"Dennis L. McKiernan - Mithgar - Eye of the Hunter" - читать интересную книгу автора (McKiernan Dennis L)

Tomlin. And after but slight hesitation, Silvey and Atha stepped forward
and were introduced.
Tomlin started to take up the reins of Riatha's mount, preparing to
stable the steed, but the Elfess stopped him, calling him by his old
nickname. "I will care for Beam, Pebble. Thou shouldst gather the rest
of thy brood, for I have words of portent affecting all."
Tomlin's heart lurched, and he glanced at Petal and knew that her
heart pounded, too.
Tomlin saddled his pony and rode to the fields. When he returned,
the duskingtide was upon the land, and his two buccoes, Small Urus and
Bear, were with him. Lantern light illuminated the porch, where supper
was to be taken, for the cottage ceilings were too low for the Elven
guest, and the Warrows would not have her stoop.
And so all gathered in the Maytime eve and took their meal and
spoke of small things, of inconsequential things, while crickets sang in the
grass. And at the end, Silvey and Atha served hot tea and huckleberry
pie, as the night deepened.
A period of silence fell upon family and guest alike and stretched
thin, while stars wheeled overhead.
At last, as if impelled by the same thought, Tomlin and Petal
simultaneously said, "RiathaтАФ"
тАФand the silence was broken.
Glancing at one another, Tomlin nodded to Petal.
The damman spoke: "Riatha, about these words of portent, these
words affecting allтАФall my familyтАФwhat . . . ?" Her words tailed off,
her unspoken question hanging in the still air of the Weiunwood night.
The grey-eyed Elfess looked into the face of each Waerling, seeing a
resolute set of features before her, great jewel-like eyes glittering in the
lamplight. "I come to tell ye of the words of Rael, Lady of Arden Vale,
Consort to Talarin, my distant cousin, for she has the power at times to
foresee.
"And she has done so.
"In truth, she has spoken of two separate destinies, both of which I
would have ye hear:
"The first of her visions shows a darkness gathering in the north, and
it will one day come sweeping forth across the land. There her vision
ends. What it portendsтАФWar, pestilence, famine, plagueтАФshe cannot
say. It will not come for some years. Even so, it is a dire enough portent
that I would have ye remove to a safer havenтАФaway from the
Weiunwood, mayhap to the south, or to the protected Land of the
Seven Dells.
"The second of her visions speaks of yet another destiny vaguely
sensed in the distant winds of time, a destiny far beyondтАФa destiny Rael
deems is for me, and I ween affects thee and thine, Petal . . . thee and
thine, Pebble."
 Tomlin felt his heart hammering for the second time that day, and he
felt, too, the irrational urge to gather his brood behind him, and to take
up sling and silver bullets, for Petal to take up silver throwing knives, and
for his buccoes and dammsels to arm themselves as well.
And an image of Baron Stoke rose monstrously in his thoughts.