"Jeffrey Lord - Blade 09 - Kingdom of Royth" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lord Jeffery)

throw off the healthy exhaustion of much hard physical exercise took up much of the day. But there was
still time for Blade to walk the whitescraped planks of Triumph's deck, from forward to aft and back
again, look up at the sails and masts towering against the searing blue sky, and contemplate his problems.
Apart from simple boredom, there were two of them. There was Triumph's captain, and there was
the Lady Alixa. Blake had watched the captain's face during the discussion of the pirate danger. The man
was clearly skilled at concealing his emotions. But there had been many occasions during Blade's years
as a secret agent when reading another man's expression had been a matter of life or death. Blade had
trained himself to penetrate disguises and would have sworn the captain was delighted at the news of
pirates roaming and ravaging far south of their usual haunts. Furthermore, it seemed entirely plausible to
Blade that Chancellor Indhios had bribed or coerced the captain into making sure that Grand Duke
Khystros never reached Mardha alive. Whether the captain himself was also in the pay of the pirates and
sworn to lead this rich prize like a lamb into the jaws of the wolves was another nasty question.
Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do about his suspicions. He was in the same position as the
Grand Duke himself had been in accusing the ChancellorтАФhe had no evidence that would convince a
reasonable man. And in a way he was worse off than the duke, since he had no position here that would
at least assure him an open, let alone a receptive, ear. He was, he had to face it, nothing but a hired
bodyguard. The duke's favor to him might easily dry up if he started hurling what might well seem wild
accusations.
The problem with Lady Alixa seemed almost equally insoluble. In a word, she had her eyes on him.
He guessed that she was a strong-willed, hot-tempered young woman who would not take kindly to a
refusal. She would find some way to make even as levelheaded and just a man as her father believe that
Blade had seduced or at least insulted her. And there would go his position, if not his head. Yet if he took
her, and Khystros found out, wouldn't the same thing happen? Blade had a reasonably good opinion of
himself in general, but he honestly could not see himself as Khystros' choice of a son-in-law. And this
was entirely apart from the fearful complications that such a relationship would involve when it came time
for him to return to Home Dimension. He had left lovely women and even children behind him on several
of his journeys and did not wish to do so again.
So he paced the deck and turned steadily browner under the tropical sun that beat down day after
day. He learned to identify the seabirds and the great silver and green fish that often paced the ship for
hours on end, further toughened his iron physique with more weapons exercise and gymnastics, and
occasionally spoke with Khystros. The man seemed to be brooding about something. Blade only hoped
it wasn't his daughter's regard for the new guardsman that was troubling the Grand Duke. The Lady Alixa
took little care to conceal the look in her eyes when they fell on Blade.
An evening came, when the sun set in a western sky as flawless as ever. But the wind was brisker;
flurries of white crowned the rising waves, and the groan and creak of massive timbers and the whine of
the wind in the rigging came louder than usual to Blade's ears as he walked aft. Tonight was his turn to
guard the door of the Grand Duke's suite, a duty rotated among the guardsmen. He wore a boiled leather
cuirass and helmet heavy enough to stop most blades but not subject to rusting in the damp sea air. He
carried a straight broadsword and a heavy dagger. A long red cloak with a black lining flowed from his
broad shoulders to the tops of his sea boots.
The moon rose, sickle-thin and pale, but the wind held steady. The last light drained from the western
sky and the masts and sails faded to vague blurs in the darkness. Blade shifted his weight from one foot
to the other for the twentieth time and pulled gently on the well-oiled sword to make sure it rested easily
in its scabbard.
Then a soft voice called out behind him.
"Master Blahyd!"
He knew what he would see when he turned around, but still there was a shock in seeing Alixa
standing behind him, her tanned arms hanging straight at her sides. She wore a loose, flowing robe of pale
blue. The faint light flowing out of her half-open cabin door silhouetted her body inside the
semi-transparent gown: long legs tapering to curving hips and a narrow waist, full, high breasts half