"Irene Radford - Draconis Ex Machina" - читать интересную книгу автора (Radford Irene)

DRAGONIS EX MACHINA
Irene Radford


"WE go on foot from here, Prince Darville," Lord Krej, my father's cousin, announc
to me. A placid smile creased his broad face but did not reach his deep blue eyes.
He maintained the masked expression he wore at court.
Gratefully, I dismounted. After three days on steed back, hunting a rogue spotted saber
I needed to feel the Kardia beneath my feet for a time.
Eliminating an animal that had developed a taste for human flesh did not necessarily fa
the Crown Prince and the First Lord of the Council of Provinces. But I had taken Krej up on
offer of adventure for many reasons.
Our six guards dismounted with me. We'd left behind the pack of nobles and retaine
day and a half ago. Knowing Krej's need to preen before an audience made that deci
suspect.
I left the heavily jeweled ceremonial sword my father insisted I carry as suitable to a
of my station in the saddle sheath. For this adventure I wanted something sturdier, stronger,
keener. Krej had too many secrets to trust him with only a useless weapon in my hand.
Instead, I belted on a serviceable blade I'd purloined from the palace armory.
"You three remain with the steeds," Krej ordered the guards. "Make camp."
They set about their business with unquestioning efficiency.
I needed to know what my cousin plotted. He'd not reveal himself in front of men swo
my father. For that reason alone I did not question why the horses needed more than
guard, two at the most.
"You other three." Krej pointed to the remaining guards.
"Rest your steeds an hour, then return to the rest of the party. Send them home or b
them here. Whatever they choose." He shrugged as if disgusted with the lack of stam
among his cronies.
I suspected the nobles who had ridden out with us from the capital felt more loyalty to
than to me and my father. Possibly more loyalty to my cousin than to the kingdom of Coronn
Why else had they feasted on Krej's bounty the last night we were all together? Krej
wounded the deer, then run it nearly to death. While it lay panting in terror, he had cu
living heart out of it. His mad laughter as he performed the hideous deed still haunted me.
I'd caught a whiff of something strange in those terrible moments. Something worse
the smell of fear and sweat and blood and offal.
What?
I had not eaten any of the deer that night. But the nobles had. Nearly all of them had
sluggish and sick the next day. We left them behind.
Only Krej and I remained to hunt the elusive spotted saber cat. Reputedly, the beast
savaged one of Krej's villages, killing a child. I added a stout dagger to my sword belt.
Whether out of fear of the cat or of Krej, I could not tell at that moment.
While my steed stood between me and Krej, I checked my boot knives and the blade
the wrist sheaths.
 The gang of city boys I had run with as an adolescent had taught me to fight for surviv
needed to wade into this fray with intent rather than honor. Rumors in the capital claimed
Krej knew nothing of honor in any of his dealings.
I slung a pack of provisions over my shoulder and stepped toward the path Krej indica
"We won't be gone long enough to need those," Krej said, pointing to my pack. He sm
again. His teeth gleamed in the winter sunlight like the predatory animal we hunted.
"The cat is that close?" I asked. The tracks we'd been following for days did not look f