"Patricia C. Wrede - Lyra 02 - The Raven Ring" - читать интересную книгу автора (Wrede Patricia C)

children. The silence was every bit as bad as Gralith had expected it to be. After a moment he could not
stand it, and to break it he said, "The Imperial Guard will send her wages on to you in a month or two,
when the passes are clear enough for caravans."

"What happened?" Eleret's father said in a gruff voice.

"There was a skirmish on the western border near Kesandir," Gralith said. "Freelady Salven was
wounded in the battle, and died a few days later. I'm sorry I don't have any more details."

"Damn it, I told her to duck!" He turned his head away once more, and Gralith heard him whisper,
"Ah, mihaya," to the shadows beside the wall.

Gralith looked away, pretending not to hear. On the other side of the room, the younger girl laid a
half-feathered arrow on the table with unnatural precision. Then, with the same slow carefulness, she
reached over and took her brother's hand tightly in her own. Beside them, Eleret shook her head as if to
clear it.

"Now what?" she asked in a quiet voice that was not quite steady. "I mean, what happens next with
the Guards andтАФ and everything."

"They'll deliver Freelady Salven's pay to you, as I said,"

Gralith told her. "That's all." He paused. "If you'd like, I can send a message to our school in
Ciaron, and they'll see that the Guards bring you her personal belongings along with the money."

"No," Eleret said. "IтАФ No. Ma wouldn't have liked strangers going through her things, more than
was needed. I'll go and get them."

"That ought to be for me to do," Eleret's father said.

"Well, you can't, not with your leg and your head and all," Eleret replied, her voice strengthening as
she spoke. "I can handle it, Pa."

"Tamm couldn't."

The girl at the table raised her head. "Eleret won't be in the army, Pa. And somebody should go."

"The Imperial Guard will send you your mother's things," Gralith said, a little taken aback by this
unexpected development. "There's no need for any of you to go to Ciaron to get them."

"Maybe you don't think so," Eleret said, "but we do."

"If this Guard of yours is so willing to help, why didn't they send Tamm's things along with the
news?" her father added.

"Climeral could only send a brief message," Gralith said. "It would take a circle of Adepts to
actually transport an object." Then, seeing their blank expressions, he asked, "I'm sorry; did you think the
news came by messenger?"

"Oh," Eleret said. "But you told us Ma died three weeks ago."