"Elizabeth Moon - Paksenarrion 1 - The Sheepfarmer's Daughter" - читать интересную книгу автора (Moon Elizabeth)

Elizabeth Moon - The Deed of Paksenarrion [vol 1] Sheepfarmer's Daughter


Stammel a final wink and leer.
"Now then," said Stammel. "I'm Sergeant Stammel, as
you may have gathered. We usually leave a town at noon;
all the rest of the recruits are at The Golden Pig and have
eaten. But you need something in your stomach, and a
rest before we march. So we'll wait a bit. From here on,
you're a recruit, remember. That means you say 'yes, sir'
and 'no, sir' to any of us but other recruits, and you do
what you're told with no arguing. Clear?"
"Yes, sir," said Paksenarrion
An hour later, seated by a window, Paksenarrion looked
curiously at the other recruits lounging in the courtyard of
The Golden Pig. Only two were taller than she: a husky
youth with tousled yellow hair, and a skinny black-
bearded man whose left arm had a tattooed design on it.
The shortest was a wiry redheaded boy with an impudent
nose and a stained green velvet shirt. She spotted two
other women, sitting together on the steps. None had
weapons except a dagger for eating, but the black-bearded
man wore a sword-belt. Mostly the recruits looked like
farm boys and prentices, with a few puffy-faced men
beyond her experience. Only the men-at-arms and the
recruiting sergeant were in uniform. The others wore the
clothes in which they'd joined. She finished the sandwich
in her hand and started another; Stammel had told her to
eat hearty and take her time. She had downed four
sandwiches when Stammel came in again.

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Elizabeth Moon - The Deed of Paksenarrion [vol 1] Sheepfarmer's Daughter


"You look better," he remarked. "Is there a short form of
that name of yours?"
Paksenarrion had been thinking about that. She never
wanted to hear her father's Pakse again. Her great-aunt,
for whom she was named, had been called Enarra, but she
didn't like that, either. She had finally decided on a form
she thought she could live with.
"Yes, sir," she said. 'Just call me Paks, if you wish." "All
right, Paks тАФ ready to march?" "Yes, sir."
"Come on, then." Stammel led the way to the inn
courtyard. The other recruits stared as she came down the
steps. "This is Paks," he said. "She'll march in Coben's
file today, Corporal Bosk."
"Very good, sir. All right, recruits: form up." The other
recruits shuffled into four lines of five persons each,