"Sherwood Smith - Crown and Court Duet - 01 - Crown Duel" - читать интересную книгу автора (Smith Sherwood)

couldn't say the words.
Bran's chest heaved in a sob, and he pressed the heels of his palms to his eyes. His grief dissolved my
numbness, and I began to weep.

Bran opened his arms and I cast myself into them, and we stood there for a long time, crying together
while the cold wind swirled round us and the distant windharps of the Hill Folk hummed.

It was Bran who pulled away suddenly. He gripped my shoulders. "Mel, we have to keep that promise.
Both of us. But you don't knowтАФ" He shook his head and knuckled his eyes. "Together. I know I'm the
oldest, and Papa named me the heir, but I promise right now, we'll share the title. Half and half, you and
me, even if we disagreeтАФwhich I hope won't happen. All we have now is this old castle, and the
county's people to protectтАФand each other."

"I don't want to be a countess," I said, sniffling. "Look at me! Wearing a horse blanket and running about
with bare feet! I don't know the first thing about being a countess."

"You're not going to Court," Bran said. "You're going to war. And about that"тАФhe wincedтАФ"about that,
I think you know just about as much as I do."

"What do you mean?"

Bran looked quickly at Papa's body and then said, "I know it's stupid, but I don't feel right about telling
you these things up here. Let's stop the fires and go downstairs."

Each of us moved to one of the blazes and said the Words of Power over a Fire Stick. The fires
flickered out with a snap. I picked up my Stick, which was still warm; I wrapped my chilled fingers
around it and waited as Bran slowly, with a last glance at the still figure on the bed, picked his up.

"Have you been keeping secrets from Papa?" I asked, full of foreboding, as we started down the long
spiral.

"Had to." Bran took a deep, unsteady breath. "He aged ten years when Mama was killed, and every year
since, he's seemed to add another ten. Until this year. Of late each day seems to have added ten."

"Better tell me, then," I said.

"There's no way to make this easy," Bran warned as we reached the ground floor again. "First you should
know why Papa wanted us to go on the attack right away: Azmus has proof that the King, and his
cousin, plan to break the Covenant. It's a letter that Debegri wrote. It's full of fancy language, but what it
means is he's offering our colorwoods for sale outside our kingdom. For gold."

I sucked in a deep breath. "What about the Hill Folk? The woods are theirs! It's been that way for
centuries!"

Branaric shook his head slowly. "Not if Debegri gets his wayтАФand Azmus knows the King is behind this
scheme, because it was his messengers who were sent to carry the letter."

"But we haven't heard from those warrior captains we hiredтАФ"

"Now it's time for you to hear the secret I kept from Papa." Bran looked grim. "Those mercenaries from