"Elizabeth Vaughan - Chronicles Of The Warlands 01 - Warprize" - читать интересную книгу автора (Vaughan Elizabeth)

I looked to where her gnarled finger, held low behind the cart, pointed into the crowd. I looked up to see
Lord Durst riding by, with his son and heir, Degnan. They wore their usual haughty, sullen expressions.
No fear that they would recognize me in the press, but then my odd ways were an open secret. Xymund
usually said something when one of the nobility came for a visit. What were they doing here?

Kalisa had no doubts. тАЬCowards fled their lands for this safety. Left all behind, so I hear.тАЭ

I scowled at her. тАЬSuch talk could get you beaten, old woman.тАЭ

She snorted. тАЬEveryoneтАЩs saying that XymundтАЩs not the warrior your father was, and rightly so if rumor is
true, that heтАЩs a bastтАФтАЭ I frowned at her and she broke off her words. тАЬNever mind. IтАЩve enough cheese
to fill my cart tomorrow, but after that IтАЩve none to sell.тАЭ She shook her head at my questioning look. тАЬ
Anser and Mya have fled with the herds, and IтАЩve no milk to work. Talk is that with those heathens
outside, the harvest is thin and food will be scarce. They say that some merchants are already raising their
prices.тАЭ

I crammed the rest of the cheese into my mouth and dug for my pouch.
Kalisa waved me off. тАЬNever you mind, child. My thanks for that jar of joint cream you gave me. It
works well.тАЭ She held up her hands and flexed them.

I smiled, pleased to see that she had more movement in her fingers. тАЬI will bring you another jar, Kalisa. I
promise.тАЭ

тАЬIтАЩd rather you stayed safe in that castle. Off with you now. That grandson of mine will be along to get
me home soon enough.тАЭ She started to pack up her cart as I continued on, lost in my thoughts.

Lord Marshall Warren had seemed very confident of his ability to hold the warlordтАЩs men at bay. I had
no mind for tactics and troop movements, but Father had thought Warren an excellent general and had
every faith in him. Something must have gone wrong. That explained the mood of the city, with the enemy
at the very gates. I picked up my pace.

Before I knew it, the castle walls were before me, comfort-ing symbols of strength. The gate guards
called a greeting, well used to my routine at this point. Once through the gate, I turned down toward the
path that led into the overgrowth.

XymundтАЩs mother had been a great one for flowers and plants. SheтАЩd spent many hours directing the
gardeners in their work, creating elaborate pleasure gardens. That may be why the rumors had started,
that Xymund was a bastard, a result of an affair that his mother had. It didnтАЩt help that sheтАЩd come from a
distant kingdom to marry our father, since my people have a deep distrust of all things foreign. Father had
thought the potential alliance was worth facing their intolerance, but from the stories IтАЩd heard, it had not
been easy on him or the Queen.

Of course my father denied the rumors, acknowledged Xymund as his son and heir, and swore that he
was the spitting image of his grandfather, but the story never died. Older Xyians were quick to point out
that Xymund and his father looked nothing alike, a fact that stuck Xymund like a knife. Even after he was
acknowledged as heir, even after ascending the throne, it was a scab that he seemed to pick at
constantly.

XymundтАЩs mother had passed and my mother, youngest daughter of a Xyian lord, had no interest in the