"Andre Norton & Lackey, Mercedes - Elvenbane 1 -The Elvenbane" - читать интересную книгу автора (Norton Andre)

The Elvenbane

By

Andre Norton and Mercedes Lackey




Chapter 1

SERINA DAETH. I am--Serina Daeth. Serina clung to her name as the only
thing she was still certain of, the only thing the sun could not burn away
from her. The sun--it was high overhead now, beating down upon her,
trying to evaporate her.

Hot--she'd never been so hot. It was hard to think, hard to remember that she
must keep moving. She couldn't see her feet under the swollen ball of her
belly--she felt them, though, every step an agony. But it would be worse if
she stopped.
Her throat and mouth were so dry; there was nothing left from the dew she'd
drunk this morning, lapping it off the rocks like an animal.

I am Serina Daeth. I am--

Ah, gods, that it should come to this.

A few months ago she had been Lord Dyran's favorite. A few days ago she
had hopes of hiding her pregnancy until the damned brat was delivered. She
had planned to get rid of it, then return to the harem to give that bitch Leyda
Shaybrel exactly what she deserved. She couldn't have told Lord Dyran what
Leyda had done to her, but she could have found some way to bring her
down. Leyda had enemies; all the women of the harem had enemies. It was
just a matter of making common cause until Leyda was ousted...

But Dyran returned from Council unexpectedly, and Leyda was waiting...

I will live, I will return, and I will find a way to make her suffer--

Lord Dyran had found their rivalry amusing, and encouraged it, by
promising Leyda any number of things, but keeping Serina in the number-
one position. When Leyda failed to oust Serina as favorite, and realized that
Lord Dyran had no intention of replacing Serina, she had not given" up.
Undoubtedly she had turned to sabotage.

She must have. How else could I have conceived?

She must have substituted all of Serina's food for a month with that intended
for the elves. That had been several months ago, just before Lord Dyran went
off to Council--