"Janny Wurts - The Cycle of Fire1 - Stormwarden" - читать интересную книгу автора (Wurts Janny)

Anskiere's gaze shifted to include Emien, and lingered. The boy broke into sweat despite Tathagres'
presence. Chills prick-led his skin, for that searching look seemed to weigh the balance of his very soul.

"Mistress," said the Stormwarden, "should you gain entry to Elrinfaer, you will be doomed."

Tathagres tossed her hair, and ornaments and amethysts flashed in the sunlight. "Your threats mean
nothing. If I win access to the seat of your powers, Cloud-shifter, the ruin shall be yours."

Anskiere ran lean fingers over his staff. "Your plan is flawed. Elrinfaer does not, nor ever did, contain the
foundation of my power. For that you must search elsewhere."

"If the keys of Elrinfaer fail me, I will," Tathagres replied. She released Emien and addressed the captain
briskly. "Deliver the Stormwarden to the Kielmark. We sail the moment he is ashore."

The oarsmen leaned into their stroke, and the longboat sheared out ofCrow's shadow, water curling at
her bow. But Emien did not linger to watch Anskiere's departure. He left his place at the rail and bowed
before Tathagres.

"Lady, with the Stormwarden gone, will you permit me to fetch my sister from the hold?"

"The girl is a hostage, and valuable." Tathagres studied the boy's face as though assessing the set of his
jaw. Suddenly she smiled. "You may visit her. But wait until the longboat returns, andCrow is back
underway."

Speechless with gratitude, Emien bowed again. When he rose, Tathagres had gone, and shouted orders
from the captain dispersed the crowd at the rails. Yet despite the bustle of ac-tivity, the interval before
the longboat arrived passed slowly. Emien paced from the rail to hatch grating, consumed by
im-patience. The moment the deckhands threaded pins into the capstan, he bolted for the hold.

He stood, blinking in darkness, and the clank of chain through the hawse reverberated painfully in his
ears as the anchor rose from the seabed.

"Taen?"

Light flickered overhead. A guardsman descended with a lantern. Emien picked out the dim outlines of
baled cargo, and the flash of reflection from a pan of water. A rat raised luminous eyes and darted away
from a lump of sourdough biscuit nearby.

Emien shivered. "Taen?" The sight of abandoned food left an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach.
Raised plainly, the girl was not one to waste. Nothing moved in the shadows. Emien glanced up at the
guard. "She's not here."

"Impossible." The man wheezed, stepped off the bottom rung, and swung the lantern onto a hook in the
beam overhead. With a final clang the anchor settled and the echoes faded.

"She didn't eat." Emien's voice sounded loud in the sudden stillness.

"No?" The guard glanced at the bread and sighed. "She's probably hiding. But she won't have gotten far.
Her hands were tied."