"Jane Lindskold - Firekeeper Saga 1 - Through Wolf's Eyes" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lindskold Jane)

тАЬIt was the princeтАЩs property,тАЭ Earl Kestrel reminded them with gentle firmness. тАЬWest Keep was one of
the estates his father had given to him.тАЭ

Derian grinned despite his weariness. It was to the earlтАЩs advantage to make certain that all of them
remained sympathetic toward a man who wasтАФrealistically seenтАФat the very least a rebel and perhaps
even a traitor.

Not for the first time he wondered just how much King Tedric would welcome back his third child. For
some moon-spans now rumors had been flying around the capital that the king was considering putting
off Queen Elexa, who was well past childbearing years, and taking a new bride in an attempt to get
another heir.

Of course, that would likely anger the queenтАЩs Wellward relatives, for she had been, by all accounts, a
blameless wife.

They paused an hour or so later so that Race and Ox could clear a path through some growth that moose
or elk would likely view as a pleasant snack. Derian trudged down to the nearest brook and hauled
water back to the horses and mules.

тАЬA little, not too much,тАЭ he cautioned Valet, who silently came to help him.

Valet was a small, agile man who, from what Derian had observed, must be made entirely out of iron
wire. Equally talented at handling a tea service or a hawk, versed in both etiquette and his temperamental
masterтАЩs moods, he had held up well through the long, muddy springtide journey.

This had come as a surprise to Derian, who had expected, upon first meeting Valet, that the little man
would collapse as soon as the going got rough. Who would expect hardiness from a fellow who made his
final duty of every evening putting hot coals into a travelling iron and pressing his masterтАЩs shirts and
trousers?

But Valet had proven Derian wrong. When Derian had shared his surprise with Ox, the bodyguard had
told him that Valet accompanied Earl Kestrel everywhere, even into battle. Certainly, Derian would never
have learned this from Valet himself. The man rarely spoke three words unless directly addressed.

Even now, though he must have known not to overwater a hot horse, Valet said nothing in reproof (as
Derian himself might have), but merely nodded.

As dusk was fading into full dark, the expedition emerged from the pass and onto something like level
ground. The light was almost, but not quite, too poor to make camp, a thing for which DerianтАЩs aching
body was eternally grateful. A cold meal, then sleeping wrapped in a bedroll on lumpy ground, would
have been more than he could have borne. Every part of him cried out for hot food, hot water in which to
soak his feet, and the relative comfort of a proper tent.

Of course, these things must wait until after the horses and mules were tended, after he had fetched water
for all the camp, after he had unpacked the bedrolls, the horse feed, and the partyтАЩs personal kits.

He couldnтАЩt even feel sorry for himself while he worked, for no one else was resting, not even the earl.
The nobleman, between mouthfuls of sauteed pigeon with wild mushrooms and lightly braised greens,
was estimating how long they could remain away from civilization without replenishing their supplies.