"Brian Lumley - Necroscope 2 - Wamphyri!" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lumley Brian)

'Thumbs,' said Thibor. 'I had the flesh boiled off them, lest their stink offend. The Pechenegi
are driven back, trapped between the Dniester, the Bug and the sea. Your Boyar army hems them
in. Hopefully they can deal with them without me and mine. For I have heard that the Polovtsy are
rising like the wind in the east. Also, in Turkeyland, armies wax for war!'


'You have heard? You have heard? And are you some mighty Voevod, then? Do you set
yourself up as the ears of Vladimir? And what do you mean, "you and yours"? The two hundred
men you marched with are mine!'


At that Thibor took a deep breath. He paced forward - then paused. Then he bowed low, if
inelegantly, and said, 'Of course they are yours, Prince. Also the four-score refugees I've gathered
together and turned into warriors. All are yours. As for being your ears: if I have heard falsely, then
strike me deaf. But my work is finished in the south and I thought you had more need of me here.
Soldiers are few in Kiev this day, and her borders are wide...'


The Vlad's eyes remained veiled. The Pechenegi are at bay, you say - and do you give
yourself credit for this?'


'In all modesty. This and more.'
 'And you've brought my men back with you, without casualty?'


'A handful are fallen.' Thibor shrugged. 'But I found eighty to replace them.'


'Show me.'


They went to the great doors, out onto the wide steps of the church. There in the square,
Thibor's men waited in silence, some upon horses but most afoot, all armed to the teeth and looking
very fierce. They were the same sorry bunch the Wallach had taken away with him, but no longer
sorry. His standard flew from three tall flagstaffs: the golden dragon, and upon its back a black bat
with of carnelian.


The Vlad nodded. 'Your mark,' he commented, perhaps sourly. 'A bat.'


'The black bat of the Wallachs, aye,' said Thibor. One of the monks spoke up, 'But atop the
dragon?'


Thibor grinned at him wolfishly. 'Would you have the dragon pissing on my bat?' The monks
took the prince aside while Thibor stood waiting. He could not hear what was said, but he'd
imagined it often enough in times since: