"Jane Lindskold - Firekeeper Saga 3 - The Dragon of Despair" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lindskold Jane)

In her younger days, Saedee Norwood, Duchess Kestrel, had been a warrior who had won her spurs in
a particularly nasty border skirmish with Bright Bay. There was a statue in the garden commemorating
those deeds. It depicted a slim-hipped young woman brandishing a sword, an arrogant tilt to her proud
head.

But those battles had been long ago. The only trace remaining of that woman was the selfsame sword
hanging on the wall behind the desk where the duchess daily dealt with the business of running the large
land grant that she had inherited from her father. Bearing childrenùtwo of whom had survived to
adulthoodùhad spread Saedee Norwood's once slim form. Bearing the responsibilities of her position had
graven lines in her face.

J

Yet, Firekeeper thought as she watched the duchess greet those she had summoned, perhaps not all
traces of that young warrior had vanished. The arrogant lift of the duchess's head was much the same,
though tempered with a restraint that might have been alien to her younger self.

There was a similar arrogance in the bearing of the duchess's son and heir, Norvin. Earl Kestrel was a
small manùindeed, his mother was tallerùand maybe some of his apparent arrogance came from refusing
to be seen as weak in a world where strength and size were usually equated.

Firekeeper knew the earl fairly well. It had been he who had led the expedition she had accompanied out
of the western wilderness. Initially, she had thought Norvin Norwood taken up with nothing but his own
advancement. Later, she had come to realize thatùinterested as Norvin was in promoting his own good
and that of his familyùhe was also a commander whose troops respected him, a master whose vassals
found him fair, and a parent who, though dictatorial at times, strove not to smother his children.

In the eyes of the human world, Firekeeper was one of those childrenùadopted by the earl soon after his
return from the west. Firekeeper did not think of the earl as her fatherùthat place in her heart belonged to
the wolves who had raised herùnor did she particularly think of the earl's four children as her siblings.
One of these, however, Norvin Norwood's eldest son and heir, had earned the wolf-woman's mingled
affection and exasperation.

Edlin Norwood entered the room even as Firekeeper thought of him, his breezy friendliness a decided
contrast to his father's and grandmother's studied restraint. Nor did he particularly resemble them, lacking
their prominent hawk-like nose. Edlin did share his father's dark hairùthough the earl's mixed silver with
the jetty blackùand the earl's pale grey eyes. Still, no one watching Edlin as he bobbed a quick bow to
his grandmother and then collapsed bonelessly into a comfortable chair would have taken him for his
father's son.

But Firekeeper respected Edlin. He had been with her and Derian in New Kelvin early in the winter just
past and had proven that there was more to him than met casual inspection. However, if Edlin's deeds in
New Kelvin had earned Firekeeper's respect, they did nothing to reduce her frustration with him. Soon
after Firekeeper had arrived at the Norwood Grant the previous autumn, Edlin had taken a very
unbrotherly fancy to her. He'd evenùso Firekeeper had heard rumoredùtold his father he wished to marry
her.
The earl had refused without even consulting Firekeeperùthough his decision proved much to
Firekeeper's reliefùbut his father's refusal hadn't ended the matter for Edlin. Often he would watch
Firekeeper, sometimes covertly, more often forgetting himself and gaping with slightly open-mouthed
admiration.