"Douglass, Sara - Axis Trilogy 1 - Battleaxe" - читать интересную книгу автора (Douglass Sara)

And yet how strange that you wanted to save them from Hagen. How does that serve the Seneschal?
Axis panted for breath as he drew closer to the Forbidden Valley. Could he admit to himself that his guilt at earlier trying to save the Avar man and child now drove him desperately to catch the runaways? Before they had not killed, he told himself angrily, now they have.
Was it the Avar who killed or was it the Nors woman?
She killed for them. She killed to help them. And in accepting her offer of help they became accomplices in the murder of a Brother of the Seneschal. His blood stains their hands equally. I am doing the right thing, Axis told himself fiercely.
And how can you blame the man for taking the child and running, Axis Rivkahson, when the Seneschal was preparing to burn him today? What threat does he pose to the Seneschal, to Achar, that he should be burned?
He is one of the Forbidden! They are both of the Forbidden! I cannot betray the Seneschal's trust in me. Now Axis' lungs were beginning to burn with the effort of pulling in as much air as he could manage, and still it wasn't enough.
Remember how you found them, Axis, torn and filthy and denuded of all their self-respect. Did you see threat in the man's eyes when he looked into yours? He trusted you with the child. Let them go.
No! Axis kept forcing the sight of Belial's assaulted form lying senseless on the floor into his mind.
Raum could move far and fast, but not with the child and Azhure to slow him down. They had moved well to begin with, but the child started to fret soon after they had left the village and Azhure's ribs pained her so badly she could hardly run. Raum tried to remain calm, but he had visions of the Smyrton villagers hunting them down when they were within shouting distance of the Avarinheim. He carried the child and tried to hurry Azhure along as fast as she could go. Dawn was not far off, and he did not want to be caught out in the open after the sun had risen.
They entered the Forbidden Valley just as the sky was beginning to lighten towards dawn. Azhure gripped her side, her chest heaving as she fought for breath, forcing each leg forward despite the sharp spike of agony which shot up her side. She began to wonder if somehow Hagen's spirit was revenging itself on her for his murder. Ahead of her the Avar man still moved smoothly, gripping the girl to his hip. Even with the injuries that the sharp iron spikes of the villagers had inflicted on him, he had hidden reserves of strength. Azhure knew that he could have been deep within the Avarinheim by now if it hadn't been for her.
They were close to the Nordra now as it escaped the Shadowsward through the narrow valley. The River Nordra roared and leaped dangerously as it flowed through the narrow confines of the chasm of the Forbidden Valley, and Raum and Azhure had to slow down on the slippery and dangerous path that ran beside the river and the rocky chasm walls. There was barely enough room for their feet on the narrow and treacherous path, and Azhure's heart rose into her mouth every time she saw the Avar man's foot slip, or felt her own feet threaten to give way on the slippery, rocky surface. Only a pace below the path the waters of the Nordra roared, ready to consume them should they topple in.
After what seemed like an eternity of treading carefully, her clothes soaked through to the skin by the spray and mist that rose from the turbulent water, Azhure saw the Avar man pause.
"Look!" he shouted, trying to make himself heard above the roar of the river, "ahead lies the Avarinheim. We are almost home!"
Azhure peered ahead. The valley started to broaden some fifty or so paces ahead, and she thought she could see the darkness of close trees. They were almost safe! She turned her eyes back to the Avar man, relieved, but his eyes were now focused on something behind her and his expression was one of horror. Azhure turned around, almost losing her balance. The BattleAxe was close behind them, a bare twenty paces, his face set in determined anger.
Raum grabbed Azhure's shoulder and pushed Shra into her arms. "Get ahead of me," he said urgently. "Walk as fast as you dare. The path is wider and less wet just ahead. When you can run, run. Get the child into the Avarinheim. I can hold him back here."
Azhure started to protest, but Raum pushed her roughly past him. "Go!" he said fiercely, and Azhure tore her eyes away from the BattleAxe and moved as quickly as she could along the slippery path. She could feel the Avar man following her. Her breath came in terrified gasps. The BattleAxe, no matter what he might have thought of Hagen personally, would never let his murderer walk free. And Belial . . .? He would be even less likely to forgive the murder of Belial than that of Hagen.
Azhure berated herself as she strode out. The footing was firmer now, the river bending away to her left, and the Avarinheim was no more than twenty paces ahead. They were going to make it after all! The Avar would protect them as soon as they were behind the tree-line. The figure of a woman stepped a pace or two out of the trees, holding out her arms for the child. Azhure's heart leaped inside her chest — it was GoldFeather! The woman's silver hair burned brightly in the first rays of the sun as it rose above the walls of the chasm. They were safe!
And then everything went wrong. Azhure suddenly heard a shocked intake of breath and a sickening thud and crack some ten paces behind her. She whipped around, almost falling herself. The Avar man had hung back, trying to give her and the child time to reach the Avarinheim before the BattleAxe reached them. But, just as the BattleAxe had closed in on him, the Avar man had twisted his foot and slipped on what had to be the last remaining wet patch of path. He had fallen awkwardly, and Azhure saw by the white and pinched line of his mouth that he had hurt himself badly.
Without thinking Azhure started to scramble back towards him, forgetting even the child in her arms. Perhaps all it would take was to get the man on his feet again and they could still outrun the BattleAxe.
But it was too late, far too late. His sword drawn, the BattleAxe had reached the downed Avar man in two strides, and Azhure was now close enough to see that his left ankle lay bent and broken, the wicked gleam of white bone breaking the surface of his dark skin. "Ah, no," Azhure moaned, and she would have run to him had GoldFeather not stepped up behind her and grabbed her shoulders.
"Azhure! No!" she cried sharply, her own eyes riveted by the scene before them.
Raum lay on the ground, Axis' booted foot on his chest, his sword pressed so hard against the Avar man's windpipe that the tip had broken the skin and a little trickle of blood had trailed down his neck. Both men heaved to catch their breath.
"Well," Axis panted between breaths, his eyes derisive as he stared at Azhure, "you've managed to surpass your mother's efforts quite nicely, haven't you, Azhure? Murdering your father and running off with one of the Forbidden far outclasses a simple midnight flit with a pedlar. And Belial . . ."
"Let him go," Azhure said urgently, her voice strained, her eyes intent on Raum as he lay fixed by the point of Axis' sword. "I truly didn't mean to kill Belial."
"You killed your father," Axis said shortly, "Belial still breathes."
"Ah," Azhure's voice regained some of its strength. She straightened her shoulders, lifting her eyes to meet Axis' hostile stare. "I'm glad chat Belial lives, BattleAxe. Will you apologise to him for me?"
"Azhure," Raum whispered, twisting his head as far as he dared with Axis' sword to his throat. "Take the child and run. You can get her to safety. Leave me." His chest heaved for a few more breaths as he fought to conquer the agony that flared up his leg, and then he spoke to Axis. "You will let them go, BattleAxe. You did not recreate Shra's life to kill her now."
"He's right," the tall woman standing behind Azhure said, her voice calm and level. "Go now. Go on," as Azhure hesitated, her eyes still fixed on Raum as he lay under Axis' sword. "Go now. Take little Shra and go. Quickly! Her father waits. Run, Azhure!"
Azhure jumped at the command in GoldFeather's voice. Without another word or glance she turned and walked quickly into the forest, disappearing from sight within a stride or two of reaching the densely packed trees.
GoldFeather walked closer slowly, very, very slowly. She did not want to startle the BattleAxe into sliding the point of that sword through Raum's throat the moment he felt threatened. She stopped a few paces away. The man stared at her and his black uniform, the twin crossed axes, brought memories flooding back into GoldFeather's mind. It had been so long since she had seen one of the Axe-Wielders, and now here stood the BattleAxe himself, his foot and sword dishonouring one of the most powerful Banes the Avar people had trained for many generations. The man was young; what was the Brother-Leader thinking of appointing one so young to such an important position? Her eyes flickered over O his face for a moment. But she was too concerned about Raum to look too closely.
GoldFeather bowed as graciously as her mother had taught her as a child. "BattleAxe, may Artor hold you in the palm of his hand and guide your steps always."
Axis frowned at the woman. She was a handsome woman of middle-age, and had a striking golden streak through her silver hair. Her manner was courtly and her voice gracious, her grey eyes calm and her demeanour composed even as she faced a man who could kill her with a single twist of his sword. What was such a woman doing running with the Forbidden?
"I would return the blessing," he said flatly, "except that Artor would surely have deserted any woman who runs with the Forbidden many years ago."
The woman's eyes hardened at his tone. The Axe-Wielders always thought they knew everything, and this BattleAxe seemed more arrogant than the one she had known in her youth. Why hadn't he killed Raum? Why was he hesitating?
"Does Artor demand Raum's life?" she asked softly, deliberately giving the BattleAxe the Avar man's name. It was always harder to kill a man whose name you knew than a complete stranger. "What has Raum done to deserve to die at the point of your sword?" Axis' face tightened, and GoldFeather could see that doubts did indeed beset him. "I do not know all of what has passed this night, but Azhure's words make me think that any violence was done at her hands. Do not murder this man to atone for her wrongs."
"I am the BattleAxe of the Brotherhood of the Seneschal. I have a duty to serve the Seneschal," Axis said, but his tone suggested that he needed to convince himself more than he needed to convince either GoldFeather or Raum.
"No," GoldFeather said very softly. "You need do only what your heart tells you is right. Not what the Seneschal has taught you must be done. Your duty should always be to do what you feel is right." She paused. "Does it feel right to hold that blade to Raum's neck, an honoured and honourable man among his own people, when he has done you and yours no wrong?"
Her words provoked a strange reaction in the BattleAxe. He winced at her last phrase.
"But who are mine? Who are my people?" Axis whispered, his eyes swivelling back to Raum.
GoldFeather frowned. What was he whispering? The BattleAxe raised his head and looked back at her. His eyes were tormented. "Lady, do you know of the Icarii?"
She nodded slowly, surprised by the question, troubled by the expression on the BattleAxe's face. "I know them well."
"Then answer me this. Do they sing?"
GoldFeather's eyes deepened with memory and she smiled. "Yes," she said. "They sing magically. It is their gift to this land and to the stars. All Icarii sing, music courses through their blood, but their Enchanters sing with the power and the grace of the stars themselves."
The BattleAxe s face twisted with emotion. GoldFeather stepped forward to place a hand on his arm. But he flinched and tightened his grip on the hilt of the sword and she paused instantly, her hand left hanging in the air.
"Who am ?" he whispered in a tormented voice. "Whaiymir GoldFeather opened her mouth, but did not know what to say to comfort him. Axis stared at her a moment longer, then abruptly he stepped back from Raum and, lifting the sword from Raum's neck, jabbed the point of the blade into the dirt, leaning on it heavily.
"Go, Raum," he said, his voice now tired and colourless. "I have no right to hold you. Go now."
Raum rose slowly from the ground, his neck bloody and his face ashen from the pain of his shattered ankle. GoldFeather bent down and helped him rise to his feet, taking most of his weight on her shoulder. They turned and started to hobble for the Avarinheim, but at the tree line Raum paused and turned back to the BattleAxe.
Axis was still standing, sword resting on the ground as he watched him, his face tired and drained of emotion, his eyes unreadable. Jack and Yr had told Raum of Faraday's love for this BattleAxe, and at the time Raum had been deeply troubled by it. He had questioned Jack and Yr closely about the BattleAxe, but they were reluctant to say anything about the man beyond that Faraday loved him. Since he had seen this man sing, seen him recreate Shra's life, Raum could understand why Faraday felt as she did. Raum was also deeply aware that he was twice indebted to this man for his and Shra's lives.
"For the gift of two lives I give you one life back," Raum called, his voice clear above the roar of the river, "and I 'will hold one to give you later." He paused. "Faraday lives," Then he turned and he and the woman disappeared into the trees of the Avarinheim.