"Stasheff, Christopher - Warlock 04 - The Warlock Enraged" - читать интересную книгу автора (Stasheff Christopher)

"Oh, no, they wouldn't," Rod said grimly. "They
wouldn't've dared touch the High Warlock!"

"AyeЧand all the land would have known we ride north."
She sighed. "I rejoice thou didst throttle thy temper."

22 Christopher Stasheff

"No, I didn't, and you know it! If you hadn't butted in
and taken over, raining thanks and praise on the forester,
as though you were a waterfall..."

Gwen shrugged. "'Twas naught but his due. A less kind
man would have beaten the child, and haled him off to his
knight's gaol."

Rod stared, appalled.

Gwen nodded. "Oh, aye, my lord. And the law allows
it. Nay, more; for this good warden who did find our son,
might be censured if his lord did know of his forbearance."

Rod shuddered. "I'm glad I let him go, then. But, my
lord! It's not as though the boy'd been trying to bring down
a deer! All he was after was a rabbit!"

"Even so, the Forest Laws would say 'twas theft," Gwen
reminded him. "Every hare and gooseЧnay, each mouse
and sparrowЧdoth belong unto the manor's lord; and to
hunt them is to steal!"

"But how do these people live?" Rod cupped an empty
hand. "We didn't do badly today, for tinkersЧwe made a
penny and a half! But we had to spend the penny for a
chicken, and the half for bread! What would we live on, if
nobody broke a pot?"

"The law..." Gwen sighed.

"Well, it won't, for long." Rod curled the hand into a
fist. "I'm going to have a few words with Tuan, when we
get back to Runnymede!"

"Do," Gwen said softly, "and thou'lt have proved the
worth of this journey, even an we find naught wrong i' the
North."

"I'm afraid that's not very apt to happen." Mollified,
Rod watched her stare at the kindling. It burst into flame,
and he sighed, "I'd better see how the kids are coming along