Christopher Bunn [The Tormay The Hawk

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.This lack of regard was due to no fault of the Lord Captain of Hearne.On the contrary, he had always been pleased by the blind eye the people turned to him and his men.He considered that his job was to allow folk to go about their lives while he dealt quickly and quietly with those who broke Hearne’s laws.And he did that job well enough so that he had achieved a kind of facelessness for his men.When the troop reached the city gates, however, a cheer went up from the soldiers standing watch.Owain reined in under the shadow of the tower, and a man strode forward.His hair was white but his back was as straight as a sapling.He held a spear in his hand.“Bordeall,” said Owain.“My lord,” said the other, touching the spear shaft to his forehead.His voice was deep and raspy.“Hearne will be in good hands while we’re gone.”“Thank you, my lord.”Another soldier came forward and both men turned in some annoyance.“My lord Gawinn.”“Arodilac Bridd,” said Owain.“You would do well to observe the propriety learned under the patience of my sergeants.Did they teach you nothing?”Arodilac flushed red at the rebuke.“Forgive me, my lord,” he stammered.“I merely wished—is there no chance of—?”“None,” said Owain, cutting him off.“You will remain and serve here.Curb your patience, my young cub.Do not be so eager to rush into battle, though likely we’ll see none on our hunt.”“It isn’t because of my uncle wanting me kept from danger, is it?”“No,” said Owain, though it had been precisely for that reason.“Bordeall, I’d ask you to see that my household is well.My wife has some womanly fear concerning the foundling we took in.Perhaps send a man by, now and again, to have a word with my doorkeeper and see that the child is well enough.”“Assuredly, my lord,” said Bordeall.“Might I not make that Arodilac’s duty?”“Certainly,” said Owain, and looked sharply at the young man, for his mouth was opening.Arodilac shut his mouth with a painful click of teeth and backed away.“The city is yours.”“Thank you, my lord.Good hunting.” Bordeall turned away to bellow at the soldiers at the gate.“Present!”Spears gleamed as they rose in a flourish.With a jingle of harness and the clop of horse hooves on stone, the troop rode out through the gates and onto the road that curved away east, over the bridge and across the river and then down through the long, green reaches of the Rennet valley.The sky was clouding over.It would be raining again soon.CHAPTER THIRTY-SIXTHE JUGGLER’S MISTAKENio tightened his cloak around his throat when he stepped out the front door.It was just past twilight and stars winked down from the dark sky.He was late, but it wouldn’t hurt the Juggler to be kept waiting.A cold rain was falling.It had been a strange summer for weather, almost as if the earth was no longer sure of the seasons.He wondered what the fall would bring.An early snow, perhaps.The streets were nearly empty of people, and the only ones he passed hurried along with their heads down, intent on reaching their homes and the warmth and welcome and firelight waiting there.Once, a long time ago, he had wanted the same kind of life.Cyrnel.He had loved her—that much he was sure of.But when he tried to recall her face, there was only an impression of beauty and a blur in his memory.He remembered freckles on her arms and a low, laughing voice.She smelled of fresh bread and the sunlight on the wheat fields in the valley east of the Stone Tower in Thule.The school bought their milk and cheese and grain from her father, the farmer.Nio remembered the look of the cheese more clearly than the farmer’s daughter: small, white rounds smelling of caraway.The cook had been stingy with that cheese.Nio almost smiled to himself at the thought.Perhaps he had wanted to marry her.He would have had a home to hurry back to at night.Someone waiting for him, other than the old ghosts sleeping inside the books in his library.But he had chosen the ghosts.Or perhaps they had chosen him.Some days he wasn’t sure.It was dark by the time he reached the south market square—an ugly, cramped plaza hemmed in with shops shuttered against the night.The rain had turned into a mist heavy enough to blur the shapes of buildings and the lights shining from windows.The stars and the moon could not be seen at all.It seemed he was alone in the city, for the mist also had the effect of muffling noise.Even his boots on the cobblestones only whispered.Nio smelled the butcher’s place before he saw it [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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