Jay D. Blakeny The Sword, the Ring, and the Chalice 03 The Chalice

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Well, I do have sisters.
So did I, Dain reminded him. Thia never acted this way.
Oh? But your sister was eldin.
Alexeika has some eldin blood, Dain said.
Not as much as
Hush! She s coming.
Alexeika returned wearing the hauberk, which fit her perfectly. She walked
with her head high and her shoulders erect. Her face was now perfectly
composed, and only some redness in her eyes betrayed the fact that she had
indeed been crying.
Dain eyed her warily, but she seemed all right now. She rolled up her red
hauberk into a bundle, stuck it under her arm, and put her cloak back on. Her
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new spurs jingled faintly with every step.
Thank you, sire, she said in a clear, calm voice. Your majesty has been
most kind in granting me this honor. I vow to serve you with with less
argument.
He smiled, and she gave him a wan smile in return.
When he beckoned to the dwarf boys, they came, though with obvious reluctance.
A woman? they asked in disbelief. You make a warrior of a woman?
Look at the sword and daggers she carries. See how her hair is braided. She
is a very brave fighter.
Cannot be so, one of the boys scoffed.
Give her the blessing just the same.
But the two boys exchanged looks and ran off without a backward glance.
Sighing, Dain gave Alexeika an apologetic shrug. I will speak the dwarf
blessing myself.
She held up her hand. Please don t. Tis unnecessary. Your gesture and gifts
are generous enough.
Alexeika, what is wrong?
Her brows lifted, and he felt the lie even before she spoke it. Nothing,
sire. Will you give us the order now to saddle up?
He still did not know what had gone awry, or why this had upset her. But if
she did not choose to tell him, he was not going to force her. Aye, he said
with a sigh. Let us be gone. We have a hard journey ahead of us. By Maug s
reckoning, we ve at least a week s travel to cut through the forest and reach
the border. Then we ll have to find the Agyas.
Alexeika blinked, and in an instant the clear-thinking, cool-headed warrior he
knew and valued was back. We ll find them, she said. As soon as we reach
the border we ll be able to send a messenger to them.
He snorted dubiously. A Netheran we can trust?
Horse thieves make the best couriers, she said with a grin. Give them
enough gold, and they ll do anything to bring Mun-cel down.
Is that all I can count on? he asked in dismay. Horse thieves?
Perhaps a few others. Remember, majesty, that I m a thief as well.
He disliked the brittle, mocking way in which she said that, but let it pass.
Were a thief, he corrected, already striding toward his darsteed to saddle
it. You were a thief, but you re one no longer.
So you think, majesty.
He swung around and looked at her very hard. So I
know, Alexeika. Now, let s ride.
Eight days of hard riding through forest that grew increasingly thick and in
places nearly impenetrable brought them head-on into a snowstorm. Lashed as
they were by howling winds, and with the swirling snow nearly blinding them,
even Dain could no longer be sure of the correct direction.
He called a halt, and his weary darsteed pawed the ground. Beside him,
Alexeika and Thum were barely recognizable shapes huddled inside their
snow-covered cloaks and hoods. Alexeika s eyebrows and lashes were coated with
snow. Thum s beard was crusted over. Dain himself felt frozen to the marrow.
He d long ago lost any feeling in his fingers or toes, and he knew they were
in mortal danger of freezing to death.
Must find shelter! he shouted over the howling wind. His lips were so stiff
he could barely speak.
How? Thum shouted back. Where?
Dain frowned. He was so cold and tired he couldn t think clearly. They needed
a cave or a burrow, but neither were at hand. And if they tried to make camp
here among these trees, they would surely perish.
Alexeika lifted her head bleakly. Do we kill the animals?
Slaughtering their mounts and disemboweling them so that they could shelter
inside each animal s body cavity seemed a last resort, one Dain found himself
reluctant to act on. Most important, if they survived, they would be afoot.
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Then too, he was not eager to see the innards of a darsteed.
The snow blew harder, all but obliterating the nearby trees and wrapping the
world in a cocoon of white. Dain s usual landmarks of sun angles, slanted
growth of trees, and moss on tree bark and stones were of course gone. He
could not follow scent, for the snow had covered even that. For all he knew,
they d been traveling in circles for hours.
Alexeika drew one of her daggers. We d better slash their throats at the same
time. Otherwise, the smell of blood will make the darsteed
Something reached him, a faint glimmer of instinct perhaps, or the touch of a
mind far distant. Nay, not yet, Dain said.
Why? It s our only chance.
He could not answer why. Whatever he d sensed was too indistinct for him to
identify. But he gestured for her to put away her weapon. Bide a while. Let s
keep going if we can.
We can t! she shouted harshly. Tis futile to keep on in this.
Come on! He kicked the darsteed forward. The creature balked, no longer [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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