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

pirates might not believe my words, but they will believe these."
"You show great courage," said Blade, with open respect in his voice. He had suspected that she
would be no hysterical, sniveling girl in this crisis, but he was glad to have his guess confirmed.
"I am the daughter of a Grand Duke of Royth," she said simply. "And of a brave and honest man,
which is fully as important. I do not want to disgrace him." She turned away to look at the approaching
ships for a moment, then turned back and said more quietly, "If they take us, you will be my betrothed."
Blade managed to avoid gaping idiotically at the words. "Your betrothed? Why?"
"Fool!" she said the word with a laugh that took some of the harshness out of it. "To be betrothed to
the daughter of a Grand Duke of mighty Royth, one must be a man of high station somewhere. If they
think you such, the pirates will hold you for ransom along with me."
"Very true." Privately, Blade suspected that if the ship was taken, his chances of living long enough
for the pirates to have anything to do about him except throw his body over the side were rather slim.
Then shouts from all around him snapped his attention back to the pirates.
All nine ships were now within long bowshot. But instead of charging in to the attack in ones or twos,
they were forming into a single line ahead, a line arrayed with professional skill. Blade heard the shouts
give way to uneasy mutterings and curses as the sailors realized their main advantage was gone. None
knew how.
Khystros appeared at Blade's right hand and ordered his daughter below. When she had gone he
said softly, "There's planning behind this. And gold. Enough gold to make nine Neral pirate captains
sacrifice their chances of glory and loot to make a more effective assault. Their paymaster wants a
thorough job, it seems. Well, we shall see that they have to work to earn that gold." He turned on his heel
and strode aft, a grim figure in his black plate armor with a well-battered broadsword swinging from his
belt.
The pirates were now furling their sails, relying on oars alone as their line forged slowly around to
head off Triumph. Blade could easily read their plan: get ahead of the ship, form a semicircle, and then
come in against her from nine points on a full hundred and eighty degree arc. With their ability to move
independently of the wind, they could easily close and then rely on their superior numbers to do the rest
in hand-to-hand combat. The only chance Triumph had was to keep moving. Blade guessed that was
what Khystros had gone aft to discuss with the captain.
By the time Khystros returned, to mount the short ladder to the foc'sle deck and turn to face the men
assembled on deck, the pirates had formed their semi-circle. Then, as Khystros drew his sword and
raised it over his head with a single graceful and defiant gesture, the tiller went hard over.
There was a moment's stunned silence; then as the turn continued and the deck began to heel, there
was an uproar of curses, shouts, and clatters as men were thrown off their feet by the sudden angle of the
deck. Blade knew enough about ships to realize that if this continued the ship would be taken aback. The
wind would blow the sails back against the masts, they would tear themselves to shreds and the ship
would be a helpless, immobile victim for the pirates. And he knew who was responsible for the turn.
He stormed aft, snatching his sword and dagger free as he ran. He burst down the ladder and into the
tiller flat with his weapons drawn, catching the captain leaning negligently against a beam, watching the
tiller crew as they struggled to force the tiller hard over and keep it there. The captain had barely time to
lower one hand towards his own sword when Blade's weapon came whistling down in a mighty slash.
The captain's head jumped from his shoulders in a flurry of blood and sailed clear over the dumbfounded
tiller crew. Blade shouted at them, "Put the tiller back over. PUT IT OVER! The captain was a traitor!
That turn he ordered took us aback. The pirates are all around us." His manner and tone had their effect.
As he charged back up the ladder to the deck he saw the sweating men strain at the tiller, bringing it back
over.
But when he reached the deck, he saw that it was too late for any more maneuvering. Forwards and
aft Triumph towered high above the decks of the pirate galleys, but amidships she was low enough so
that an agile man might swarm up a rope onto her deck. Four of the pirate shipsтАФtwo on either
sideтАФhad slipped in. Grapnel hooks flew from them, to hook over railings and bits and provide passage