"Sean Russell - The Swan's War 2 - Isle of Battle" - читать интересную книгу автора (Russell Sean)

The habitually blank face seemed suddenly overwhelmed by sadness. The sightless eyes
closed tightly, distorting the handsome face.тАЭ I shall take the other direction, " he said
very quietly.

"Toward Castle Renn├й?" Without thinking, the Prince held up his hand.тАЭ No. It is none of
my business where you go. Let me find my squire.тАЭ

In a few moments he was on his horse and accompanying Lord Carral across the bridge.
Among the onlookers, nobles of both Prince Michael's family and Lord Carral's waited. A
few guards remained among them, but no one saw anything odd in Prince Michael and
the father of the drowned girl crossing the bridge. It was thought that perhaps they went
to seek news on the other shore.

In a moment they had passed beyond the retinue of both families, and were on a
shadowed road, populated only by staggering stragglers. The pale light of stars and
moon shivered among the trees of the wood, and washed over the road as the wind
moved the branches.

"You needn't go farther than this," Lord Carral said.
"But it is late and you have only one unarmed servant to guard you.тАЭ
"That will be enough. After what I have lost this night, anyone may have my purse.тАЭ
They drew their horses up in a patch of clear moonlight, and just as they did so, the
drumming of galloping horses reached them. Six riders appeared out of the shadow.
Prince Michael thought they would be Hafydd's guards sent to retrieve Lord Carral, but
they were neither knights in black nor retainers of the Wills family or of his father.
The riders thundered by, spraying them with detritus and sand.
"They wore Renn├й blue, I think,тАЭ Prince Michael said.тАЭ Though why in such a hurry I
cannot guess.тАЭ He found the riders' sudden appearance unsettling.
For a moment Lord Carral said nothing, then unexpectedly, "You tried, Prince Michael.
We all tried, but we failed her...." Again the minstrel shut his eyes tight, squeezing back
the tears.тАЭ Don't blame yourself," he said after a moment.тАЭ Hafydd is formidable.тАЭ
"But what will you do now?" the prince blurted out.
"Better you not ask, " Carral said, then softly to his servant, "Take me on.тАЭ
Prince Michael sat on his mount for a moment watching the famed minstrel disappear
into the shadows of the trees. Carral's gray was a pale mass in the dark, as though the
nobleman rode a cloud, and then it too was gone. The Prince spurred his horse and
turned back the way he'd come.
At the bridgehead he found one of his father's knights, torch in hand.тАЭ Who were those
riders who sped by?" Prince Michael asked.
"Did you not hear?" the man said.тАЭ Arden Renn├й is dead: killed by an assassin's arrow
this very night.тАЭ
12



A strand of mist snaked along the valley bottom, curling in the moonlight. Tarn and the
others crossed an open meadow, which tumbled down toward the river. Below them
dark trees stood silhouetted against the haze. They were back in the land between the
mountains, their scheme to bring an end to Hafydd, in ruinsтАФ Alaan on the run, chased
by Hafydd's minions.