"Robert Jordan - Conan The Indomitable" - читать интересную книгу автора (Jordan Robert)

"I willnot !" she said, her whisper increasing in volume. "Just because I am a woman, you seek to shield
me from risks! Never forget that I am firstborn."

Conan stared at her, amazed, as if she had suddenly sprouted wings and was preparing to leap up and
fly into the heavens. He was young, and he supposed that he would learn more with age, but for the
moment he did not think it possible that he would ever understand the motivations of women. Perhaps no
man could. "Very well," he said. "Youproceed down the trail whileI circle behind the rock… and
whoever it is that awaits there."

"Better," she said. But after a moment of triumph, her grin faded and she looked nervously at Conan.
"You would actually send me along the trail into the jaws of possible death?" Her stare was incredulous
and her voice quavered. She acted as if he had spat on her.

Conan shook his head and glanced around at the mountains. Was there some demon hiding out there,
sent to bedevil him? And what did Elashi want from him? Disagree with her and she argued. Agree with
her and she argued even more. Crom! He felt the heat of anger rise within him.

Fighting to keep his voice level, he said, "All right. What isyour suggestion?"

"Keep your voice down," she ordered.

Conan's anger increased as he stared helplessly at her. She was beautiful, to be sure, but maddening!

"You proceed down the path and draw the attention of whoever or whatever is there," she said. "I shall
circle around the rock and get behind them. That way, I may take them unaware."

Conan stared, unable to speak in his frustrated rage.

"Isn't that a better plan than the one you had?" she asked sweetly. Warm goat butter would not have
dissolved in her mouth, he thought. Surely, surely I have offended some god and this is my punishment.
He stood silent for a moment, then stalked off without another word. Whatever was on the other side of
that boulder had better not be intent on causing him grief.

When he rounded the shelter of the rock, Conan found himself facing trouble. Five men stood before
him; short, muscular, and swarthy, each held a dagger-tipped pike. They wore cracked and
sweat-stained leather armor and gauntlets, and heavy boots. Behind these five a single being sat astride a
tall black stallion. This creature wore a heavy riding cape, woolen shirt, and leather breeches, and held in
a gauntleted hand a thin sword across the front of the horse's saddle.

Conan was somewhat puzzled about this last figure.

At first glance, it seemed a man from its dress and manner; on closer examination, the beardless face
was definitely female, this self-evident not merely from its smoothness of complexion but from its shape
and the bearer's use of cosmetics. The lips were rouged, the eyebrows partially plucked, and the area
around the eyes darkened with a bluish hue. The reddish-brown hair was shorter than Conan's own, and
cut feathery on the ends. Additionally, the creature's shirt front jutted out in twin peaks that certainly
seemed womanly… but the crotch of the tight leather breeches revealed a bulge than seemed most
definitely male.

Conan's examination of the horsed figure was interrupted by its speech. "Stand and deliver!" it said. The