"Bujold, Lois McMaster - Chalion 3 - The Hallowed Hunt" - читать интересную книгу автора (Bujold Lois McMaster)

The agony, as she pulled on his arms, seemed pleasantly distant, like news from another country. She towed him relentlessly out the door.
а
THE SORCERESS-PHYSICIAN WAS ALREADY WAITING IN THE TAP-room of IjadaТs inn at the other end of Red DikeТs main street. Learned Hallana eyed his bandages, and inquired politely, УI trust this morning finds you much recovered, Lord Ingrey?Ф
УYes. Thank you. Your medicine helped. Though it made an odd breakfast.Ф He smiled at her, a trifle hazily he feared.
УOh. It would.Ф She glanced at Hergi. УHow muchЕ?Ф Hergi held up two fingers. Ingrey could not decide if the twitch of the divineТs eyebrows was censure or approval, for Hergi merely shrugged in return.
Ingrey followed both women upstairs once more. They were admitted to the parlor, a little doubtfully, by the female warden. Ingrey looked around surreptitiously for signs of his late frenzy, finding none but for a few faint bloodstains and dents on the oak floorboards. Ijada stepped from the bedchamber at the sound of their entry. She was dressed for travel in the same gray-blue riding costume as yesterday, but had put off her boots in favor of light leather shoes. Uneasily, Ingrey searched her pale face; her expression, returning his gaze, was sober and pensive.
More uneasily, he searched his own shifted perceptions. She seemed not so much different to him this morning as more, with an energetic density to her person that seized his focus. A heady warm scent, like sunlight in dry grass, arose from her. He found his lips parting to better taste that sun-smellЧa futile effort, as it did not come through the air.
Hallana, too, had more than a taste of the uncanny about her, a dizzying busyness partly from her pregnancy but mostly from a subdued swirl, smelling like a whiff of wind after a lightning strike, that he took for her pacified demon. The two ordinary women, Hergi and the warden, seemed suddenly thin and flat and dry by comparison, as though drawn on paper.
Learned Hallana embraced Ijada and pressed a letter into her hands.
УI must leave very soon, or we wonТt be home before dark,Ф the divine told her. УI wish I could go along with you, instead. This is all most disturbing, especiallyЕФ She jerked her head at Ingrey, indicating his late geas, and his lips twisted in agreement. УThat alone would make this Temple business, even withoutЕwell, never mind. Five gods guard you on your journey. This is a note to the master of my order in Easthome, begging his interest in your case. With luck, he can take up with you where I am forced to leave off.Ф She glanced IngreyТs way again, an untrusting tension around her mouth. УI charge you, my lord, to help see that this arrives at its destination. And no other.Ф
He opened his hand in an ambiguous acknowledgment, and HallanaТs lips thinned a little more. As HetwarТs agent, he had learned how to open and copy letters without leaving traces, and he was fairly certain she guessed he knew those tricks of a spyТs trade. Yet the Bastard was the very god of spies; what tricks might His sorceress know? And to which of her two holy orders had she addressed her concerns? Still, if she had enspelled the missive in any way, it was not apparent to IngreyТs new perceptions.
УLearnedЕФ IjadaТs voice was suddenly thin and uncertain. Learned, not dear Hallana, Ingrey noted. Hergi stood alertly ready to usher her mistress out the door; she frowned in frustration as the divine turned back.
УYes, child?Ф
УNoЕnever mind. ItТs nothing. Foolishness.Ф
УSuppose you let me be the judge of that.Ф Hallana lowered herself into a chair and tilted her head encouragingly.
УI had a very odd dream last night.Ф Ijada stepped nervously back and forth, then settled in the window seat. УA new one.Ф
УHow odd?Ф
УUnusually vivid. I remembered it in the morning right away, when I awoke, when my other dreams melted away out of my mind.Ф
УGo on.Ф HallanaТs face seemed carved, so careful was her listening.
УIt was brief, just a flash of a vision. It seemed to me I saw a sort ofЕI donТt know. Death-haunt, in the shape of a stallion. Black as soot, black without gleam or reflection. Galloping, but very slowly. Its nostrils were red and glowing, and steamed; its mane and tail trailed fire. Sparks struck from its hooves, leaving prints of flame that burned all to ash in its wake. Clouds of ash and shadow. Its rider was as dark as it was.Ф
УHm. Was the rider male or female?Ф
Ijada frowned. УThat seems like the wrong question to ask. The riderТs legs curved down to become the horseТs ribs, as if their bodies were grown together. In the left hand, it held a leash. At the end of the leash ran a great wolf.Ф
HallanaТs eyebrows went up, and she cast a glance at Ingrey. УDid you recognize this, ah, particular wolf?Ф
УIТm not sure. Maybe. Its pelt was pewter-black, just likeЕФ Her voice trailed off, then firmed. УIn my dream, anyway, I thought it felt familiar.Ф Briefly, her hazel eyes bored into IngreyТs, her sober look returning, to his immense discomfort. УBut it was altogether a wolf, this time. It wore a spiked collar, but turned inside out, with the sharp points digging inward. Blood splashed from its paws as it ran, turning the ash it trod to splotches of black mud. Then the shadow and the cinders choked my breath and my sight, and I saw no more.Ф
Learned Hallana pursed her lips. УMy word, child. Vivid, indeed. IТll have to think about that one.Ф
УDo you think it might have been significant? Or was it just an aftershock fromЕФ She gestured around the room, plainly recalling the bizarre events of last evening here, then looked at Ingrey sideways through her lashes.
УSignificant dreams,Ф said Hallana, a faint didactic tinge leaking into her tone, Уmay be prophecy, warning, or directive. Do you have any sense of which this might be?Ф
УNo. It was very brief, as I said. Though intense.Ф
УWhat did you feel? Not when you awoke, but then, within the dream? Were you frightened?Ф
УNot frightened, exactly. Or at least, not for myself. I was more furious. Balked. As though I were trying to catch up, and could not.Ф
A little silence fell. After a moment Ijada ventured, УLearned? What should I do?Ф
Hallana seemed to wrench her distant expression into an unfelt smile. УWellЕprayer never hurts.Ф
УThat hardly seems like an answer.Ф
УIn your case, it might be. This is not a reassurance.Ф
Ijada rubbed her forehead, as though it ached. УIТm not sure I want more such dreams.Ф
Ingrey, too, wanted to beg, Learned, what shall I do? But what answer, after all, could she give him? To stay frozen here? Easthome would only come to him, with all due ceremony. Travel on, as was his plain duty? Surely a Temple divine could advise no other course. Flee, or set Ijada to flight? Would she even go? HeТd offered escape to her once, in that tangled wood. SheТd sensibly refused. But what if her flight were made more practical? An escape in the night, with no hint to IngreyТs masters, oh no, as to how or from whose hand she had acquired horse, pack, moneyЕescort? We must speak again of this. Or could he give her over to the sorceress, her friendЧsend her in secret to Suttleaf? Surely, if such a sanctuary were possible, Learned Hallana would have offered it already. He strangled his beginning noise of inquiry in a cough, scorning to be dismissed with instructions to pray.
Hergi helped her mistress to rise again from her chair.
УTravel safely, Learned,Ф said Ijada. She smiled crookedly at the pregnant woman. УI donТt like to think that you might have put yourself in any danger because of me.Ф
УNot for you, dear,Ф said Hallana in an absent tone. УOr not for you alone, at least. This is all much more complex than I anticipated. I long for the advice of my dear Oswin. He has such a logical mind.Ф
УOswin?Ф said Ijada.
УMy husband.Ф
УWait,Ф said Ijada, her eyes growing round with astonishment. УNotЧnot that Oswin? Our Oswin, Learned Oswin, from the fen fort? That fussy stick? All arms and legs, with a neck like a heron swallowing a frog?Ф
УThe very same.Ф OswinТs spouse seemed unruffled by this unflattering description of her mate; her firm lips softened. УHeТs improved with age, I promise you. He was very callow then. And I, well, I trust I may have improved a trifle, too.Ф
УOf all the wondersЧI can scarcely believe it! You two used to argue and fight all the time!Ф
УOnly over theology,Ф said Hallana mildly. УBecause we both cared, you know. WellЕmostly over theology.Ф Her mouth twitched up at some unspoken memory. УOne shared passion led to others, in due time. He followed me back to the Weald, when his cycle of duty was endedЧI told him he just wanted to have the last word. HeТs still trying. He is a teacher, too, now. He still likes to argueЧitТs his greatest bliss. I should be cruel to deny it to him.Ф
УLearned Sir has a way with words, he does,Ф confirmed Hergi. УWhich I do not look forward to hearing, if I donТt get you home safe and soon as I promised him.Ф
УYes, yes, dear Hergi.Ф Smiling, the sorceress at last turned to lumber out under the close attendance of her handmaiden. Hergi gave Ingrey a nod of judicious approval in passing, presumably for his cooperation, or at least, for his failure to interfere.
He glanced back at Lady Ijada, watching her friend depart. Regret darkened her expression. She caught his gaze and mustered a wan smile. Oddly warmed, he smiled back at her.
УOh,Ф she said, one hand flying to her mouth.
УOh what?Ф he inquired, puzzled.