"Katherine Kurtz - Heirs 02 - King Javan's Year" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kurtz Katherine)

APPENDIX V: Partial Lineage of the MacRories
Prologue

For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
-I Corinthians 15:25


A little past dawn of a June morning already promising uncompromising heat, the dark-haired child
whose job it was to check the pigeon roost clambered up the last few rungs of the ladder leading up from
the room below and cautiously emerged on the tower┬┤s flat roof, keeping low.
The old square stone tower set on this barren hillside was assumed by local folk to be derelict. Twisted
shrubs the size of small trees grew from a gap partway up one side, and what remained of the crenellated
battlements looked ready to tumble down at the first good storm. In fact, the tower provided cover for a
variety of clandestine activities whose scope would have surprised and shocked most of the human folk
who lived in this remote area.
Young Seanna MacGregor and the pigeons were a small part of one of those activities. Several dozen of
the dark-striped grey birds ruffled and chuckled to themselves behind the roost┬┤s restraining mesh of
knotted cord as the sun┬┤s white disk cleared the eastern horizon. Seanna squinted against its brightness
and scooped back sweaty wisps of hair that had escaped from her dark braid. Not a breath of air was
moving. Usually no birds came in during the night, but this morning two were sauntering along the edge of
the tower┬┤s parapet, striped necks bobbing back and forth as they pecked for grain and twittered and
cooed to the other birds.
Trying to avoid any too-quick motion that might frighten them, the ten-year-old began creeping quietly
toward the nearer of the two pigeons. Practiced little hands soon had the first bird captive against her
chest, so that she could pull the curl of vellum out of the little wooden cylinder tied around the bird┬┤s leg.
Her dark eyes widened as she read the brief message, and after stuffing it in a pocket, she slipped the
first bird into the cage with the others and went after the second.
The second message proved to be the same as the first-insurance, no doubt, to make certain that at least
one of them reached its destination. Glancing over the tower┬┤s parapet to the yard below, Seanna looked
for and spotted her favorite brother over by the tumbledown stables, watching a groom lead out a big,
rangy bay that looked out of place in such mean surroundings. Not bothering to put the second bird into
the cage, she released it onto the parapet again and started back down the ladder, sniffling back tears.
Below in the yard, standing next to a bearded man in a farrier┬┤s leather apron, the outlawed son of the
outlawed Earl of Ebor turned a critical eye on the mare being trotted back and forth outside the stable.
Jesse MacGregor was not a tall man, but his compact frame was muscled and hard. At twenty, he had
been a warrior for almost half his life. Flecks of gold stirred in the depths of brown eyes that missed very
little. The sun had bronzed his olive skin and put brassy lights in the brown hair tied back in a queue.
Over a full-sleeved white shirt of gauzy linen, open at the collar, he wore riding leathers of a dusty
cinnamon color, almost the same shade as the callused hand he raised to point at the mare┬┤s front feet.
тАЬLook there. Do you see it? She┬┤s still favoring the near front.тАЩ
тАЬAye, she is,тАЩ the farrier agreed. тАЬI┬┤ll try weighting the shoe one more time, but we won┬┤t have any hoof
left to nail it to if we don┬┤t get it right this time.тАЩ
тАЬWell, do what you can,тАЩ Jesse replied. тАЬThanks, Ned.тАЩ
As the farrier took the mare from the groom and led her back into the barn, Jesse turned at movement
from the direction of the tower and opened his arms to the slight, anxious form in boy┬┤s attire who came
hurtling across the yard to tackle him around the waist, dark braid flying.
тАЬHey, Seanna Madonna, light of my life, what┬┤s wrong?тАЩ he asked as he realized she had been crying.
тАЬTwo birds this morning,тАЩ she said, raking a slightly grubby sleeve across her eyes. тАЬThey both had the
same message. He┬┤s dying, Jesse.тАЩ
Stiffening slightly, Jesse hugged her closer for a moment, stroking a comforting hand down the dark hair,