"Andre Norton & Lackey, Mercedes - Elvenbane 3 - Elvenborn" - читать интересную книгу автора (Norton Andre)

And further pleasure. Between the two of them, he and Tri-ana
would almost certainly find a way to bring his cousin Kyrt-ian
down.
He laughed softly; how his fortune had suddenly turned! This
might well turn out to be the victory celebration he had hoped
for.
His appetite suddenly aroused, he reached for the nearest
wine-wench to satisfy his needs of the moment.
Poor Kyrtian. He had no notion even that he had an enemy,
much less how formidable that enemy was.

2


One did not normally see an Elvenlord smudged with dirt, twig-
scratched, and rather the worse for several hours of tramping
through untamed forest. I wonder how much scandal I would
cause if even one of the Great Lords saw me in this state?
Kyrtian mused, as he held aside an errant limb of a bush, taking
care that it did not rattle, and making certain the human behind
him had a firm grip on it before he released it. It was impossible
to see the man's expression behind his helm, but the fellow
sketched a respectful salute with his free hand. Ah well;
knowing my reputation, they would probably not be at all
surprised.
Kyrtian V'dyll Lord Prastaran led his skirmishing band of lightly
armed humans in person; very few Elvenlords would ever have
put themselves in that inferior and vulnerable a position.
Especially now, with humans, halfblooded Wizards and younger
Elvenlords all in revolt against the Great Lords, the mere notion
of leading a group alone, without the presence of a fully collar-
controlled and loyalty-spelled bodyguard, was something that
would never occur to most of them.
Kyrtian cared nothing for their opinions, since little secret was
made of the fact that they cared nothing for his. His reputation
was as eccentric as his hobby, and that was the way he
preferred things. His Grandfather had eschewed politics when
the Great Lords disdained his advice; by now, staying out of
politics was something of a family tradition, and Kyrtian was
quite prepared to continue that tradition.
At this moment, as always when on maneuvers, all of his
attention was focused on his battle-strategies and his
surroundings, to the exclusion of everything else. His initial
battle-plan was so vague that at this point he was rather
recklessly making decisions moment by moment. He suspected
that his opponent was counting on that, assuming that Kyrtian's
well-known caution would also make him inflexible. It was a
reasonable assumption; Kyrtian just hoped that he could prove
that it was an incorrect one. That was the point of this exercise,
after all. This was the first time he had ever met an opponent in