"James McCann - Kith 1" - читать интересную книгу автора (McCann James)

KITH
KITH
PART ONE
PART ONE
 Kith – 1 –



PROLOGUE
PROLOGUE
Genesis 2:15-17

Torches lined the cobblestone streets, shrouding the town in scarlet dress. Banners,
spun across building tops like a web, proclaimed the Festival of Awakening had begun.
And the people below danced as in joy but cursed with fear with anticipation of who
would be the fly caught in that mesh. Rafgard, sauntering through the busy streets, tried
desperately to keep in tow with the Broadsword Fellows. All his life on the farm he’d
imagined what adventure city life would entail, and here he was, not only living his
fantasy, but doing so even as a fellow among the most revered group of apprentices! He
was the smallest in the foursome, and it was for that reason that he always found himself
engaged in foolishness to impress them. Today was not unlike any other day.
Rafgard had donned his red tunic and black hose. His soft leather boots, though worn
in the soles, appeared as if they were new and the black cape thrown casually over one
shoulder made him feel like a Noble. The light breeze caught his long, sandy hair,
tussling it over to where his cowlick made it stand almost on end. Rafgard slipped off one
glove and brushed the hair from his vision.
“Cador,” Rafgard called to one of the three youths he was following, “what is this
celebration about?”
They laughed at him. Drust, Tor and Cador all spun to stare at their latest recruit,
each one brandishing a glimmer in their eyes. Cador smiled. “Did they not teach you
anything in the country? The Awakening is in celebration of when our city was no longer
besieged by a terrible dragon!”
Drust leaned in close to Rafgard, and the flame from a torch caught over his face.
“But the beast never died. It lay asleep upon its hoard of treasure….”
“And has for so long that a mountain has grown over it!” Tor finished; all three
waiting for Rafgard’s response. But he had stopped listening as a young woman who
walked through the crowd, escorted by several guards, caught his attention. Raven-black
hair tied up with a red ribbon covered her round face with bangs that draped like strands
of silk over her eyes. She held her tiny nose slightly above the bottom of her ear lobe, and
a smile painted with the brightest red Rafgard had ever seen held back porcelain-white
teeth.
“Who be this?” Rafgard whispered, taking a step nearer her.
Cador poked Drust in the side and winked at Tor. Then he said, “That is the Princess
Katrina. It is said that she will marry no Noble, but awaits a man who would love her for
who she is.”
Drust added, “And yet, she makes every man prove his devotion with a test.”
“And what test does she demand?”
Drust laughed. “To bring her an item of dragon treasure. Would you attempt such a
thing?”
 Kith – 2 –