"Jane Lindskold - Firekeeper Saga 4 - Wolf Captured" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lindskold Jane)

had yet to be sighted. She would concentrate on what she did know.

That forced her to face uncomfortable facts she had been avoidingтАФthat Blind Seer was sleeping very
deeply, showing no sign of waking. The wolf's breathing was steady and regular. Indeed, whereas Derian
had vomited as he was waking, Blind Seer showed no distress at all. Although it should have reassured
her, that lack of distress bothered Firekeeper. Were their captors using some sort of magic to keep the
wolf asleep? In the past she had witnessed the use of magics both great and small, but although the
possibility of magic being used against them was disturbing, there was another possibility that bothered
her even more.

There had been one among their captors, a slim, dark man with the highest cheekbones she had ever
seen, who had made Firekeeper very uneasy. He had seemed unusuallyтАж She struggled to find the right
word for the man's attitude. "Comfortable" didn't quite cover the idea, neither did "matter of fact," but
there had been something of both in the man's actions as he gave orders. This bothered her. She had yet
to meet any human whose initial encounter with Blind Seer had not been colored by fear. They might not
show it, but Firekeeper knew the signs, knew the scent.

This man had not been afraid. Cautious, yes, but not afraid. He had emerged from inside the boat after
Firekeeper and Blind Seer had come aboard. He had been the one who had measured out the drinks for
her and Blind Seer.

The wolf's had been poured into a bowl of beef stock and set down on the deck. Firekeeper had been
told to make certain Blind Seer drank it all before she drank her own. The man had watched with
something of the same manner she had seen about Doc when the physician was dosing one of his
patientsтАФan air of analytical curiosity.

But no fear. No doubt. He had acted as if he knew what he was doing and had no question that what he
planned would work. Was this merely confidence or was it something else?

It was a question Firekeeper knew she would not ask, even if opportunity presented itself. From the little
she had overheard before the drug took her into sleep, she gathered that their captors might not be aware
how clever she had become in understanding human ways. Best that they continue to think so. It might
provide her a means of escape.

As much as Firekeeper disliked the possibility that magic had been used against them, she dreaded more
the confidence she had perceived in the dark man. It had not been without cause. She had slept. Blind
Seer still slept. Derian had slept, and though he had awakened sick, this could be because of the other
things he had drunk earlier in the evening's entertainment rather than from whatever the dark man had
done.

The dark man had reason for his confidence, and Firekeeper was wise enough to dread that
confidenceтАФand to wonder at its source.

Firekeeper had a wolf's patience when necessary, but she also had a wild animal's aversion to being
trapped. Just because she couldn't see any way to escape now didn't mean she didn't want to be
prepared in case the opportunity presented itself.

The square cage in which she was held was generously proportionedтАФif you were feeling charitable. She
could lie down fully stretched out, even stand without stooping. The base and top were wood, the bars
iron. A faint odor clung to the floor, but it wasn't one she could place. She'd ask Blind Seer about it when