"Elizabeth Haydon - Rhapsody 3 - Destiny" - читать интересную книгу автора (Haydon Elizabeth)

'Don't be, Rhapsody," he said seriously. "I'm not doing this to help you spare the spawn of the F'dor
from damnation. My motives are entirely selfish. You should know that by now."

'If your motives were entirely selfish, you would not have agreed to accompany me on this mission to
find them, you would have gone alone and hunted them down," she said, untangling the strap of her pack.
"Let's strike a bargain: I won't pretend your intentions are altruistic, and you won't pretend they're selfish.
Agreed?"

'I'll agree to whatever makes you hurry up and get ready. If we don't leave before full-sun we run the
risk of being seen."

She nodded, and the two of them hurried over the remainder of the heath and down to the lower tier
of battlements, where Grunthor and the quartermaster's troops were waiting.

'You're a disgrace to this regiment, the 'ole lot o' ya," Grunthor was snarling at the trembling Bolg
soldiers. "One more missed instruction, Oi'm gonna flay ya, filet ya, and fry ya in fat for my supper, every
last one o' ya. And you, Hagraith,you will be dessert."

Achmed cleared his throat. "Are the horses ready, Sergeant-Major?" " 'Bout as ready as can be
expected," Grunthor grumbled. "Provisions will be in place momentarily, as soon as Corporal Hagraith
'ere gets 'is 'ead out of 'is arse, cleans thehrekin out of 'is ears, and gets them rolled bandages Oi
requestedtwo hours ago ." The soldier took off in a dead run.

Rhapsody waited in respectful silence as Grunthor dismissed the rest of the supply troops, then came
up behind him and wound her arms around his massive waist, a sensation similar to encircling a full-grown
tree trunk.

'I'm going to miss your troops tromping by my chamber and singing me awake," she said jokingly.
"Dawn just won't be the same without a few choruses of 'Leave No Limb Unbroken.'

The giant's leathery features relaxed into a fond grin. "Well, ya could always stay, then," he said,
mussing her glistening locks, which shone with the brilliance of the sun.

It never failed to amaze him, looking at her thus, how much she resembled the Great Fire they had
passed through together, in that journey so long ago. 'While crawling along the root of Sagia the World
Tree, that had wound itself around the centerline of the Earth, he had come to respect this tiny woman,
even though his own race had preyed on hers in the old world.

Rhapsody sighed. "How I wish I could." She watched his amber eyes darken sadly. "Will you be all
right, Grunthor?"

A sharp sound of annoyance came from over her shoulder. "Safeguarding the mountain is child's play
to Grunthor."

'Nope. Oi vaguely recall enjoying child's play. Don' like this a'tall," the Firbolg giant muttered, his
fearsome face wreathed in a terrifying scowl. "We almost lost ya once to a bastard child of the demon;
Oi don't especially want ya riskin' your life—and yourafterlife —again, miss. Wish you'd reconsider."
 She patted his arm. "I can't. We have to do this; it's the only way to get the blood we need for
Achmed to finally track and find the host of the F'dor."