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

"Then we wait?" Aliston's heir suggested.

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"We wait, " Rael agreed. Allonger opened his mouth to speak but snapped it shut again as the prince continued. "It's a pity we can't get scouts close enough to nose out what's going on, but there's no cover and I'd never order a man to commit that kind of suicide. " Belkar hid a snicker behind a cough. Doan became very interested in the space between his horse's ears. Cei and Aliston's heir, safely out of line of sight, exchanged amused glances. Rael looked steadily at Male's captain.
Allonger glared at the prince, well aware he'd been neatly outmaneuvered. A very long moment passed in silence. "Oh, all right, " he said at last. His voice was gruff, but the edges of his mustache trembled as he tried not to smile. "We wait. " He inclined his head, adding respectfully and without a trace of sarcasm, "Your Highness. "
They waited all that day, thanking the Mother-creator for the rest, and wondering what kept the Melacian army in camp. Not until the sun began to set did they find out.
"Highness!" The Messenger darted into Rael's tent, glanced quickly around and headed for the inner room. Ivan snagged her sleeve and dragged her to a stop. "And just where do you think you're going, young woman? You can't just run in here like you owned the place, this is... "
"Let her go, Ivan. " Rael ducked through the inner flap and smiled down at the Messenger, who twitched her sleeve free and ducked her head in a shallow bow. "It's the Dukes Riven and Lorn, Highness. They're in the command tent. Milord Belkar asks you to attend them at once. "
Lorn was not in the command tent when Rael reached it moments later, but Riven sat, head buried in his hands, at the center of a milling crowd of the dukes and their captains. Voices were hushed and shoulders tense and every eye on Riven.
"They blocked the pass, Commander; Riven, Lorn, and their men. " Doan fell in at the prince's side as he

64 Tanya Huff
crossed the tent. "They drove wooden wedges into cracks in the rock then poured water over them until they swelled and slid a couple of tons of rock into a canyon just the other side of the border. " His voice was frankly admiring. "Couldn't have done it better if they'd had a company of dwarves. "
"Most of the men in these parts are miners, they know what they're doing. Where's Lorn?"
Doan paused before answering, weighing the words to use. "They took him to the infirmary, " he said at last, his tone carefully neutral.
Just then Riven looked up. His dark hair hung in a tangled mass down his back, his face was pale and streaked with dirt, his nails were broken and his fingers were scraped raw. Blood stained his hands and clothes; much more blood than his own wounds could account for.
"He wanted to die, but I brought him back. I couldn't leave him out there. " His throat convulsed and the sound that emerged quavered halfway between a choke and a sob.
Belkar, who stood close by Riven's side, looked up and shook his head at Rael's silent question. "I don't know, lad, that's all he'll say. "
Rael dropped to the bench, took a goblet of wine from a hovering servant, and shoved it into the Duke of Riven's hands. "Drink, " he commanded.
Riven sipped, coughed, then drained the goblet.
"Now, tell me, " Rael prodded gently. "What happened?"
Once, twice, Riven opened his mouth but no sound came out. The third time the words spilled free. "I, I was on the other side of the canyon. They said, his men said, one of his captains was standing too close to the edge when the rock began to fall. He tried to save him. They both went over. " Riven's eyes went dark with memories and tears began to cut new channels through the dirt. "I got to him as fast as I could. He wanted me to kill him. "
Startled, Rael looked up at Belkar.

CHILD OF THE GROVE 65
"His legs were crushed, " the duke said softly.
"I couldn't kill him. " Riven turned to Rael for support. "I couldn't. I dug him out. I brought him back. "
Rael had no idea of what to say or what to do. He reached out a tentative hand and touched the grieving man lightly on the shoulder.
Riven drew a shuddering breath. "I couldn't kill him. " Then he threw himself to the floor and began to smash his fists into the canvas leaving scarlet smears, his blood and Lorn's mixed together.
"He carried Lorn every step of the way himself, " Doan said later as he stood with Rael looking toward the enemy camp. "The men with them say that he wouldn't let anyone help. And during every lucid moment, Lorn begged Riven to kill him. When begging didn't work, he tried curses. "
"Will he live?"
"Probably. But he'll never walk again. Myself, I'm more worried about young Riven. "
Rael remembered Seven Day Festivals, when the boys who'd grown up to be Riven and Lorn had come to the palace with their families. They were only five years older than the prince. He'd watched them running and playing and fighting as a single unit. He'd envied them their closeness.
Doan shoved his hands deep behind his belt. "It won't mean much to them now, but the two of them have ended the war. With supply lines cut, no cavalry, no new troops, and no line to their king, the Melacians will have to surrender. It's the only logical thing to do. "
Rael pushed away visions of falling rock and two boys who would never run together again, and brought himself back to the present. "How did the King of Melac think he could command from four hours behind the lines?"
"He may have sent up the occasional order, " Doan grunted, "but the real commanders are out there on the field. "

66 Tanya Huff
Over the Melacian camp a cold blue light suddenly flickered and then darkness claimed the night again.
"Sheet-lightning?" Rael wondered aloud.
"Maybe. "
Just for a moment the captain's eyes flared brilliantly red. Rael blinked and the moment was gone. He had the feeling Doan knew more than he was willing to tell, but after one glance at the rigid set of his jaw, Rael decided not to ask. Now that the war was over, there would be plenty of time for questions.
In the morning, the Melacian's expected surrender turned into an all-out attack.
"This is crazy!" Rutgar yelled, tossing aside the splintered remains of his lance and drawing his sword. "They can't possibly hope to win. "
"Don't tell me!" Rael bellowed back, in the breathing space they'd cut for themselves. "Tell them!"
Rutgar stood in his stirrups. "You guys are crazy! You can't possibly hope to win!"
Rael laughed and bashed his armsman lightly on the shield. "Feel better?"
Behind his visor, Rutgar's teeth gleamed and he laughed as well. "Yeah, I do!"
When the Elite charged, crashing through the screaming chaos the enemy pikeline had become, the Melacians swarmed about them, rats turning on the terrier. The horses' legs were soon red to the hocks. Weapons dripped and armor ran with gore.
"I don't believe this, " Rael muttered as the press of bodies, the dead, the dying, and the living behind them, slowed the charge and forced the Pairs apart. He roared the retreat, ripping his throat raw with the sound. All around, he heard the call repeated. And then he heard the scream. Behind him.