"Huff, Tanya - Wizard 1 - Child Of The Grove 1.1 Txt" - читать интересную книгу автора (Huff Tanya)

"Yes, Sire. I'll re-form the patrol. "
The surgeon stepped from the king's tent, wiping her hands on a towel.
"His Majesty, " she said to Rael and the Duke of Belkar, "is not a young man. "
Rael winced.
"He is also, " she continued, "an idiot. Had he returned directly to camp when this happened, he would have been up and bashing heads this morning. As it is, he's going to spend a good long time in bed. "
"He's not going to like that, " Rael pointed out.
The surgeon glared at the prince. "Too bad, " she said, and pushed past him back to the infirmary.
Belkar and Rael watched her go, her back ramrod straight and uncompromising.
The duke shook his head, managing to be both admiring and irritated at the same time. "She'll fight Lord Death every foot of the way and if he wins, she'll spit in his face. I almost pity him. " He draped his arm around Rael's shoulders and pushed him toward the tent. "Don't worry, lad, Glinna's the best surgeon with the army. If your father was in any immediate danger, she never would've left him. " "But his breastplate... "
"Flawed. And it still absorbed most of the blow. You might be able to pop a spear through unflawed steel like it was paper, but that's beyond the rest of us

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poor mortals. " His tone was light and reassuring, but he carefully kept Rael from seeing his face. There had been nothing wrong with the breastplate except for the hole punched through it... as though the steel had been paper.
Rain during the first three days on the Tage Plateau kept fighting intermittent and casualties light. The fourth day the sun shone and the killing began again. The strength of the Elite fell from fifty-five to forty men. The Duke of Cei lost half his Guard but the remainder held. The Duke of Belkar lost twenty archers when their position was overrun. The Duke of Hale lost his life.
"Then who is Hale now?" Rutgar asked, his fingers digging the tension out of the prince's shoulders.
Rael rolled a blue glass bead between his thumb and forefinger. He'd found it near where Hale had fallen. He couldn't imagine the duke with an unbeaded mustache. He couldn't imagine the duke dead. "The eldest son, just ten this summer. I think his name was Etgar. "
"Was Etgar?"
"It's Hale now. "
The Melacians died by the hundreds, but more continued to come through the pass.
"Father, are you sure you should be out of bed?" Raen glared at his son. "I'll not lie in bed, while my people die. "
"It won't help them if you die as well. " The king put his foot in the stirrup and pulled himself up into the saddle. "I have no intention of dying, " he growled and turned his warhorse toward the battle.
At the end of the day, the edge of the king's surcoat was stained with blood and he had to be lifted down from his horse.
"I'm fine, " he protested as two of the Palace Guard placed him gently on a litter. "I'm just a little stiff. "

CHILD OF THE GROVE 61
"Father!" Rael pushed through the gathered crowd and flung himself to his knees, desperately catching up his father's hand in his.
"I'm fine, " the king insisted. He managed a weak smile, but his face was gray and slick with sweat.
Rael looked up at Belkar, his whole body begging the duke to say it would be all right. Belkar shrugged.
"The king is down, " ran the whisper through the ranks. "The king is dying. " Weapons, tools, meals, lay forgotten as the army fell silent and waited for news.
"Get out of my way. " Glinna's voice, impatient and commanding, pushed apart the silence and split the circle surrounding the litter. The surgeon strode through the break and glared down at the king. Her mouth pursed and her eyebrows lowered. "I told you so, " was all she said, but there were several lectures worth of meaning in the words.
A wave of near hysterical giggles rippled outward. The king would live. No one used that tone on a dying man.
Glinna looked up at the sound. "Don't you lot have something to do?" The crowd melted away and she shifted her gaze to stare pointedly at the prince. He stared back, the green of his eyes growing both deeper and brighter. She raised one eyebrow. "Very pretty, Highness. Now get up off your knees so we can move your father inside. "
Rael sighed as he scrambled out of the way. It's not fair, he thought. When I want people to be impressed, they never are.
As the litter moved away, Glinna slipped her hand under the bloody surcoat.
"Madam!" Raen gasped, his eyes wide, pain mixed equally with surprise. "Try to remember, I am your king. "
"And if you want to remain my king, " the surgeon told him dryly, lifting the tent flap and standing aside to allow the Utter to pass, "or anyone else's king, for

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that matter, you'll do as I say. " The flap fell behind them.
"She's got a terrific way with her patients, " Rael muttered and started back to where he'd left Rutgar holding his horse.
The Duke of Belkar fell into step beside him. "Think of it as an incentive to stay in one piece, Highness. "
"What do you mean?"
Belkar's voice quivered on the edge of laughter. "If you're injured, she'll be taking care of you as well. "
Rael shuddered.
The sun rose high over the mountains, turning arms and armor to a burnished gold, but the Melacians remained in their camp at the valley's edge. Rael, Doan, and the remaining dukes gathered on the highest bit of ground they held; little more than a hillock but enough to give them a clear line of sight. Not that it did them much good.
"Even I can see they're still in camp, Prince Rael. " Cei blew his nose vigorously. "What we need to know is why. "
Rael squinted, trying to bring the tiny figures of the enemy closer by force of will. Finally he shook his head and gave up. "Something's upset them, they're scurrying around like headless chickens. The only thing I can say for certain is that, for now, they show no interest in us. "
"Then we attack. Ride in and grind the scum into the mountain. "
With the Duke of Male's death, and the heir only a child, command of his forces had gone to Allonger, the senior of his two captains, a vicious fighter, a man of quick and explosive temper, who was also the dead duke's uncle. Most of his conversation since he took command had centered on revenge.
"Too risky, " Doan grunted. "They hold the high ground. It's got to be a trap. "