Nine Princes in Amber (Девять принцев Эмбера)

I heard them bashing about in the bushes and was alert, I pushed some fronds aside and peered forth.

It was three of the big red guys.

So I straightened my gear and brushed all my garments, ran a hand through my hair, stood erect and swayed, took several deep breaths, and stepped forth,

“I am here,” I announced.

Я услышал, как кто-то продирается сквозь кусты и тут же притаился. Раздвинув несколько веток, я посмотрел вперед.

Это были три краснокожих великана. Так что я выпрямился, почистил одежду, пригладил рукой волосы, сделал несколько глубоких вдохов и выступил вперед.

— Я здесь.

Two of them did double-takes, blades in their hands, as I said it.

But they recovered, smiled, paid me deference, and conducted me back to the camp. It was perhaps two miles distant. I made it without leaning.

Bleys appeared and said, “We've got over three thousand now.” Then he called for a medical officer to take care of me again.

Услышав мой голос, двое из них выхватили мечи и заняли оборонительную позицию. Но они быстро оправились, улыбнулись, отдали мне честь и проводили в лагерь. Он был примерно в двух милях. Я дошел до него, умудрившись не сутулиться по дороге.

Появился Блейз и сообщил мне:

— У нас уже более трех тысяч.

Затем он опять позвал военного врача, чтобы тот обо мне позаботился.

We were undisturbed all through the night, and the rest of our troops straggled in that night and the following day.

We had perhaps five thousand by then. We could see Amber in the distance.

We slept another night and on the following morning we set forth.

Ночь прошла спокойно, никто на нас не нападал, и всю ночь и весь следующий день к нам присоединялись остатки нашего войска.

Их было уже пять тысяч. В отдалении виднелся Эмбер.

Мы спали всю ночь и отправились в путь наутро.

By afternoon we had made maybe fifteen miles. We marched along the beach, and there was no sign of Julian anywhere.

The feeling of pain from my burns began to subside. My thigh was healthy, but my shoulder and arm still hurt from here to hell and back again.

К полудню проделали примерно двадцать миль. Мы маршировали вдоль берега, и нигде не было видно и признака войск Джулиана.

Боль от ожогов начала проходить. Бедра я почти не чувствовал, но плечо и руки давали о себе знать, причем иногда было так больно, что хотелось кричать во все горло.

We marched on, and soon we were within forty miles of Amber. The weather stayed clement and all of the wood to our left was a desolate, blackened ruin. The fire had destroyed most of the timber in the valley, so for once there was a thing in our favor. Julian nor anybody else could ambush us. We'd see them coming a mile off. We made another ten miles ere the sun fell and we bivouacked on the beach.

Мы продолжали идти вперед и вскоре оказались в сорока милях от Эмбера. Погода оставалась устойчиво хорошей, а лес слева от нас весь выгорел и стоял черный, как деготь. Огонь уничтожил весь кустарник в долине, а это было нам на руку. Ни Джулиан, ни кто-то другой не мог устроить нам засаду. Мы бы увидели их за милю. До захода солнца прошли еще десять миль и разбили лагерь на берегу.

The next day, I remembered that Eric's coronation was near at hand and I reminded B!eys. We had almost lost count of the days, but realized we still had a few remaining.

We led a speed-march till noon. then rested. By then, we were twenty-five miles away from the foot of Kolvir. By twilight, the distance was ten.

And we kept on. We marched till midnight and we bivouacked once again. By that time, I was beginning to feel fairly alive once more. I practiced a few cuts with my blade and could almost manage them. The next day, I felt even better.

We marched until we came to the foot of Kolvir, where we were met by all of Julian's forces, combined with many from Caine's fleet who now stood as foot soldiers.

Bleys stood there and called things, like Robert E. Lee at Chancellorsville, and we took them.

We bad maybe three thousand men when we had finished off everything Julian had to throw against us. Julian, of course, escaped.

But we had won. There was celebration that night. We had won.

I was very afraid by then, and I made my fears known to Bleys. Three thousand men again Kolvir.

I had lost the fleet, and Bleys had lost over ninety-eight percent of his foot soldiers. I did not look upon these as rejoiceable items.

I didn't like it.

But the next day we began the ascent. There was a stairway, allowing for the men to go two abreast along it. This would narrow soon, however, forcing us to go single file.

На следующий день мы начали подъем. На Колвир вела огромная лестница, позволяющая людям находиться на ней не более двух в ряд. Однако вскоре она сузится, и мы вынуждены будем идти гуськом.

We made it a hundred yards up Kolvir, then two, then three.

Then the storm blew in from the sea, and we held tight and were lashed by it.

Afterward, a couple of hundred men were missing.