"Nancy Springer - Chains Of Gold" - читать интересную книгу автора (Springer Nancy)

тАЬI have said that I will not be dishonored.тАЭ He spoke softly, and his gaze was on me, softly. тАЬNo one will
call me coward. But it is hardтАжтАЭ

тАЬAt once. Go.тАЭ Lonn stepped into the stall, took the blood-red Bayard by its tether, and brought it
around. For the first time I looked at the steed rather than at the winterking, and a tingling shock went
through me; the animal was alive with loveliness in the same odd way that Arlen was, every hair of its
mane tossing on its crest, its eyes deep and feral and gold-flecked, fiery dapplings shimmering on its
flanks. I wondered if magic had somehow touched me as well, if in a polished shield I could have seen it.

Arlen looked at me, at the horse. He shook his head, his hair leaping like sunflame. тАЬI must stay,тАЭ he
said, and though the pitch of his voice was low I knew there would be no disputing with him. Lonn must
have known it as well, for he turned to me.

тАЬLady Cerilla,тАЭ he urged, тАЬmount the steed. It will carry you across the water. After that, ride where you
will.тАЭ

I looked only at Arlen then, not at the horse. He answered my look without speaking.

тАЬLady,тАЭ Lonn begged.

тАЬI will stay,тАЭ I said.

He fell to his knees before me.

тАЬIf you are his friend,тАЭ I flared, тАЬdo not beseech me to go from him. I will stay to offer him what comfort
I can. Before he dies.тАЭ

Lonn stared up at me, and I glared back at him, and hope died in his eyes. тАЬI have been his friend since
we were babes,тАЭ he muttered at last, and he got up and led the horse away.

тАЬYour feet,тАЭ Arlen said to me. тАЬThey are as blue as river pearls.тАЭ

He gathered me up in his arms to spare me from walking any farther in the snow. Out into the dark and
cold and snow and wind we went, his cloak and my blanket flapping about me, Lonn following us across
the wide weed-grown courtyard with the lantern, his head bowed against the wind. But Arlen strode
through the storm as if he had been born to it. Hold of the goddess bulked dimly before us, half ruinous,
parapets showing jaggedly, like broken teeth, against the sky. We found a narrow entry. A dark passage
led steeply downward from it, as if into the fundament of the fortress. Lonn unshielded his lantern, and
after a moment we came out into a warm and cavernous room.

It was the kitchen, the great womb of the castle, deserted at this time of night. Arlen carried me across it
and set me down on the immense hearth. Embers still glowed in the blackness of the gaping fireplace, and
the brick of the hearth had retained the heat of the dayтАЩs flames; I felt myself smiling because of the
warmth. Arlen settled himself by me and rubbed my feet with his hands, his touch as warm as the hearth.
Lonn stood his lantern on the table and found three earthenware cups, filled them with perry and spices,
and set the poker in the embers to heat for mulling them. Then silently he sat down on the floor by Arlen
and me.

We talked of inconsequential things: the perry, and had it been a favorable season for fruits and liquors?
The snow, and would it turn into a veritable winter storm? The talk, however trivial, seemed honey