"Robin McKinley - Damar 2 - The Hero and the Crown" - читать интересную книгу автора (McKinley Robin)

slay a dragon, lady! Lady Aerin, Dragon-Killer!тАЭ
The silence resettled itself about them, and she could no longer even raise her eyes to her fatherтАЩs
face.
тАЬAerinтАФтАЭ Arlbeth began.
The gentleness of his voice told her all she needed to know, and she turned away and walked toward
the other end of the hall, opposite the door which Perlith had taken. She was conscious of the length of
the way she had to take because Perlith had taken the shorter way, and she hated him all the more for it;
she was conscious of all the eyes on her, and conscious of the fact that her legs still trembled, and that the
line she walked was not a straight one. Her father did not call her back. Neither did Tor. As she reached
the doorway at last, PerlithтАЩs words still rang in her ears: тАЬA kingтАЩs daughter who had true royal blood in
her veins ... Lady Aerin, Dragon-Killer.тАЭ It was as though his words were hunting dogs who tracked her
and nipped at her heels.

Chapter 2
HER HEAD ACHED. The scene was still so vividly before her that the door of her bedroom was
half open before she heard it. She spun round, but it was only Teka, bearing a tray; Teka glanced once at
her scowling face and averted her eyes. She was probably first chosen for my maid for her skill at
averting her eyes, Aerin thought sourly; but then she noticed the tray, and the smell of the steam that rose
from it, and the worried mark between TekaтАЩs eyebrows. Her own face softened.
тАЬYou canтАЩt not eat,тАЭ Teka said.
тАЬI hadnтАЩt thought about it,тАЭ Aerin replied, realizing this was true.
тАЬYou shouldnтАЩt sulk,тАЭ Teka then said, тАЬand forget about eating.тАЭ She looked sharply at her young
charge, and the worried mark deepened.
тАЬSulking,тАЭ said Aerin stiffly.
Teka sighed. тАЬHiding. Brooding. Whatever you like. ItтАЩs not good for you.тАЭ
тАЬOr for you,тАЭ Aerin suggested.
A smile touched the corners of the worry. тАЬOr for me.тАЭ
тАЬI will try to sulk less if you will try to worry less.тАЭ
Teka set the tray down on a table and began lifting napkins off of plates. тАЬTalat missed you today.тАЭ
тАЬHe told you so, of course.тАЭ TekaтАЩs fear of anything larger than the smallest pony, and therefore the
fact that she gave a very wide berth to the stables and pastures beyond them, was well known to Aerin.
тАЬIтАЩll go down after dark.тАЭ She turned back to the window. There were more comings and goings across
the stretch of courtyard that her bedroom overlooked; she saw more messengers, and two men racing by
on foot in the uniform of the kingтАЩs army, with the red divisional slash on their left forearms which meant
they were members of the supply corps. Equipping the kingтАЩs company for its march west was
proceeding at a pace presently headlong and increasing toward panicky. Under normal circumstances
Aerin saw no one from her bedroom window but the occasional idling courtier.
Something on the tray rattled abruptly, and there was a sigh. тАЬAerinтАФтАЭ
тАЬWhatever youтАЩre going to say IтАЩve thought of already,тАЭ Aerin said without turning around.
Silence. Aerin finally looked round at Teka, standing with head and shoulders bowed, staring at the
tray. The plates were heavy earthenware, handsome and elegant, but easily replaced if Aerin managed to
break one, as she often did; and she had not the small Gift to mend them. She stared at the plates. Tor
had mended her breakages when she was a baby, but she was too proud to ask now she was far past
the age when she should have been able to fit the bits together, glower at them with the curious royal
Gifted look, and have them grow whole again. It did not now help her peace of mind or her temper either
that she had been an unusually large and awkward child who seemed able to break things simply by
being in the same room with them; as if fate, having denied her something that should have been her
birthright, wanted her never to forget it. Aerin was not a particularly clumsy young woman, but she was
by now so convinced of her lack of coordination that she still broke things occasionally out of sheer
dread.