"George R. R. Martin - Ice Dragon" - читать интересную книгу автора (Martin George R R)

but she untied Teri, whose tears had dried by then, and they freed Geoff, and
then they got their father down. Teri nursed him and cleaned out his wounds.
When his eyes opened and he saw Adara, he smiled. She hugged him very hard,
and cried for him.
By night he said he was fit enough to travel. They crept away under
cover of darkness, and took the king's road south.
Her family asked no questions then, in those hours of darkness and
fear. But later, when they were safe in the south, there were questions
endlessly. Adara gave them the best answers she could. But none of them ever
believed her, except for Geoff, and he grew out of it when he got older. She
was only seven, after all, and she did not understand that ice dragons are
never seen in summer, and cannot be tamed nor ridden.
Besides, when they left the house that night, there was no ice dragon
to be seen. Only the huge dark corpses of three war dragons, and the smaller
bodies of three dragonriders in black-and-orange. And a pond that had never
been there before, a small quiet pool where the water was very cold. They had
walked around it carefully, headed towards the road.
Their father worked for another farmer for three years in the south.
His hands were never as strong as they had been, before the nails had been
pounded through them, but he made up for that with the strength of his back
and his arms, and his determination. He saved whatever he could, and he seemed
happy. "Hal is gone, and my land," he would tell Adara, "and I am sad for
that. But it is all right. I have my daughter back." For the winter was gone
from her now, and she smiled and laughed and even wept like other little
girls.
Three years after they had fled, the king's army routed the enemy in a
great battle, and the king's dragons burned the foreign capitol. In the peace
that followed, the northern provinces changed hands once more. Teri had
recaptured her spirit and married a young trader, and she remained in the
south. Geoff and Adara returned with their father to the farm.
When the first frost came, all the ice lizards came out, just as they
had always done. Adara watched them with a smile on her face, remembering the
way it had been. But she did not try to touch them. They were cold and fragile
little things, and the warmth of her hands would hurt them.