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

"You'll want a blanket for the boy; it's chilly on the hills in these parts."

The boy ate like a pig. Which is to say, he ate everything they put in front of him,
and he ate it in a way calculated to leave the most food on his clothes. The
innkeeper's wifeтАФa woman, and a mother, who therefore thought of these thingsтАФ
had seen fit to pack him extra clothing; Kayla was grateful for it.
She did not let the boy leave her, and he did not wander farther than her hand
could reach. But his ordeal had left him easily tired, and he slept frequently, his
back against her chest, her arms on either side of his upright body to stop him from
plunging the distance between Darius' back and the forest floor.
"Is it true, Darius?"
:Yes. In the capital, where there are so many more people, many have died from
the...ailment. They cannot feed themselves, and if they fall in the streets before the
Heralds or the Kings' men find them, they're often robbed and left for dead.:
"How long has this been happening?"
Darius was silent.
 "Darius, I think I've figured out why you came to Riverend by now. How does
my ignorance serve your purpose? Tell me. If I'm to help, I need to know."
:I would tell you everything in a minute, but there are oaths you must swear, and
vows you must undertake, before you become Herald; and if you are Herald, there
is no information with which you cannot be trusted.:
She knew when she heard his words that she suddenly didn't want that much
trust.
Daniel chattered as they rode. And he helped with the food that was meant for
Darius; helped with the blankets that were meant to keep him warm in the night.
But he helped in a way that he didn't understand, for he would not sleep without
Kayla's arms around him. She held him.
When the nightmares came that night, they were subtly different. The beast that
roared with the voice of a thousandтАФtens of thousandsтАФof screams, had eyes that
were focused. Its flight was lazy, the circles it drew in the night sky slow and
deliberate.
He was searching, Kayla realized. For her. For the child she had taken from him.
She did not scream. She wanted to, but she knew what it would cost the boy, and
she kept it to herself.
And because of that, she reached the capital, and the Herald's Collegium, before
sun's full height the next day.
The Kings' guards bowed quietly as Darius approached the main gates, and
although it was evident that they were curious, they merely welcomed him home.
:They are usually more friendly,: Darius said apologetically, :but things in the
Collegium have been dark for many months. IтАФ Come, Kayla. Here is a woman
you must see.:
A Herald?
:Yes. She is the King's Own, second only to the King in authority, and she is
beloved of the Heralds. I should warn you, though that it is not for the quickness or
sharpness of her tongue that she is loved.:

Kayla learned this almost instantly. A Herald met her at the front doors to the
dauntingly huge building; he bowed to Darius. "So you've brought her," he said.
"Finally."
"Yes," Kayla replied, although the words had clearly not been directed at her.