[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.The dog loved bones, with meat on them, or without.It did not matter to Wiggles as long she got something to chew.Zuzzara ignored the argument about Wiggles, as the dog never woke her at dawn with her insane barking (Zuzzara snored too loudly to hear it).Instead, she was busy telling Sanval that she always did most of the digging for the Siegebreakers, and even a half-ore of her size could only dig so fast and so far in a day."I could bring more men from the camp," offered Sanval."And some guards.We must not let this position be overrun."Ivy gestured at the scraggly trees surrounding them."We have enough cover to hide us from Fottergrim.They are not paying much attention to this side of the wall—that's why we picked this spot!""Just what we need, more humans!" huffed Mumchance."Doesn't matter how many dig, or how fast.The ground is rotten, Ivy.I know it is."Ivy stared at the dwarf.He gave her that one-eyed stare back that said most clearly that he was a dwarf and she was a human, and everyone knew who knew the most about soil conditions and digging.But if the tower did not fall, then there would be no gold for their purses, and that meant a long winter with no roof over the animals sheltering in the barn.Which, Ivy knew, meant every single dog, cat, goat, chicken, pig, mule, and stray bear cub currently sleeping in the barn would end up in the farmhouse's kitchen or, much worse, her room."We have two days or we don't receive a clipped coin from the Thultryl," Ivy explained more bluntly than she had intended, her voice rising to a bellow.Her crew knew that voice.Zuzzara stood up and grabbed her shovel, swinging it up to her shoulder.She reached a hand down to Gunderal.The wizard floated daintily to her feet, fluffing her skirts around her.After a couple of quick twists with her fingers, Gunderal's hair obligingly arranged itself into long blue-black ringlets, perfectly framing her pale oval face."Oh, Ivy," said Gunderal, her violet eyes widening in disapproval."You are wearing that cap again."Ivy put up her bare hand and tugged the brim of her leather cap lower on her brow.Just because she had plucked it off that dead man's head—and he certainly did not need it at the time or since—Gunderal had taken the most unreasonable dislike to her current cap.Well, Gunderal said that it was the stains and the reek of the leather when the cap got wet in the rain that she disliked.When Ivy had responded that it did not smell any different from the rest of her gear, Gunderal had given one of her huge sighs and said, "That is part of the problem."Ivy frowned at Gunderal.She was not going to start a discussion about her cap in front of Sanval.After all, she doubted that officers of Procampur wasted time discussing the quality of their leather goods when they could be doingsomething else.Or, glancing over at the brilliantly polished boots that Sanval wore, maybe they did.But she knew that the Siegebreakers had better things to do."It won't rain today," Ivy said as firmly as she could."I know, but really that cap! I swear there arc teeth marks on the brim.""Well, if you hadn't thrown it at the dogs and encouraged them to play tug-of-war with it.Took me forever to get it back!""I was just trying to discourage you from wearing it.""Thought you wanted to see what Kid found in the tunnel," said Zuzzara, placidly stepping between the two of them.Since she was digging today, Zuzzara's braids were bound back from her face in a neat array, and she was wearing a sturdy leather waistcoat rather than one of the more ornate brocade ones that she favored in peaceful times.Heavily influenced by Gunderal's nagging, Zuzzara's style did not match the many other half-ores roaming the North—the kind who typically wore rough untreated pelts with the occasional bone jewelry decoration.Ivy, however, refused to heed Gunderal's criticisms.Ivy was a mercenary.Mercenaries wore what they could loot.That was tradition and certainly easier than commissioning matching sets of armor (and cheaper too).When something got too dirty or battered to wear, you grabbed something new or traded with the guy in the next tent over for what you needed.Ivy did not see the point of Gunderal's constant little lectures that inevitably started with "you would look so nice if only.""Maybe there is a way around the rotten spot?" the half-ore suggested, gently steering Gunderal away from Ivy
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]