JК
A Stroke Of Midnight :: Гамильтон Лорел
Страница: 143 из 293He put his helmet back on, and wentto take Aisling’s place.
Dogmaela was standing there between the two groups, as if she didn’t quite know what to do. Melangell was her captain of the guard. Unless she was willing to make the same offer that Hafwyn had made, she would have to go back under Melangell’s rule. In the middle of such a power struggle was a tricky place to be. Dogmaela was like Galen, you could see her struggle with the problem on her face, in the posture of her body. She had fought with the others, but now she didn’t know where her loyalties lay. The fact that she was so divided made me put her in the untrustworthy category.
Hafwyn and the other wounded moved to one side, leaving me with Galen cradled in my lap. I slid my hands down the front of his shirt. “You need to start wearing armor.”
“Unless it was enchanted armor, it would not have helped,” Adair said. Hafwyn and Aisling were helping him remove his armor in pieces. The padding underneath was soaked crimson with blood. The wide, clean cut was plain in the padding, low on his side. “He was able to do this to me, even with the armor.”
“Your armor is still worthy of its maker,” Kieran said. “I could not pierce it. I had to find a seam.”
“No true sword could have found the opening you used,” Adair said. The padding peeled off in layers. The linen shirt next to his skin was a ruined red mass.
“That is why magic will always win against weaponry,” Kieran said.
“It was not magic that stopped Innis,” Crystall said.
“It was human magic,” Kieran said.
“Guns are not magic,” Crystall argued, “they are weapons.”
Kieran shook his head. “What is human science but another name for magic? Even now, the princess has brought human spell casters into our sithen. She allows human magic free range inside the only refuge we have left.”
“That’s a reason to attack me,” I said, “but not a reason to attack Galen. Why him?”
“Perhaps we are attacking all your guards, if we find them alone,” Kieran said.
“No,” Galen said with his head still in my lap, “when I came around the corner Melangell said, ‘We’ve been waiting for you, green man,’ then you hit me in the back. Where were you hiding? I must have passed right by you.”
“Innis can hide in plain sight,” Frost said, “and he can hide one or two with him, if none of them moves.” Frost was still very much on alert, guarding me. He hadn’t looked at a wound, or participated in the conversation. He was working and it showed.
Dogmaela was standing there between the two groups, as if she didn’t quite know what to do. Melangell was her captain of the guard. Unless she was willing to make the same offer that Hafwyn had made, she would have to go back under Melangell’s rule. In the middle of such a power struggle was a tricky place to be. Dogmaela was like Galen, you could see her struggle with the problem on her face, in the posture of her body. She had fought with the others, but now she didn’t know where her loyalties lay. The fact that she was so divided made me put her in the untrustworthy category.
Hafwyn and the other wounded moved to one side, leaving me with Galen cradled in my lap. I slid my hands down the front of his shirt. “You need to start wearing armor.”
“Unless it was enchanted armor, it would not have helped,” Adair said. Hafwyn and Aisling were helping him remove his armor in pieces. The padding underneath was soaked crimson with blood. The wide, clean cut was plain in the padding, low on his side. “He was able to do this to me, even with the armor.”
“Your armor is still worthy of its maker,” Kieran said. “I could not pierce it. I had to find a seam.”
“No true sword could have found the opening you used,” Adair said. The padding peeled off in layers. The linen shirt next to his skin was a ruined red mass.
“That is why magic will always win against weaponry,” Kieran said.
“It was not magic that stopped Innis,” Crystall said.
“It was human magic,” Kieran said.
“Guns are not magic,” Crystall argued, “they are weapons.”
Kieran shook his head. “What is human science but another name for magic? Even now, the princess has brought human spell casters into our sithen. She allows human magic free range inside the only refuge we have left.”
“That’s a reason to attack me,” I said, “but not a reason to attack Galen. Why him?”
“Perhaps we are attacking all your guards, if we find them alone,” Kieran said.
“No,” Galen said with his head still in my lap, “when I came around the corner Melangell said, ‘We’ve been waiting for you, green man,’ then you hit me in the back. Where were you hiding? I must have passed right by you.”
“Innis can hide in plain sight,” Frost said, “and he can hide one or two with him, if none of them moves.” Frost was still very much on alert, guarding me. He hadn’t looked at a wound, or participated in the conversation. He was working and it showed.