"Sara Douglass - The Axis Trilogy 1 - BattleAxe" - читать интересную книгу автора (Douglass Sara)

preferred fawning at the kings feet to inspecting his northern garrison."
Gilbert's eyes glinted briefly. These two old men might think he was a
conceited fool, but he had good sources of information.
"Duke Borneheld returned to Ichtar during Flower-month and Rose-month,
Brother Moryson. Not only did he spend some weeks at Hsingard and Sigholt,
but he also travelled to the far north to speak with Magariz and the soldiers of
Gorkenfort to hear and see for himself what has been happening. Perhaps,
Brother Moryson, you were too busy counting the tithes as they came in to be
fully aware of events in the outside world."
"Gilbert!" The Brother-Leader's voice was rigid with rebuke, and Gilbert
inclined his head in a show of apology to Moryson. Moryson caught Jayme s eye
over Gilbert's bowed head and a sharp look passed between them. Gilbert would
receive a far stronger censure from his Brother-Leader when Jayme had him
alone.
"If I might continue, Brother-Leader," Gilbert said deferentially.
Jayme angrily jerked his head in assent, his age-spotted fingers almost white
where they gripped the armrests of his chair.
"Lord Magariz was able to retrieve some of the bodies of those he had lost.
It appears they had been . . . eaten. Chewed. Nibbled. Tasted." Gilbert's voice
was dry, demonstrating an unexpected flair for the macabre. "There are no
known animals in either northern Ichtar or Ravensbund that would attack, let
alone eat, a grown man in armour and defended with sword and spear."
"The great icebears, perhaps?" Jayme asked, his anger fading as his
perplexion grew. Occasionally stories filtered down about man-eating icebears in
the extreme north of Ravensbund.
"Gorkenfort is too far inland for the icebears, Brother-Leader. They would
either have to walk down the Gorken Pass for some sixty leagues or shortcut
across the lesser arm of the Icescarp Alps to reach it." He paused, reflecting.
"And icebears have no head for heights. No," Gilbert shook his head slowly, "I
fear the icebears are not responsible."
"Then perhaps the Ravensbundmen themselves," suggested Moryson.
Ravensbund was, theoretically, a province of Achar and under the administration
of the Duke of Ichtar on behalf of the King of Achar. But Ravensbund was such
an extraordinarily wild and barren place, inhabited by uncouth tribes who spent
nearly all their time hunting seals and great icebears in the extreme north, that
both the King of Achar, Priam, and his loyal liege, Duke Borneheld of Ichtar,
generally left the place to its own devices. Consequently, the garrison at
Gorkenfort was, to all intents and purposes, the northernmost point of effective
Acharite administration and military power in the kingdom. Although the
Ravensbundmen were not much trouble, most Acharites regarded them as little
more than barbaric savages.
"I don't think so, Brother Moryson. Apparently the Ravensbundmen have
suffered as badly, if not worse, than the garrison at Gorkenfort. Indeed, many of
the Ravensbund tribes are moving south into Ichtar. The tales they, tell are truly
terrible."
"And they are?" Jayme prompted, his fingers gently tapping his bearded chin
as he listened.
"Of the winter gone mad, and of the wind come alive. Of ice creatures all
but invisible to the eye inhabiting the wind and hungering for human flesh. They
say the only warning that comes before an attack is a whisper on the wind. Yet if