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

Darius had saddlebags. She knew, without looking, that they were full; full
enough for a long journey.
"Widow Davis," she said softly. "Can you do without me?"
The old woman had some mercy. "Aye," she said gruffly. "We did before your
mother came. We managed." She started to say something else, and then stopped.
"They must need you, Kayla, They must need you even more than we do."
Kayla said nothing.
Because she knew a lie when she heard it. What could they need from her that a
hundred other girls. couldn't give them? They had Heralds, full-trained; they had
soldiers, they had lords, ladies, Kings. They had so much.
And Riverend had so little.
"I'll be back," she whispered.
Widow Davis met her eyes, without blinking, and then to Kayla's astonishment,
the old woman stepped forward and wrapped arms around her shoulders. "Come
back, child," she said, although it had been years since she had called Kayla a
child. "Come back whole."
Kayla flinched. She felt her eyes sting. "Widow DavisтАФ"
"You've not come back to us with the spring. We missed your song in the winter.
It may be that you need what it is he offers; it may be he'll help you to sing for us
again."
Kayla buried her face in the old woman's shoulders.

Before lunch that day, she was on the road. Her neck was cramped; she'd done
nothing but gaze backward, over her shoulder, until not even the hills that were
home to Riverend could be seen in the distance. All of her life lay in that village, or
beneath it; all of the things she valued.
Promise me, Kayla, that you'll stay. Promise me that you'll take care of Riverend
when I'm gone.
I promise, Mother. But you won't be gone for a long time, will you?
Not if I have anything to say about it. Of course, she hadn't.

Riding was nothing like it had been in her dreams. It was hard work. And painful.
She could feel Darius' rueful smile. She could not see his face, of course.
"They need me, you know," she told him, the accusation soft.
:I am sorry, dear heart, but so do we.:
 "Why?"
:That I cannot tell you yet. But you will understand, I fear, as we approach the
city.:
"What city?"
:The King's city,: he told her quietly. :The capital. Or what's left of it.:
"What do you mean, Darius?"
Darius didn't answer.
"Are we at war?"
:We are always at war, Kayla. But the battlefields shift and change with time.:

He had to tell her what to do for him when they stopped by the Waystations left
for Herald use. She did not know how to brush him, water him, blanket him; was
not familiar with the food that he ate. Everything about the life beyond Riverend
was strange and unexpected.
But sleep was bad. Every night she spent away from the hold, she spent beneath