"Naomi Kritzer - Turning the Storm" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kritzer Naomi)

From the corner of my eye, I could see Severo leading a squadron of Lupi archers along
the top of the wall. One of the Chirani soldiers had been on guard; Severo took him out
with a blow of his staff. I found myself smiling. My commanders had their problems, but
they knew how to fight.
Giovanni had been training me to fight from horseback with a sword, but my
enthusiastic swings were as likely to pull me off the horse as to do any damage, so today I
settled for my crossbow and the whistle. Chirani prisoners scattered in every direction as
we rode in, adding to the general confusion. A few had the presence of mind to escape the
enclosure, but most just panicked. Demetrio's troops tried to regroup, retreating to their
fortresses to fire on us from relative safety. This was where Camilla's skill would pay off,
assuming that she and the other members of her team had been successful in their
mission.
A few of the soldiers had reached their forts nowтАФ but they were making their first
mistake. The first soldiers to make it in panicked, slamming the door behind them and
trapping their fellow soldiers outside. Our cavalry closed in for the kill; a few of us fell to
arrows fired from the towers, but only a few. Holding back a bit, I whispered my secret
selfish prayer: don't let anyone I know get hurt. These days, I knew everyone in my
army, but when I whispered that prayer, I meant Lucia, Michel, and Giovanni. I felt
ashamed to make such a selfish request of God, so I said this prayer to the Lord; the
Lady's consort was known for taking care of the little things.
Each of the extra guard towers Demetrio had built had been equipped with a large
stash of extra crossbow bolts, enough to take out most of the Lupi if need be. As the
soldiers' quivers ran low, they looked to those stocksтАФand the rain of crossbow bolts
slowed abruptly. Camilla and her scouts had removed them in the night. The soldiers
would have to make every shot count now; we could all move in. I blew a long blast on my
whistle, then a short blast, then a long blast. Of course, Camilla couldn't remove all the
arrows from the main keep. But just before dawn she'd slipped inside it and hidden; when
we reached the back door, she would open it. As the Lupi infantry charged, some of the
Chirani prisoners came out of hiding, cheering for us or even picking up tools from their
work on the wall and joining the charge.
Paulo and his unit had been assigned to secure the granary; since I saw no smoke or
flame, they'd probably succeeded. I led the way to the door of the keep, and we burst in,
flooding through the hallways, killing the soldiers who didn't surrender.
Chira was ours by the time the sun had risen over the hills.
The Lupi had the routine down by now. Secure the grain, horses, weapons, and papers.
Capture the keep commander if possible, and his lieutenants, and place them under
guard. Tell the prisoners that they were free to go or to join our army, and let them loot
the rest of the keep to their heart's contentтАФalthough the Lupi generally joined in that
part of the fun as well.
We found Demetrio in his study, dead by his own hand. I was secretly relieved; I didn't
like executing people and I liked extracting information from them even less. Giovanni
and I covered the body and Giovanni started on the desk. "How are Lucia and Michel?" I
asked.
"Fine," Giovanni said, pulling out the first desk drawer. "Lucia is off ministering to the
injured."
"Where's Felice?"
Giovanni snorted. "He fell behind last night. I wasn't optimistic about his usefulness in
a battle, so I told him to follow our track and get here when he got here. He pouted at
me."
"Figures." I poked at the papers on the desk, then decided to let Giovanni handle the