The Sworn Sword — читать онлайн бесплатно полностью

They seemed to grow sadder still when Bennis touched upon the dam. ""That stream has been known as the Chequy Water for a thousand years or more"", the old knight said. ""I caught fish there as a boy, and my sons all did the same. Alysanne liked to splash in the shallows on hot summer days like this"". Alysanne had been his daughter, who had perished in the spring. ""It was on the banks of the Chequy Water that I kissed a girl for the first time. A cousin, she was, my uncle's youngest daughter, of the Osgreys of Leafy Lake.

They are all gone now, even her"". His mustache quivered. ""This cannot be borne, sers. The woman will not have my water. She will not have my chequy water"".

""Dam's built strong, m'lord"", Ser Bennis warned. ""Too strong for me and Ser Dunk to pull down in an hour, even with the bald-head boy to help. We'll need ropes and picks and axes, and a dozen men. And that's just for the work, not for the fighting"".

Ser Eustace stared at the Little Lion's shield.

Dunk cleared his throat. ""M'lord, as to that, when we came upon the diggers, well.. "".

""Dunk, don't trouble m'lord with trifles"", said Bennis. ""I taught one fool a lesson, that was all"".

Ser Eustace looked up sharply. ""What sort of lesson?""

""With my sword, as it were. A little claret on his cheek, that's all it were, m'lord"".

The old knight looked long at him. ""That… that was ill considered, ser. The woman has a spider's heart. She murdered three of her husbands.

And all her brothers died in swaddling clothes. Five, there were. Or six, mayhaps, I don't recall. They stood between her and the castle. She would whip the skin off any peasant who displeased her, I do not doubt, but for you to cut one… no, she will not suffer such an insult. Make no mistake. She will come for you, as she came for Lem"".

""Dake, m'lord"", Ser Bennis said. ""Begging your lordly pardon, you knew him and I never did, but his name were Dake"".

""If it please m'lord, I could go to Goldengrove and tell Lord Rowan of this dam"", said Dunk.

Rowan was the old knight's liege lord. The Red Widow held her lands of him as well.

""Rowan? No, look for no help there. Lord Rowan's sister wed Lord Wyman's cousin Wendell, so he is kin to the Red Widow. Besides, he loves me not. Ser Duncan, on the morrow you must make the rounds of all my villages, and roust out every able-bodied man of fighting age. I am old, but I am not dead.