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

and take my gratitude if you can't take anything else for the moment. You have given me some powerful
memories to take with me to Mardha."
Outside on the darkened deck Blade was very conscious of Brora's eyes on him. The sailor had a
natural decency that kept him from making too many inquiries. But he did say, half to himself, "Ye be a
lusty and a lucky man, by Druk."
Blade, even less willing to discuss the past hour, could only nod.


CHAPTER 6
┬л^┬╗
Four more days passed. Blade heard the sailors telling each other that Triumph was now too far east as
well as too far south for meeting pirates. But what if they happened to be out on a raid against the coast
ofMardha ? Pessimists who asked such questions were quickly hooted down. And perhaps they really
were safe now. Blade noticed that the captain's face was now longer than ever before, while the Grand
Duke and Alixa both seemed more cheerful than he had ever seen them.
There were no opportunities for him and Alixa to repeat their all-too-short encounter. Nor would
there be one until Blade was on guard duty again or Alixa found some other safe occasion for letting him
enter her cabin. The lady was lusty but not foolish. On the morning of the fifth day, Blade noticed her
looking at him more intently than usual and repeatedly running her tongue across her lips. Perhaps she
had found that occasion? He sensed she was about to step over toward him and perhaps speak when the
lookout at the main top cut loose with a wild scream.
"Sail ho! Off the port beam! It's Neralers!"
The ship began to churn like a kicked anthill. Blade threw Alixa a wave of his hand as he dashed
away in search of his armor and weapons. The few members of the duke's household on deck ran
screaming below. The rest of the guard came charging up from their quarters, pulling on helms, cuirasses,
leggings, and belts glittering with weapons. Behind them came the off-watch sailors, less well-equipped
but even more ferocious looking with great shaggy beards spreading over bare chests and cutlasses
heavy enough to behead an ox flashing in their massive hands. The sailors on watch darted below for
their own weapons or opened the arms chests racked fore and aft and began handing out pikes and
crossbows.
Steam hissed up from the galley stack as the cooks doused the galley fires. Younger sailors, limber as
monkeys, swarmed up the ratlines with bows in their hands to take sharpshooting stations in the tops. At
the very stern, Blade saw the captain talking urgently to the bosun, who then disappeared below to
supervise the tiller crew. Blade would have given a good deal to hear what the captain said.
But he had no time to wonder, because the Neralers were coming up fast. With oars and their tall
lanteen sails both working, they were rapidly closing in. It would be a straight, bitter fight against odds
that lengthened moment by moment as more and more pirate ships rose over the horizon. Finally there
were nine of them, all racing toward Triumph.
 Blade knew resistance would have been hopeless against such odds except for the high, thick sides
of Triumph and the pirates' own notorious lack of discipline. They tended to come dashing individually,
devil take the hindmost, each seeking the greatest share of the glory and the booty for himself. Even so,
beating off nine successive attacks by nearly two hundred pirates at a time was going to be a chancy thing
at best.
He was fully armed now. As he stood at the railing watching the nearest of the pirate ships race
towards them, foam creaming at her ram bow, he felt a hand on his arm. He turned and saw Alixa. She
was dressed in a dark blue robe, with a wide belt of red leather, and her neck, ears, and fingers sparkled
with jewels. Blade was too stunned at the spectacle to speak for a moment. Instead he merely pointed.
She smiled grimly. "If we are taken, the Neralers will slaughter, enslave, or enlist all of us, except
those who show they are worth holding for ransom." She raised her beringed hands. "These are my safe
conduct, my proof that I am a great lady with great relatives who can pay a great ransom. Blood-mad