"Morgan Llywelyn - Lion Of Ireland" - читать интересную книгу автора (Llywelyn Morgan)

lion of ireland
TOR┬о
A TOM DOHERTY ASSOCIATES BOOK NEW YORK
For CHARLES
For sean
For MICHAEL

NOTE: If you purchased this book without a cover you should be aware that this book is stolen
property. It was reported as тАЬunsold and destroyedтАЭ to the publisher and neither the author nor the
publisher has received payment for I this тАЬstripped book.тАЭ I
This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the
authorтАЩs imagination or used fictitiously.

LION OF IRELAND
Copyright ┬й 1981 by Morgan Llywelyn тАШ
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions
thereof, in any form.
A Tor Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates, Inc.
175 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10010
Tor Books on the World Wide Web-
http://www.tor.com
Tor┬о is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, Inc.
ISBN: 0-812-55399-3 First Tor edition: March 1996 Printed in the United States of America
09876543
PART ONE

Chapter 1
The little boy sat on the crown of a rocky hill, his thin arms hugging his scabby knees. He tilted his head
back and gazed up into the immense vault of the sky, feeling wonderfully alone.
To the youngest child of a large and brawling family, privacy is a rare thing. Brian always seemed to be
walking in someone elseтАЩs shadow. He had sought this hill because, at the moment, no one else claimed
it, and he held his occupancy uncontested.
In a tentative voice he addressed the darkening gray sky. тАЬI am the king,тАЭ he said, tasting the words. He
heard no argument, so he repeated it. Louder. Standing up. тАЬI am the king of all the kings!тАЭ he cried,
throwing wide his arms to embrace as much as possible of his domain.
The tireless wind swept across the green land. It came driving inland from the sea, herding a flock of rain
clouds before it, and releasing them at last above the wooded hills and granite mountains.
Even before the rain fell the air was saturated, heavy and rich with a wetness like the moist breath of
babies. Ferns in their dark hollows burned with an emerald flame; the curving flanks of the mountains
glistened, polished; the air smelled of
life and death and growing things.
Under the cairns and dolmens, within the ruined ring forts and passage graves, deep in the mossy,
haunted earth, ghosts stirred. Giants and heroes and cowards slept their thousand-year death in the
ancient soil and were aware in their powdered bones of the coming of another spring. tates of Ame
Brigid came to find him, of course. Even the littlest boy had tasks to perform, and Brian was assigned to
guard the flock of tame geese that nibbled grass along the banks of the Shannon. Cennedi had no small
daughters to be goose-girls. тАЬAha, here you are!тАЭ Brigid crowed as he came up over the breast of the
hill. тАЬNever where youтАЩre supposed to be, are you? Your motherтАЩs geese could be in a wolfs belly by
now for all the good youтАЩve been to them.тАЭ She reached out to pinch his shoulder and give him a shaking,