"MacAllister - 04 - Midsummer's Knight" - читать интересную книгу автора (MacGregor Kinley)

Maybe he was embarrassed now by his candor and just needed a brief time to
adjust to her physical presence.
Aye, that was it.
He just needed a little time to come to terms with the confidences they had
shared.



Chapter 2
« ^ »
"Simon, you've been like a brother to me all these years. 'Tis a damn shame that
I have to kill you now." Stryder's angry tone was low, lethal. Even so, it
reverberated through the empty hall where Simon sat, eating a light repast to
tide him over until the evening meal.
Simon choked on his bread at the unexpected words and the heartfelt sincerity of
Stryder's voice.
Stryder's eyes were cold and unfeeling, devoid of the friendship that Simon was
used to seeing from him.
"That's it," Stryder said, his gaze narrowed by rage. "You go ahead and choke.
I'm not even going to bother saving you from it, but before you die of
asphyxiation, could you at least tell me who it is I'm supposed to wed?"
Simon choked even more.
Stryder was going to kill him for this.
As Simon reached for his mead to help clear his throat, Stryder continued his
angry rant.
"Apparently, Simon, I have been writing to my future wife. And just for clarity,
let me repeat that. I have been writing to my future wife."
His glare intensified until it would rival the devil for heat. "Don't you think
that it is rather difficult for me to do such a thing since I write to no one,
hmm? But then, since I don't write, who is it who answers all my personal
letters? Oh, aye, I know… 'Tis you, Simon. You."
Simon took a deep drink of mead as his mind raced. He'd known this was coming,
but he had hoped for a little more time to think up some way to extract all of
them from this madness. "You told me to answer your letters as I saw fit. Not to
bother you with their content."
"Answering my letters does not require a betrothal. Tell me of this woman. Is
she at least wealthy?"
"She's very nice."
"Simon!"
Stryder gave him a glare so sinister that Simon could almost believe the tales
that claimed Stryder had sold his soul to Lucifer.
Had Simon been any man other than himself, he might even have flinched, but
Simon flinched from no man's anger, and most especially not from Stryder's.
They had known each other too long and had been through too much for Simon to
fear him.
But when it came to annoying him, that was another matter entirely.
"What say you?" Stryder asked, his voice even angrier. "Is this a jest? Who is
this woman who claims I have proposed to her?"
Simon met Stryder's stare levelly and wondered how he'd gotten himself into
this.