"Jane Lindskold - Firekeeper Saga 3 - The Dragon of Despair" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lindskold Jane)

"I thought I'd find you out here," Derian Carter said, greeting them with a casual wave of the hand that
was not occupied balancing a tin-screened candle lantern. "Watching the comet again? I promise you, it
won't go anywhere."

"Elation tell you where I am," Firekeeper replied, knowing this must be so. She had many places from
which she watched the comet. Animal wariness kept her from frequenting any one place too often.
Elation, however, could have easily found her.

The peregrine falcon had taken a liking to Derian. Although Elation could not talk to Derian as she could
to Firekeeper, she had found ways of making him understand simple things. Derian, in turn, simplified
matters greatly by accepting, as most of Firekeeper's human acquaintances still did not, that the bird was
as intelligent as most humans.

"Elation might have," Derian admitted before changing the subject. "There's news from across the White
Water River. A single courier made the crossing late this afternoon. He came to Duchess Kestrel, figuring
she'd pay well to know the last several months' gossip from New Kelvin."

Firekeeper was interested in spite of her initial pique at having her vigil interrupted.

"From New Kelvin?"

The neighboring country was separated from Hawk Haven by a river broad and rocky enough to be
difficult to cross even in the best weather. Once snowmelt had swelled the river, the two nations had
been effectively cut off for better than a moonspan. Only lately had the river begun to ebb, though many
days would pass before normal commerce resumed.

Derian nodded.

"And from how both the duchess and the earl remained closeted with the courier through dinner, the
courier had news worth the tokens the duchess has ordered drawn from the Norwood Grant treasury."

"And what did the courier say?" Firekeeper prompted, almost, but not quite, forgetting the comet.

"I don't know," Derian replied, "but we have been requested to meet with Duchess Kestrel and her son
as soon as possible. Can you leave your comet unwatched?"

Firekeeper gave him a slight smile, though she knew Derian could not see it in the darkness.

"I can."

A group OF seven was to meet in Duchess Kestrel's study├╣eight, if you counted Blind Seer, which
Firekeeper most certainly did. As she waited for the rest to assemble and stop their idle chatter, the
wolf-woman studied her surroundings, automatically noting exits and defensible corners.
This was a room Firekeeper had visited only once before. Unlike the nearby chamber claimed by her son
for a similar purpose, the duchess's study was light and uncluttered, its furniture crafted from pale woods
rubbed to a high polish and scented with beeswax. The stone-flagged floors were covered in jewel-toned
New Kelvinese carpets that seemed to glow in the lamplight. The broad, south-facing windows were
curtained in heavy brocade woven in shades of soft golden brown and beige.