"R. Garcia y Robertson - Firebird" - читать интересную книгу автора (Robertson R Garcia Y)

He scoffed at her innocence. тАЬTell it to the Swiss. They were near unbeatable until I sided with them.тАЭ

By now dusk was settling outside the cave. Shafts of golden light slanted between the trees, slicing deep
into the forest. Having seen her knight fed and cared for, she needed to get back and cut grass for his
horse, then see to the WitchтАЩs supper, making the most of the long summer twilight. Sadly she took her
leave, fairly sure he would not wander off in the short night, and meaning to be back by morning. DтАЩRoye
declared himself devastated to see her go, cheering her immensely. She finally had her knight in armor.
Who cared if he was a foreigner, and somewhat the worse for wearтАФa footloose loser from some
far-off land?

Before returning to the Witch, she had one more thing to do. Cautiously she snuck up on the troll-bearтАЩs
lair, hoping her own scent would be hidden by the carrion stink. When she found the spot she sought, she
dug down into the deep forest loam, using the WitchтАЩs steel sickle. She glanced repeatedly over her
shoulder, uncomfortably aware that she had watched her knight dig in this exact spot without him
knowing it.

Setting aside the sickle, she dug the last few inches with her hands, not wanting to harm what lay hidden
in the hole. Finally she felt something soft and warm beneath her fingers. Brushing aside the last of the
dirt, she recognized the embroidered tapestry her knight had kept next to his armored breast.
Unwrapping the tapestry, she felt the smooth hard surface underneath, the warm, living FirebirdтАЩs Egg.

She folded the tapestry back over the Egg, then refilled the hole, happy her knight had not lied to her. He
claimed that as Castellan he would have known if Byeli Zamak held such a magical eggтАФand it did not.
But that was because he had escaped Byeli Zamak with it, and buried it here by the troll-bearтАЩs lair.
Being a born romancer, she took such truthful misdirection as a sign of true love.

==========

Prince Sergey

She meant to see her knight right after morning chores, before he could wander away from the caveтАФbut
the Bone Witch had a dozen things for her to do. For no apparent reason the Witch wanted the
swallowтАЩs nests taken from under the eves, and her pet rats turned loose, then her favorite fetishes hung
on branches in the Iron Wood. So many pointless tasks that she suspected the Witch of trying to keep
her from seeing DтАЩRoye. The Bone WitchтАЩs motives were as obscure as her methods.

The rats seemed happy to be set free, but the swallows complained bitterly, chattering shrilly and darting
at her head. It was useless to tell them that Witch ordered the mass removal. While she battled indignant
swallows, the Witch sat at her bone table writing on thin strips of Chinese paper in her little cramped
script. Tying these tiny messages to the feet of her carrier pigeons, the Witch released the pigeons one by
one, sending them off into the blue summer sky.

Katya asked what was so important that the Witch must tell the world. The Bone Witch shushed her.
тАЬBe patient. In time all comes clear.тАЭ

So the Witch always said. Katya returned to her tasks, working until the Bone Hut looked positively
bare. Since the day she arrived the chaos of her new home had fascinated herтАФfetishes decorating bone
rafters, swallows darting in and out, pigeons cooing in the eves, rats peering from wicker cages, all lit by
tulip-shaped paper lanterns. It took her mind off the terror of belonging to a witch. She fully expected to
be cooked and eaten, unless the Witch chose to have her raw. Soon Katya realized that she would have