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

тАЬWe did, and thatтАЩs why weтАЩre back. Looked like another point squad, and one of the men might have
been carrying the green wyvern of theHolyCity.тАЭ

тАЬThe scout said he might have seen a Boar or two.тАЭ

Aethan swore under his breath.

тАЬBodes ill, bodes ill,тАЭ Caradoc went on. тАЬFull arms, lads. WeтАЩll leave the barges here with a token
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guard.тАЭ

тАЬWhat about the prince?тАЭ

тАЬHeтАЩs safest coming with us. If this warband aheadтАЩs only on the track of the contraband iron, theyтАЩll try
to outflank us and strike the barges, so thereтАЩs no use in leaving him behind. If theyтАЩre after him, as I
somehow suspect they are, then theyтАЩll have to fight our whole ugly pack to get him.тАЭ

тАЬWeтАЩll want to circle around ourselves and try for a flank strike. ThereтАЩs a narrow lane ahead that could
trap us good and proper.тАЭ

тАЬAll right. Across the fields it is.тАЭ

Heading south, they swung out to the east across plowed land that bore only nettles and dandelions.
Since the fields sloped up from the riverbed, after a few minutes they were riding along a very low ridge
of sorts and could see a reasonable distance ahead of them. To the south, on the same side of the river as
they were, a warband was coming to meet them. Swearing under his breath, Caradoc flung up one hand
for a halt, then rose in his stirrups to stare and count.

тАЬAbout sixty, seventy?тАЭ he said to Maddyn and Owaen. тАЬA good enough match, anyway. Well and
good, lads. WeтАЩll make a stand and see if they come after us.тАЭ

Just across a meadow was another thick hedgerow that would do to guard their rear, and in a shallow
crescent they drew up their lines, two men deep, with Caradoc and Owaen in the center and the prince
disposed anonymously in the second rank of the left horn, with Branoic on one side of him and Aethan
the other. Even after all these years Maddyn felt faintly shamed as he followed their standard procedure
and withdrew, taking shelter in some trees a couple of hundred yards away. For this battle, at least he
would have a crucial role to play as liaison between the troop and the fifteen or so men left behind to
guard the barges. The orders were clear: if the scrap went against them, the survivors were to retreat
back to the barges and die fighting around the prince.

Straight and purposeful the other warband came jogging along, pulling javelins from the sheaths under
their right legs and loosening swords in their scabbards. There was not even going to be a pretense of a
parley. The silver daggers sat slouched, from the look of them half-asleep in their saddlesтАФa pose that
had cost many a gullible warband dear in the past. As the enemies came closer, Maddyn could see that
they were carrying a variety of blazons on their shields: the pale blue ground and golden ram of Hendyr to
the north, the green wyvern of the Holy City sure enough, and scattered among themтАФindeed, in the