"Stephen Lawhead - Pendragon Cycle 05 - Grail" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lawhead Stephen)

'Winter in the north is harsh and long,' Bedwyr told him, 'as I know only
too well.'
'Your concern does you honour, Lord Bedwyr,' Hergest answered. 'But
would not homeless Britons suffer the winter as readily as homeless
Vandali?' He lifted a hand to Mercia. 'My lord says that if we are to live
under Arthur's rule, let it be among Arthur's people.'
The young chieftain's eyes shifted from Bedwyr to me, and back again -
willing us to believe.
I regarded him carefully, uncertain what to do. Truly, they offered us a
way out of the hateful task of forcing people from their homes -
countrymen whose only sin was having unfaithful noblemen for lords.
What would Arthur do?
I was on the point of sending them away to allow us to think the thing
through when Mercia said, 'Lord Bedvyr... Lord Galahad' - that was as
much as he could make of our names -'please, I beg you, let us prove the
trust that has been granted us.'
'Very well,' Bedwyr said, making up his mind at once. 'Let it be as you
say. We will conduct you to unclaimed lands and there you shall make
your home. I leave it to you how to divide the realms between your tribes.
Make your settlements as you will. But there is to be no trouble between
your people and the Britons who choose to remain.'
He said this sternly, every word an implied threat. Mercia rushed forward,
knelt before him, seized his hand, and kissed it. No doubt this was a
common thing among the Vandal kind, but we are not so accustomed.
Bedwyr snatched his hand away, saying, 'Rise, Mercia. You have the thing
you seek. Go and tell your people.'
Mercia rose and stood a little apart, smiling his good pleasure. 'A wise
decision, Prince Bedwyr,' Hergest assured us; he touched a hand to his
throat and I noticed he no longer wore the iron slave ring.
'Make certain I do not live to regret it.'
'The Vandali are barbarians, it is true. They give their word rarely, but
when they do, the vow endures to the fifth generation,' the priest affirmed.
'I trust Mercia.'
'May God be good to you,' Bedwyr told him. 'I am content.'
'I am heartily glad you are content,' I told Bedwyr when they had gone. 'I
only wonder what Arthur will say when he hears what we have done.'
'I care nothing for that,' replied Bedwyr. He turned away quickly, adding,
'I pray instead he lives to hear it.'
 TWO


Bedwyr retreated to the tent, but I remained outside, thinking, and
listening to the sounds of the camp settling in for the night. Twilight
deepened around me. I watched the dusky slope of the distant hillside
begin to glow as campfires wakened in the darkness; soon the aroma of
roasting meat stirred me.
What has become of Rhys? I wondered, thinking that he should have
returned long ago.
He and a small company of warriors had gone in search of water as soon
as we halted our day's march. We were camped in a shallow valley, and