"Kenneth C. Flint - Gods of Eire 01 - The Riders of the Sidhe" - читать интересную книгу автора (Flint Kenneth C)

BOOK I

THE SEA GOD

I

THE ATTACK

THE SHIPS SWEPT in suddenly from the silver mists which clung to the edge of
the northern sea.

They were beautiful ships, their soft, glowing sails extended like great
wings, swooping gracefully toward the island's rocky coast. But it was the
hard, bright edge of death that they carried within them.

The grey-uniformed warriors who filled their decks looked up in cold disdain
at the towering clifis and the line of fortress walls along their top.
Swiftly, skillfully, without a flicker of care in any of the hardened faces,
they readied ropes and grapples and weapons for their attack.

High above them, the alarm had already been raised.

Warriors swarmed within the walls of the clifftop fortress. Defensive points
were manned. Captains shouted orders to the companies who formed in the
training grounds before the central keep.

From an upper window of the keep, a dark-haired woman watched the activities
with concern. Her gaze often lifted to the sea beyond, where the sleek vessels
soared in as unwaveringly as hawks descending upon prey.

Though a young woman yet, still slim and vigorous, grey showed in the
billowing blackness of her hair, and lines aged the smooth, even-featured
face. The days of Taillta's life had not been easy. But she knew, as she
watched the ships come, that the hardest ones lay still ahead of her.

4 THE RIDERS OF THE SIDHE

The commander of her companies entered the room behind her.

"My Queen, there are a score of large boats in the fleet," he announced. "We
estimate at least a thousand men!"

She turned to him, regarding him with a calmly appraising eye as she asked
bluntly:

"Can you withstand them, Cecht?"

She searched for any sign of uncertainty, any hint of weakness, but the
commander only smiled grimly as he replied.