"Katherine Kerr - Deverry 06 - A Time Of Omens" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kerr Katherine)

тАЬYou could say that.тАЭ Budyc preened a little. тАЬBut weтАЩre not making some splendid profit, mind. Think
about itтАФwe have to hire wagons for the dry parts of the journey, barges for the wet, and the country
folkтАЩs silence, and then guards like you fof the border crossingтАФitтАЩs worth our while, but only just, lads,
only just. Then count in the danger. Why do you think we hired you? The Cantrae menтАЩll stop us if they
can, and they wonтАЩt be making an honorable prisoner out of the likes of me. If it werenтАЩt helping to save
Cerrmor, I doubt me if IтАЩd make these runs.тАЭ

тАЬTell me somewhat,тАЭ Caradoc said. тАЬThink thereтАЩs going to be much left of Cerrmor to save by the end
of the summer?тАЭ

тАЬI donтАЩt know.тАЭ BudycтАЩs eyes turned dark. тАЬWeтАЩre living on hope alone now that the kingтАЩs dead. Hope
and omensтАФevery cursed day you hear someone prattling about the true king coming to claim the
throne, and the city still believes it, well, for the most part, anyway, but I ask you, CaptainтАФhow much
longer can we hold out? The regentтАЩs a great man, and if it werenтАЩt for him, weтАЩd have all surrendered to
Cantrae by now, but even so, heтАЩs just a regent. Too bad heтАЩs so blasted honorableтАФif heтАЩd marry the
kingтАЩs daughter and give her a son, weтАЩd all cheer him as king soon enough.тАЭ

тАЬAnd he wonтАЩt do it?тАЭ

тАЬHe wonтАЩt, and he says he never will, unless someone brings him irrefutable proof that the true kingтАЩs
dead and never coming to claim his own.тАЭ

тАЬInteresting, that kind of denial. Is he putting it about that heтАЩd pay well for that kind of proof, like?тАЭ

For a moment Budyc stared; then he swore, glaring disgust at Caradoc.

тАЬI take your ugly meaning, but never would Tieryn Elyc stoop so low, youтАФтАЭ He caught himself just in
time. тАЬMy apologies, Captain. YouтАЩre not a Cerrmor man, and you can think whatever you like.тАЭ

тАЬOh, I was a Cerrmor man once, and I knew Elyc, you see, and thought well enough of him. I just
wondered, like, what being elevated to a high place all of a sudden had done to him. One day he was just
a lord with a smallish demesne; the next, practically a king. Some men can take that, some canтАЩt.тАЭ

тАЬTrue spoken, but ElycтАЩs still got his feet on the ground. ItтАЩs a good thing, too.тАЭ BudycтАЩs face turned
wan. тАЬLike I say, who knows how long the people can live on hope?тАЭ



It was well into the next morning before their strange caravan set out for the south. Although the stream
was just deep enough to float heavy cargo, the current couldnтАЩt push it very fast, and so for the first stage
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of the journey the bargemen had their mules harnessed and pulling hard. Even so, the pace was
dangerously slow. As the silver daggers let their horses amble along at their own pace, the line spread out
into a ragged excuse for order along the streambank. Out of sheer impatience, Branoic thought he just
might go mad before they reached Cerrmor.