"Holly Lisle - Secret Texts 3 - Courage Of Falcons" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lisle Holly)

Her trembling grew more fierce, and her voice changed, dropping and slowing. "The promise made them still echoes in the walls. They still listen to it, and hold it as their due." In cadenced singsong, she began to recite:
"By the blood of the living And the flesh of the dead, I summon the spirits of Family Who have gone before. Without the walls of this room But within the walls of this House Enemies have come And killed, Have plundered And pillaged, Have conquered
And claimed.
Come, spirits of the dead.
All dead flesh within the walls of Galweigh House
I offer as your payment
If you will chase beyond the walls of this House
All alive beyond the walls of this room.
Harm none; draw no living blood;
Inflict no pain.
I ask not vengeance;
I ask only relief.
By my own spirit and my own blood
I offer myself as price to ensure
The safety of every living creature,
Friend and foe,
Now within the House's walls
Until this spell is done.
So be it."
"A spell," Kait whispered.
"Yes. Offered by a man both powerful and clever. I feel the echoes of his steps strongly through this place. He is tied here by his own blood and spirit, though he did not stay here long."
"So he summoned the dead."
Ulwe opened her eyes and looked up at Kait. "And they came. They watch still. They watch us now. The enemies that were here before came, but they could not live here. The dead are not as strong now as they were when first the spell was cast, but they are strong enough to ... to do ... things." She wrapped her thin arms around herself and Kait saw gooseflesh prickle on her arms. "No one can live in this place who is not your friend, or the friend of your Family. The dead claim all dead flesh within the walls as their payment, and when anything dies within the walls, or anyone brings inside the flesh of any dead creature, the spirits consume it and for a while grow
stronger. And when they are strong, they work the will of the one who summoned them."
Ian began to laugh.
Kait looked at him. "What?"
"No wonder the Sabirs and the Dragons gave this place up. Meat-eating ghosts."
"That's going to make things difficult for us," Ry noted. "We must have meat to survive."
"We can hunt," Kait said. "And we can eat our meat outside the walls."
"I suppose. Yet doing so exposes us to anyone who might be watching."
Kait nodded. "There will be some risk. Still, I hunted here for years. I know where to go to keep out of sight of even watchful eyes."
Ulwe held up a hand, palm forward. "Kait. There's something else I found that might be important. Let me walk the road a little wider for you."
Kait nodded and waited. The girl closed her eyes again. For long moments she crouched to the floor, so still she barely breathed, eyes closed and lips slightly parted. She brought to Kait's mind the image of a fawn hiding in the tall grass, hoping to escape detection. The image jarred KaitтАФthe child was in no apparent danger, but Kait's predator senses would not let her banish the picture or replace it with something more suitable. She wondered what she had learned from watching the girl that she did not yet know she knew.
At last, Ulwe said, "A mother and her two children took refuge near this room. There is another room . . . like this one. They locked it from the inside. They are eating the stores. They have been hiding since the House fell the second time. . . . But, no. Two of them have been hiding since that day. The third . . . came later."
Kait froze. "There are survivors still here?"
The child nodded. "So the paths tell me. So the road says."
The House could hide them. The House could hide an army, if the army could get to the right places and sequester itself within the cun-
ning walls. So many had been unprepared. But someone, somehow, had survived.
Kait said, "Can you take me to them?"
Ulwe nodded, wide-eyed. "They're so afraid, Kait. They've expected every day to be caught. I can feel the terror. They don't know the House is empty."
They might live out a full span of years within their hiding place, away from sunlight and fresh air, growing weak and pale and feeble. She had to find them. A mother. Two children.
She tried not to let herself hope that they were her Family. Dughall had told her that, as far as he knew, all of her immediate family was dead. But perhaps one of the cousins had survived. She reminded herself that the House had held more people who weren't Family than who wereтАФthe survivors were most likely a terrified serving girl and her two babes.
She stood. Even if they were, they might still be people she knew. She would take any link to her past that she could get.
"Shall we go after them, then?" Ry asked.
"Perhaps I should go alone." Kait rested a hand on the wall.
"I have to take you," Ulwe said. "I can follow the road to them. Their footsteps sing to me."
Ry shrugged. "I'm certainly not going to abandon the two of you down here alone."
Kait took a slow breath, and let it out even more slowly. "Perhaps we should wait until tomorrow, and come down here when the day is
young." Either great joy or great disappointment waited for her in the hidden room she had not yet reached. The events of her recent past made her wary of pursuing hope; she had become cautious.
"Perhaps we ought to get it over with," Ian said. "Before you lose your nerve."