"Michelle West - Winter Death" - читать интересную книгу автора (West Michelle)

"But you were. You have tears on your face."
She could not dry them; both of her hands were occupied with his scant weight.
But she turned to the priest who was watching in utter silence.
"You can breathe now," she said.
The priest's eyes were wide. "Herald," he said again, and this time she did not
correct him, "can you reach the others?"
"IтАФ"
:No.:
She frowned. It was Darius' voice. :DariusтАФwhy?:
:You are exhausted, Kayla. You are light-headed. You will put yourself at grave
risk if you attempt to proceed. These people have lain immobile for some weeks,
and the townspeople are decent; they will care for them.
:But if we do not reach the capital before he finds you, they will have no way
back:
:Before who finds me?:
Darius was silent.
She drew the boy up in her arms, into a hug; her arms were as gentle as she could
make them in a grip so tight. She felt his bony chin in the hollow between her neck
and her shoulder, and the weight of it, resting there, was everything she desired for
that moment.
But this is how she had quieted her sorrow; she had filled it with life, small life,
the immediacy of children.
"Where are his parents?" she asked the Priest.
"He has no parents. I am sorry. They passed away a year and a half ago in the
summer crippling plague."
"His family?"
"He was their only child. They were newly married. His grandmother is in the
town to the east. She is his only living relation; it is why he was hereтАФwhen it
happened."
She pulled the boy away from her chest and her neck; held him out so that she
could meet his serious, brown eyes. He was so damn thin. "Daniel," she said softly,
"my name is Kayla."
"I know."
"I am going to the capital. I am going to learn how to become aтАФa Herald."
He was too tired to look awed, and she loved him for it. Was afraid of that
emotion, because she knew it should not have come so quickly, so easily, for a
stranger.
 "But I don't want to leave you here, alone. I dream of the dragon. I have always
dreamed of the dragon; he hunts me in my sleep. But he has never caught me,
never once. If you wantтАФif you would likeтАФyou can come with me."
:Kayla, that is not allowedтАФ:
:I don't give a damn.:
The boy slid his arms around her neck and held her tightly, and that was his
entire answer. She turned to the priest, a mixture of defiance and possessiveness
lending strength to the soft lines of her face. "I cannot help them all," she said
quietly. "Not yet. But I promise, if it is in my power, that I will."
And wondered what the word of an Oathbreaker was worth.
Looked at the child's head, his messy hair, the wax in his ears that hadn't been
cleaned out by whoever had been attending him.
And knew that the word was everything. Mother, forgive me. Forgive me. I will