"Katherine Kerr - Deverry 07 - A Time Of War" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kerr Katherine)

тАШI donтАЩt see why we had to go and make treaties with them, anyway,тАЩ Jahdo said.
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тАШBetter than being their slaves, lad,тАЩ Lael said. тАШOr the slaves of the wild tribes up to the north. Better to
bargain with the Horsekin we know than fight the ones we donтАЩt, hainтАЩt?тАЩ

тАШTrue spoken.тАЩ Demet turned back to them. тАШBut IтАЩll wager we call council fire tonight over this.тАЩ

No one bothered to argue with him, and rightly so. Just at sunset the big bronze gong that hung at the top
of Citadel began to clang and boom across the water. More ominous than thunder, each huge stroke
hung in the darkening air. When Jahdo and his family left their quarters, he could see boats and coracles,
skittering on their oars like so many waterbugs, as all round the shore the townsfolk swarmed across the
lake. Every person who dwelt within earshot of the gong had the right to attend these councils and make
their wishes known, man and woman alike, just as everyone had the right to vote for the town council,
too. Out in the Rhiddaer there were no lords and kings. As the citizenry hurried up the steep streets of
Citadel in a tide of rumour and fear, the family made its own way to the assembly ground.

In front of the stone council hall, which sported a colonnade and a flight of shallow steps, stretched a
plaza, paved with bricks. Off to one side, the militia was heaping up wood for a bonfire to light the
proceedings. Jahdo and Niffa scrambled to the top of the thick wall on the uphill side and watched the
murmuring crowd grow larger and larger. Every now and then Jahdo would turn round and look back at
the lake. Already in the cooler evening mists were rising over deep water. Since it was fed by hot springs,
the lake ran warm. Just as the night grew thick, and the flames began to leap high from the fire, casting
enormous shadows across the arches and pillars of the hall, the council barge tied up down at the jetty.
From his perch Jahdo could see the torches bobbing along the twisted streets of Citadel and pick out the
council members, too, as the procession panted its way up the steep hillside. Striding among them was
the Gel daтАЩThae bard.

тАШI be scared,тАЩ Niffa said abruptly. тАШI donтАЩt know why. I just feel so cold and strange, like.тАЩ

тАШOh, heтАЩs not so bad, really. The bard, I mean. And this wonтАЩt have anything to do with us.тАЩ

тАШDonтАЩt go being so sure, little brother. I never feel like this for no reason at all.тАЩ Her voice stuck in her
throat, and she paused, gulping for air, тАШLetтАЩs get off this wall. LetтАЩs go find Mam and Da.тАЩ

тАШI donтАЩt want to. I canтАЩt see anything down in the crowd.тАЩ

тАШJahdo, come on! You canтАЩt stay here.тАЩ

He hesitated, considering, but taking orders from his sister rankled.

тАШWonтАЩt. You go down if you want to.тАЩ

тАШYou dolt! Come with me!тАЩ

He shook his head in a stubborn no and refused to say a thing more. After a moment she slid down and
plunged into the crowd like a swimmer into waves. He could just make her out, heading from clot to