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

to begin with. And look how someoneтАЩs worked itтАФsmoothed it, shaped it, and then polished it.тАЭ

тАЬWhat?тАЭ OwaenтАЩs sourness deepened to disgust. тАЬWhat is it, some kind of knife handle?тАЭ

тАЬItтАЩs not, but a stylus to rule lines on parchment.тАЭ

тАЬA stylus?тАЭ Maddyn broke in. тАЬWho would make a thing like that out of human bone?тАЭ

тАЬWho indeed, Maddo lad? ThatтАЩs the answer IтАЩd very much like to have: who indeed?тАЭ

In his role as a learned man Nevyn recited a few suitable lines of Dawntime poetry over the corpses;
then the silver daggers mounted up and left the servants to get on with the burying. When they rode out
they headed for the river. Maddyn spurred his horse up next to the old manтАЩs and mentioned the decrepit
hunting lodge.

тАЬItтАЩll be better shelter than none, truly,тАЭ Nevyn said.

тАЬYou donтАЩt suppose our enemies camped there, do you?тАЭ

тАЬThey might have once, but theyтАЩre long gone by now.тАЭ He gave Maddyn a wink. тАЬI have some rather
reliable information to that effect. Tell the men we wonтАЩt be out hunting wild geese long, Maddo. I just
want one last look around, thatтАЩs all.тАЭ

Only then was Maddyn sure that he had indeed seen some exalted personage in the stream.

Just at sunset they reached the lodge, a wooden roundhouse, its thatch half-gone, standing along with a
stables behind a palisade that was missing as many logs as a peasant his teeth. As soon as they rode
within five hundred yards of the place the horses turned nervous, tossing their heads and blowing, dancing
a little in the muddy road. Maddyn had the feeling that they would have bolted if they hadnтАЩt been tired
from their long dayтАЩs ride.

тАЬOho!тАЭ Nevyn said. тАЬMy liege, you wait here with Caradoc and most of the men. Maddyn, you,
Owaen, and Branoic come with me.тАЭ

тАЬYouтАЩd better take more men than that, Councillor,тАЭ Maryn said.

тАЬI wonтАЩt need a small army, my liege. Most like thereтАЩs naught left here but bad memories, anyway.тАЭ

тАЬBut the horsesтАФтАЭ

тАЬSee things men donтАЩt see, but men know things that horses donтАЩt know. And with that riddle, youтАЩll
have to rest content.тАЭ
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Nevyn was right enough, in the event, although the тАШbad memoryтАЩ turned out to be bad indeed. The men
dismounted and walked the last of the way to the lodge, and as soon as they stepped through the gap
they saw and smelled what had been spooking the animals. Nailed to the inside of the palisade, like a