[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.Gathering dead wood for the fire was difficultin the gathering dark, with only an occasional trickle of moon shining throughthe huge trees, but starting the fire was even more so, even though Bear hadused his mundane sword as deftly as you could imagine to shave some birchscrapings into tinder.A real woodsman would probably have been able to rub two sticks together andproduce a roaring fire, a trick I've never mastered, and which neither BearnorAlexander had, and for some reason the small stone that I found couldn'tstrike a spark off of my mundane sword, nor either of Alexander's, nor Bear's,although we tried, figuring that the scratches on the spines of our bladescould be polished out more easily than we could get through a cold night inthe Bedegraine Forest without fire.All we ended up with, though, were scratched swords.I was looking forward to a cold night shivering in my robes beneath the treeswith my usual equanimity not much when Bear, just a huge hulking shape in thedark, quietly asked the other two of us to step away, and drew the Nameless.I had been expecting something dramatic and had been about to curse Bear forusing the Nameless's power for such a mundane task, if indeed he could and Ifound myself more outraged than relieved when he knelt in front of the tinderpile, the stone in his hand.Sparks flickered along the length of the blade, sending the tinder smoking,and quicker than it takes to tell, at least as I remember it, we were sittingbefore a roaring fire, whileBear, his leather gauntlets still in place, was polishing the Nameless beforereturning it toits sheath, while Alexander and I just sat, mouths open, while the Khan, at myPage 119 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlside, muttered outraged threats at the sacrilege and disrespect using a WhiteSword as a sparking iron? How dare he!Bear just smiled, his face shiny in the firelight."The Nameless said toremind you that he, like Our Lord, washed beggars' feet.Should we need to diga latrine-hole, he says he'd be happy to be of service in that, too."I'll likely never understand the Nameless.I'm sure I'll never understandBear. GrayThe afternoon sun gave off light and heat, but, strangely, no warmth.Maybe itwas the knight's robes that Niko wore, over the tunic and leggings, and themover the undergarments.It was still strange, if no longer entirelyuncomfortable, to have so much cloth between his skin and the sun.Niko sat cross-legged on the cold stone, the sword lying naked on the blanketin front of him, next to its scabbard and the heavy leather gauntlets.He smoothed down the front of his robes, then snatched the hand away it wastrembling and sweaty.The best thing to do, perhaps, would be to strip it all off and fold itcarefully if the single scrap of cloth for his kirtle was expensive, it washard to imagine what these clothes would have cost and let the sun warm him,if it would.If it could.His fingers trembled; he fastened them together in his lap, which didn't helpmuch, and seemed to more transfer the trembling to his chattering teeth thananything else."What am I supposed to do?" he asked, more to delay the inevitable thanbecause he had any real doubt.He would grasp the hilt of the sword, and feelthe pain and fear again."For now, just try to calm yourself," Cully said."We have enough time.Let'snot rush matters without need."He sat, also cross-legged, on the other side of the blanket.Like Niko, he wasdressed in the garments of the Order, and like Niko, he was freshly shorn, andthen freshly bathed.His smile was as reassuring as a smile could be, whichwasn't much."I know that's easier said than done, but try.Or don't try thinkabout something unimportant.What do you think the Abdullahs will serve fordinner?Something good, I'd expect.""Yes."Niko wasn't hungry at the moment, but he didn't have to think very hard as towhat the centerpiece of the feast would be, nor did he have to guess thatCully was trying to distract him.The wind brought the smell of roasting meatacross the water perhaps overly seasoned with fresh wild onion, as there hadbeen no time to properly hang and then brine it and it had reached Cully'snose as surely as it hadNiko's.Entertaining guests of such an elevated station was something that anysensible fisherman would wisely turn his hand to, and the Abdullahs were morecapable of doing that than most."Very well.Now try to clear your mind yes, I know you can't force yourself tothink about nothing.Nobody can.But think of something simple and calming apool of water is the classic choice."A pool of water?It sounded like a silly thing to think about, but he would try.A small pool of seawater, perhaps, cupped in a depression in the rocks at theshoreline, left behind by the falling tide.Sometimes the tide left ajellyfish in such, and it was a simple matter to scoop them out with a wickerbasket, and carry them high to the ridge above to dry.Mara would crunch theleathery bits between her teeth, and laughPage 120 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlMara.Gentle, clever Mara.And Lina.And Grandfather all of them now rottingin the cold ground at the bottom of a pit, as though they were shit to becovered over with dirt, not even given the dignity of being returned to thesea from which all had sprung, and to which all would return, to be receivedby Poseidon at his court, far beneath the waves.Were they in the cold arms of Hades? Or had Zeus taken them as His own?He tried to swallow, but couldn't."Shhh.easy, boy, easy
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
