"Raymond E. Feist - Wood Boy" - читать интересную книгу автора (Feist Raymond E)

was none. Most of them were gone on some mission or another, leaving only a
few in the outbuildings this week. Then Dirk's thoughts turned to the manor
house. 'Anika!' he said in a hoarse whisper.
He hurried through the pre-dawn gloom to the kitchen and found the door
open. He stared in mute horror at the carnage in the room. Everyone who slept
in the kitchen was as dead as those in the barn.
He hurried upstairs and, without knocking, entered Anika's room. Her bed lay
empty. He peered under it, afraid she might have crawled under it to die. Then
he realized there was no blood in the room-He got up and ran to her father's
room, and pushed open the door. Lord Paul lay in a sea of blood on his bed.
Dirk didn't need to see if he lived. Beside the bed a secret door was opened,
a door painted to look like a section of the wall. Dirk looked through the
door into the small hiding-place and realized here had been where his master
had kept his wealth. The invaders had demanded every gold, silver, and copper
coin held by those living in the occupied region, yet it was well documented
they had no concept of wealth on this planet. The servants had speculated that
Lord Paul had turned over only one part in three of his wealth and the rest
had remained hidden. Perhaps they had found he had hidden wealth and this was
their way of punishing everyone. If the Tsurani had gone on a rampage . . .
'No,' he said softly to himself. The Tsurani hanged those without honour.
The blade was for honourable foes. Whoever did the killing had moved with
stealth, as if afraid to raise an alarm and be overwhelmed, and had cautiously
killed all the servants one at a time. The killer had been armed ...
Drogen!
Only Drogen and the Lord of the House, of all those who weren't Tsurani,
were permitted arms. Dirk closed the secret door, too stunned to appreciate
how clever it was. Once closed, it appeared indistinguishable from the wall.
He hurried down to the large dining hall and saw over the fireplace the two
swords hung there, heirlooms of Lord Paul's family. He considered taking one
down, then remembered that should the Tsurani find him with a sword in his
possession, he would be hanged without any opportunity to
explain.
He returned to the kitchen and took a large boning knife from the butcher's
block next to the stove. That was something he had handled many times before
and the familiarity of the handle was reassuring
to Dirk.
He had to do something about finding Anika, but he didn't know what. Drogen
must have taken her with the gold. He ran back to the barn to see if anyone
else might have survived. Within minutes he knew only he and Anika survived.
And the Tsurani, of course.
Panic struck Dirk. He knew that if one of them stuck his head outside one of
the huts he would be hanged for carrying a kitchen knife, no matter what the
reason.
He put the knife in his tunic, and climbed into the loft. He went to the
canvas bag that served as his closet, holding his few belongings. He removed
his only coat, and saw a long cut below the collar. Drogen had lashed out at
him first, because he had awakened. He must have thought Dirk's throat cut.
Then he had killed Hemmy, pushing him atop Dirk, causing them to fall through
the hay door. Only the darkness and the fall had saved Dirk's life, he knew.
Had he not fallen out of the barn, Drogen would certainly have ensured the boy