cask
of bitter, too. Oh my, oh my!тАЩ

тАШDonтАЩt dither, woman! Gods! YouтАЩll drive his grace daft.тАЩ Tall and lean, hawk-nosed and perfectly
bald, Veddyn strolled out and made Blaen a perfunctory bow. тАШHonoured, Your Grace. What brings you
to us?тАЩ

Thirst, mostly, good Veddyn. Do you have tankards enough for me and mine?тАЩ

тАШItтАЩd be a poor brewery that couldnтАЩt serve six travellers, Your Grace. Just you all tie up those horses
and come inside.тАЩ

Blaen handed his captain a handful of silver to pay for the ale, ushered his men inside, then lingered
briefly in the yard with Twdilla while Veddyn followed them in. Once they were alone she dropped her
dithery ways.

тАШI take it that Your Grace is here for news?тАЩ

That, and to look in on Camdel, poor lad. Is he any better?тАЩ

тАШQuite a bit, actually, but heтАЩll never be right in the head again after what they did to him.тАЩ She crossed
her fingers in the sign of warding against witchcraft. тАШHeтАЩs mucking out the cow barn at the moment, so
IтАЩll wager Your Grace doesnтАЩt want ...тАЭ

тАШBy the gods, it doesnтАЩt matter to me what he smells like. LetтАЩs stroll over, shall we?тАЩ

As it turned out, they found Camdel sitting behind the cow barn on an old stump and eating his lunch,
a chunk of bread and slices of yellow cheese laid out neatly on an old linen napkin. When he saw Blaen
he got up and bowed with a sweeping courtly gesture that went ill with his dirty shirt and brown brigga,
but although his eyes betrayed a flicker of recognition, he didnтАЩt truly remember Blaen and had to be told
his name. He was, however, physically healthy again and even somewhat happy, smiling as he spoke of
his quiet life at the brewery. Blaen was well-pleased. The last time heтАЩd seen the man, Camdel had been