"Katherine Kerr - Deverry 02 - Darkspell" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kerr Katherine)

old life when he’d been heir to the tierynrhyn of Dun Gwerbyn. He pulled the shirt on, then buckled his
swordbelt over it. At the left hung his sword, a beautiful blade of the best steel with the handguard
worked in the form of a dragon, and at the right, the silver dagger that branded him as a dishonored man.
It was the badge of a band of mercenaries who wandered the roads either singly or in pairs and fought
only for coin, not loyalty or honor. In his case, it branded him as something even stranger, which was why
they’d come to Dun Manannan.

‘Do you think the silversmith will be in by now?’ he said.

‘No doubt. Otho rarely leaves his shop for any length of time.’

Together they went out into the unwalled town, a straggling collection of round thatched houses and
shops along a river. On the bank were fishing boats, an old and shabby lot, and from the look of them
barely seaworthy.

‘I don’t see how these folk make a living from the sea,’ Rhodry remarked.

‘Hush.’ Jill glanced around and made sure that no one was nearby, but still she dropped her voice to a
whisper.

‘They make the boats look bad for a reason. There’s more than one kind of cargo that comes in
under the mackerel.’

‘Ye gods! You mean we’re staying in a den of smugglers?’

‘Keep your voice down! Just that.’

Otho’s shop was on the very edge of town, across a dirt path from a field of cabbages. Rhodry was
pleased when he saw that the door was no longer padlocked. When Jill opened it, silver bells tinkled
overhead.

‘Who’s there?’ bellowed a deep voice.

‘Jill, Cullyn of Cerrmor’s daughter, and another silver dagger.’

Rhodry followed her into an empty chamber, a small wedge of the round house set off by dirty
wickerwork panels. In one panel was a frayed green blanket that did duty for a door, because Otho
shoved it aside and came out. Although he was only four and a half feet tall, he was perfectly
proportioned and muscular at that, with arms like a miniature blacksmith. He had a heavy gray beard,
neatly cropped, and shrewd dark eyes.

‘Well, Jill it is,’ he said. ‘And it gladdens my heart to see you again. Where’s your Da, and who’s this
lad?’

‘Da’s in Eldidd. He won himself a place as captain of a tieryn’s warband.’

‘Did he now?’ Otho smiled in sincere pleasure. ‘I always thought he was too good a man to carry the
silver dagger. But what have you done? Run off with this pretty face here?’

‘Now here!’ Rhodry snarled. ‘Cullyn gave her leave to go-’