"Bujold, Lois McMaster - Chalion 2 - Paladin of Souls" - читать интересную книгу автора (Bujold Lois McMaster)

As Liss did, indeed. She was doing her best to keep her face dignified, but she was rising on her toes.
УWell,Ф said Ista, amused, Уif Foix at least will undertake not to abandon meЧФ
Foix, smiling, favored her with a loyal bow.
УOh, thank you, my lady!Ф cried Liss, and was gone as though racing afoot, back to the innТs stable where they had stowed their mounts.
Ista strolled about the makeshift grounds on FoixТs arm, taking care to observe any contests in which her own men competed. A contest to gallop with a javelin picking off small rings set up on posts was won by one of her guard; a match that involved leaping from a horse to grapple a young steer to the ground was won by the steer. All brought back their prizes for their officer Foix to hold, and therefore Ista to notice; she felt half courtly, half maternal, and commiserated the dusty, limping steer-wrestler with as many words as she spared to congratulate the luckier contestants.
She had accepted her guard troop at first as an unavoidable encumbrance, and ignored them. But over the days of her journey she had learned names, faces, life storiesЧmost very short. They had begun to look less like blank-faced soldiers, responsible for her, and more like overgrown children. She did not care for this oppressive shift in her perceptions. She did not want to be responsible for them. I had no luck with sons. Yet loyalty must run two ways, or else become betrayal in the egg.
As the contenders assembled for the horse race, Foix found Ista a spot on the slope overlooking the road, above most of the rest of the eager crowd. In a gallantТs gesture he spread his vest-cloak, carried over his arm in the warmth of the bright afternoon, on the ground for Ista to settle upon. They had a fine view of the start and finish point, which was a large stump by the roadside. The course ran down the valley road for about two miles, circled a stand of oak trees crowning a mound, and returned by the same route.
Some twenty or so horses and their riders milled about in the wide space on the road. Ferda dy Gura, on his shining black beast, was shortening his stirrups and studying the others when Liss trotted up on her leggy bay. He turned to stare at her in surprise, but no delight. He apparently said something sharp, for LissТs face fell. She looked up in a moment and returned a rather bitten-out remark. Ferda leaned toward her and said something else, longer. She jerked her horse away, flushing; the angry color faded in a moment, to be replaced by a thoughtful frown, then a tight smile.
УNow, what was that all about?Ф Ista wondered aloud.
Foix, sitting at her feet, smirked. УI believe my brother was seeking to display his prowess to Liss, not to compete with hers. I fear he did not handle his surprise well.Ф He settled back on one elbow with an air of enjoyable interest that did not seem entirely due to the colorful excitement of the upcoming race.
УSo why arenТt you down there?Ф she asked him. УDo your ribs still trouble you?Ф
УNo, lady. But IТm no great rider.Ф His eyes narrowed with amusement. УIТll choose my ground, when I do, with more wit.Ф He was not, Ista suspected, referring to contests in a rural festival.
Under the direction of a pair of shouting organizers, the riders arranged themselves in an uneven, jostling line across the road. VinyascaТs town divine, a blue-and-white sash wrapped around his waist, stood on the stump and intoned a short blessing to dedicate the race to the goddess, then held up a blue kerchief. His hand dropped. With yells from both riders and onlookers, the horses plunged off.
At first, the horses clashed for position in a heart-stopping meleeЧone rider fellЧbut by the time the leaders were partway to the turning point, the line was spreading out. LissТs bay and FerdaТs black both ran near the front of the pack. Ista squinted anxiously into the distance, lips parted, breath coming faster. When the racers appeared again around the mound of oaks, the two shared a clear and widening lead. IstaТs party all broke into cheers.
Halfway back along the road from the trees, Liss threw a glance over her shoulder at Ferda and his laboring black, then leaned forward low over her horseТs neck. The rangy bay seemed to rise and float over the ground, and the gap between them widened rapidly.
Even Ista found herself cheering then: УYes! Go! Ha!Ф
Liss was two dozen horse lengths ahead as she neared the stump. But then, suddenly, she sat bolt upright. Her horseТs stride abruptly shortened; in a few more yards the bay was nearly bouncing in place. FerdaТs foam-flecked black flashed past, and Liss eased her reins and let her mount canter demurely after him. Her animal looked as though it was ready to run another race just like this one, and Ista was reminded that a typical courier leg was fifteen or so miles. The cries of the onlookers took on a decidedly bewildered tone. The rest of the field pelted past the finish point, and the crowd swirled down onto the road.
Foix, one arm wrapped around his knees as he rocked, held his hand over his mouth and choked back sputtering noises.
Ferda was standing in his stirrups, astonished and red with exertion and fury. He was nevertheless fъted as the winner by the dubious locals, who shot many looks over their shoulders at Liss. Liss put her nose in the air and walked her horse past him toward the town and the waiting stables. Ferda looked as though he wanted to fling his blue-and-white garland on the ground in front of her in a rage, but couldnТt so insult the goddess or his hosts.
УIf this is a courtship,Ф said Ista to Foix, Уmight you not advise your brother on his, ah, method?Ф
УNot for all the world,Ф said Foix, who had gained control of his breathing again. Little squeaks still leaked out now and then. УNor would he thank me if I did. Now, mind you, my lady, I would throw myself between my brother and a Roknari crossbow quarrel without hesitation. In fact, I have. But there must be limits to fraternal self-sacrifice, I think.Ф
Ista smiled dryly. УIs that the way of it? I see.Ф
Foix shrugged. УWell, who knows? Time must tell.Ф
УIndeed.Ф It reminded Ista quite of old court politics, in miniature. She must advise Liss against creating untoward dissension in her little troop, whether by accident or design. Foix . . . she wasnТt sure Foix needed anyoneТs advice.
Foix scrambled to his feet, eyes alight. УI must go congratulate my brother on his victory. ItТs not a moment to be missed.Ф He turned to help her up from the ground with a panache that would not have been out of place in Cardegoss.
Later in the afternoon, when Liss had returned to IstaТs side, Foix found a wood-chopping contest. He tackled this humble but vigorous exercise with his shirt off, before the ladiesТ eyes. He bore no serious scars on his muscular torso, though his flesh was slightly mottled still, Ista noted. She suspected his broadsword swing would be as handsome as his work with an ax. But he was either not quite as recovered from his injuries as heТd claimed, or interestingly subtle, for he came in a cheerful second. He clapped the winner on the shoulder, bought the man a congratulatory flagon of ale, and departed whistling.
***
Ista had no opportunity to speak alone with her handmaiden till mid-evening. They withdrew after supper to the balcony of her inn room, a choice chamber overlooking the town square. In the paved space below, a feast had given way to music and dancing, illuminated by hundreds of beautiful pierced metal lanterns scattered around the square and hung from the trees in front of the temple, shedding a lacy light. It was not excessively rowdy yet, for the young women were well chaperoned by their families. Later in the evening, when the maidens had all gone in, Ista expected more serious drinking to commence.
Ista settled in a chair brought out for her; Liss leaned on the wooden rail and watched the dancers wistfully.
УSo,Ф said Ista after a time, Уwhat had you and Ferda to say to each other that so inflamed you both, before your race?Ф
УOh.Ф Liss grimaced, turning half around. УStupid things. He said it was unfair for me to enter because my courier horse was too fine and fit for this country competition. As though his horse was not the finest Cardegoss could yield! And then he said it was not a proper contest for a womanЧwith half a dozen other women there! A race in the name of the goddess! The men in it only rode on their womenТs behalfЧhe entered in your honor.Ф
УA trifle inconsistent, I grant you,Ф murmured Ista.
УHe was odious. Well! I showed him.Ф
УMm, but you also showed him half right. Your horse did clearly overmatch the humble beasts of Vinyasca.Ф
УSo did his. If I should not have entered for that reason, neither should he.Ф
Ista smiled in silence, and Liss, after a moment, turned once more to watch the dancers. In the country dances here, men and women danced sometimes apart, in hand-clasped circles, and sometimes together, in complicated patterns sung out above the music by a caller. Most were rather vigorous, with a swirling of skirts and petticoats and rhythmic foot stamping.
Ista tried to decide if this flurry between her two principal attendants was a problem, or its opposite. In truth, she did not even know if her handmaiden, so hastily snatched up into her service, was a maiden. The riding girls of the courier cadre presumably took care not to become pregnant, lest they lose their livelihood, but that did not necessarily mean they were sexually abstinent, or innocent, or ignorant. Quite the reverse, since innocence based in ignorance was unfit to protect itself.
In IasТs court, Ista could not help having learned some things about how men and womenЧor other combinations of participantsЧcould pleasure each other without risking the consequences of children. Ista didnТt know how many of these secrets the riding girls passed around in their dormitories, nor how much they were taught by the women who supervised them, themselves former couriers looking out for their charges. In any case, as a farm girl involved in breeding animals, Liss was doubtless better informed of the basics than Ista had been at a like age. But emotions were as like to wreak havoc in a tightly confined court as physicalities.
Ista was also unsure if either dy Gura brother intended honorable courtship, or merely seduction. The social gap between landless minor aristocrat and landed yeomanТs child might tend to the latter, but it was not impossibly wide for the former. Especially given a dowry, though that seemed a dubious hope in LissТs case.
But a very little time in LissТs insouciant company had certainly brought both brothers to attention, and no wonder. The girl was beautiful and bright, the young men were healthy and vigorous . . . in all, Ista saw good reason not to rush to repair the breach, lest she replace one problem with a much less tractable one.
Still, she probed: УSo what do you think of the dy Guras?Ф
УFerda was all right at first, but lately heТs grown priggish.Ф
УHe feels his responsibilities keenly, I think.Ф
Liss shrugged. УFoix, well, Foix is all right, I suppose.Ф
Would Foix be crushed to hear this tepid judgment? Perhaps not. Ista ventured a hint. УI trust no men of my guard have made offensive advances to you. In order to testify to her ladyТs honor, a handmaiden must herself be above reproach.Ф
УNo, they all seem to take their oaths to the goddess most seriously.Ф She sniffed. УOr else Ferda selected them for like-minded priggishness.Ф A merry smile brought a dimple to the side of her mouth. УThe good divine, now, he wasted no time. He propositioned me that first night in Palma.Ф
Ista blinked in surprise. УAh,Ф she said cautiously. УOne must remember that not everyone in the BastardТs Order is of that, um, preference.Ф She considered how to phrase her next question. УYou need not endure affront, regardless of any manТs rank or calling. In fact, as my dependent, you should not. It is quite proper to complain to me if there is such a problem.Ф
Liss tossed her head. УI suppose I ought to have been insulted, but he managed to be quite charming about it, really. He took his rejection in good part and went off to try the chambermaid.Ф
УI received no complaints!Ф
Liss snickered. УI donТt think she had any. When they came out of her room later, she was giggling. It made me wonder what IТd missed.Ф