"Greg Keyes - Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone 3 - The Blood Knight" - читать интересную книгу автора (Keyes J Gregory)

PART III

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PART IV

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

EPILOGUE

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
MAP
 For my son,
John Edward Arch Keyes
Welcome, Archer
 THE
BLOOD
KNIGHT
 PROLOGUE
In the Chamber of the Waurm

Smiling, Robert Dare offered Muriele a rose.
"Keep it," she suggested. "Perhaps it will improve your smell."
Robert sighed, stroking the small black beard that sharpened his naturally fine
features. Then he retracted both hand and flower, allowing them to rest on his breast,
fixing his dark gaze on Muriele.
He looked far older than the twenty winters he had spent in the world, and for the
barest instant she felt a distant sympathy for this man who had murdered her
husband and daughters, for what he had become.
Whatever that was, however, it wasn't human, and her sympathy was dragged off
by a tide of revulsion.
"As charming as ever, my dear," Robert said evenly.
His gaze shifted slightly to the other woman who stood with them in the room as
if he were a cat trying to keep track of two mice. "And how does the beautiful Lady
Berrye fare today?"
Alis BerryeтАФMuriele's maid and protectorтАФfavored Robert with a cordial smile.
"I am very well, Your Highness."
"Yes, I can see that," Robert said. He stepped near and lifted his right hand to
stroke Alis' russet locks. The girl didn't flinch, except perhaps around the eyes.
Indeed, she held very still. Muriele imagined she might react thus to an adder poised
to strike.
"In fact, you have quite the bloom on your cheeks," he went on. "It's no wonder
my dear deceased brother was so taken with you. So youngтАФso full of health and
vigor, so smooth and firm. No, age hasn't begun even to breathe on you yet, Alis."
That bait was meant for Muriele, but she would not rise to it. Yes, Alis had been
one of her husband's mistressesтАФthe youngest, as far as she knewтАФbut since his
death she had proved herself a useful and loyal friend. A strange thing, but there it
was.