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

Ingrey grimaced. Well, that was inevitable. He would hear more from Wencel on that subject before the day was done, he was sure.
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THE MIDDLETOWN TEMPLE DIVINE WAS A MERE YOUNG ACOLYTE, and had been thrown into panic by the descent upon him, on only a half dayТs notice, of the princeТs cortege. But however much ceremony Earl Horseriver was sent to provide, it was clear it was not starting yet. The cavalcade left town promptly at noon with a grimmer efficiency than Ingrey in his vilest mood would have dared deploy. He applauded in his heart, and left the pallid acolyte a suitable purse to console him for his terrors.
Middletown was not yet out of sight on the road behind them when Wencel wheeled his chestnut horse around beside IngreyТs, and murmured, УRide ahead with me. I need to speak with you.Ф
УCertainly.Ф Ingrey kneed his horse into a trot; he gave what he hoped was a reassuring nod to Ijada as they passed around her riding beside the wagon. Wencel favored her with a somewhat ambiguous salute.
Wencel turned in his saddle, as the distance between them and the cortege stretched out of any possible earshot, but only remarked, УWherever did you find the beer wagon?Ф
УReedmere.Ф
УHa. At least one thing about his funeral will match poor BolesoТs taste. TheyТre hauling that silver-plated royal hearse from Easthome to meet us in Oxmeade. I trust it will not collapse any bridges on the way.Ф
УIndeed.Ф Ingrey tried to keep his lips from twitching.
УMy household awaits me in Oxmeade to attend to my comfort tonight. And yours, if you will join me. I recommend you do so. There will be no lodgings to be found for love nor money once the court arrives there for this procession.Ф
УThank you,Ф said Ingrey sincerely. There had been duels fought by desperate retainers over the possession of haylofts, in certain unwieldy royal excursions of IngreyТs experience. Wencel would certainly have secured the best chambers available.
УTell me of this Learned Hallana, Ingrey,Ф said Wencel abruptly.
At least he did not tax Ingrey for his failure to mention her before. Ingrey wondered whether to feel relieved. УI judged her to be exactly what she claimed to be. A friend of Lady IjadaТs who had known her as a child. SheТd been a physician at some fort of the SonТs Order out west in the fen marchesЧIjadaТs father was a lord dedicat, and its captain, at the time.Ф
УI knew something of Lord dy Castos, yes. Ijada has spoken of him. But my mind picks at the coincidence. A sorcerer with some connection with Lady IjadaЧand her new afflictionЧdisappears from BoarТs Head. Days later, a sorcererЧor sorceressЧwith a connection with Ijada comes to her in Red Dike. Is this two sorcerers, or one?Ф
Ingrey shook his head. УI cannot imagine Learned Hallana passing without note at BoarТs Head. Inconspicuous, she was not. And she was very pregnant, which I gather lays great constraint upon her use of her demon for the duration. She stays in a hermitage at Suttleaf, for safety. I admit my evidence is indirect, but IТm certain that Boleso was already deep into his disastrous experiments when he murdered his manservant so grotesquely, six months ago. Which must put his pet sorcerer at Easthome then, or near then, as well.Ф
Wencel frowned in doubt.
УIt is as much an error to take truth for lies, as lies for truth,Ф Ingrey pointed out. УThe dual-divine was a most unusual lady, but that she might also be BolesoТs puppet is one too many things to believe about her. It doesnТt fit. For one thing, she was no fool.Ф
Wencel tilted his head, conceding the point. УSuppose she were his puppet master, then?Ф
УLess unlikely,Ф Ingrey granted reluctantly. УButЕno.Ф
Wencel sighed. УI shall give up my simplifying conjecture, then. We have two separate sorcerers. ButЧhow separate? Might BolesoТs tool have fled to her, after the debacle? The two in league?Ф
An uncomfortable idea. It occurred to Ingrey suddenly that the suggestionЧmisdirection?Чthat his geas had been laid on him at Easthome had come from Hallana. УThe timingЕwould not be impossible.Ф
Wencel grunted disconsolately, staring between his horseТs ears for a moment. УI understand the learned divine wrote a letter. Have you read it yet?Ф
Curse you, Gesca. And curse that gossiping warden. How much else did Wencel already know? УIt was not entrusted to me. She handed it directly to Lady Ijada. Sealed.Ф
Wencel waved a hand in dismissal of this. УIТm sure youТve been taught how to do the thing.Ф
УFor ordinary correspondence, certainly. This is one from a Temple sorcerer. I hesitate to think what might happen to the letterЧor to meЧif I attempted to tamper with it. Burst into flame, maybe.Ф He left it to Wencel to decide if he meant the paper, or Ingrey himself. УPassing it on to Hetwar also has problems. At the least, he would need another Temple sorcerer to open it. I should think even the royal sealmaster would find it a challenge to suborn one to pry into letters addressed to the head of his own order.Ф
УAn illicit sorcerer, then.Ф At IngreyТs sour look, he protested, УWell, you must grant Hetwar could find one if anyone couldЧif he chose.Ф
УIf this multiplication of hypothetical sorcerers goes on, we shall have to hang them from the rafters like hams to make room.Ф Although, Ingrey was uncomfortably reminded, there was still his strange geas to account for.
Wencel gave a short, unhappy nod, then fell silent for a little. УYes, speaking of hams,Ф he finally said. His voice grew conversational. УIt is not, you know, that you lie well, cousin. ItТs merely that no one is foolhardy enough to call you on it. This may have given you an inflated idea of your skill at dissimulation.Ф The voice hardened. УWhat really happened in that upstairs room?Ф
УIf I had anything more to report, it would be my duty to report it first to Lord Hetwar.Ф
WencelТs brows climbed. УOh, really? First, and yet somehowЕnot yet? I saw your letters to Hetwar, such as they were. The number of items missing from them turns out to be quite notable. Leopards. Sorceresses. Strange brawls. Near drownings. Your romantic lieutenant Gesca would even have it that you have fallen in loveЧalso, if more understandably, without hint in your scribblings.Ф
Ingrey flushed. УLetters can go astray. Or be read by unfriendly eyes.Ф He glowered, pointedly, at the earl.
WencelТs lips parted, closed. He attended for a moment to his horse, as he and Ingrey separated to ride around a patch of mire. When they were stirrup to stirrup again, Wencel said, УYour pardon if I seem anxious. I have a great deal to lose.Ф
With false cheeriness, Ingrey replied, УWhile I, on the other hand, have already lost it all. Earl-ordainer.Ф
Wencel touched a fist to his heart, in acknowledgment of the hit. But he added quietly, УThere is also a wife.Ф
It was IngreyТs turn to fall silent, abashed. Because WencelТs marriage was arrangedЧand, up till now, barrenЧdid not necessarily entail that it was also loveless. On either side. Indeed, Princess FaraТs betrayal of her handmaiden spoke of a hot unhappy jealousy, which could not be a product of bored indifference. And the hallow kingТs daughter must have seemed a great prize to so homely a young man, despite his own high rank.
УBesides,Ф WencelТs voice lightened again, Уburning alive is a most painful death. I do not recommend it. I think this missing sorcerer could be a threat to us both, in that regard alone. He knows many things that he should not. We should find him first. If he proves to contain nothing, ah, personally dangerous, IТd be glad enough to pass him along to Hetwar thereafter.Ф
And if the sorcerer was dangerous to him, what did Wencel propose to do then? And, five gods, how? УLeaving aside all questions of dutyЧthis is not an arrest I am equipped to handle, privately or otherwise.Ф
УHow if you were? Does having first knowledge not attract you?Ф
УTo what end?Ф
УSurvival.Ф
УI am surviving.Ф
УYou were. But your dispensation from the Temple depends, in part, upon a bond of surety now broken.Ф
IngreyТs eyes flicked to him, wary. УHow so?Ф
WencelТs lips tightened in a small smile. УI could deduce it by the change in your perception of me alone, but I donТt have to; I can see it. Your beast lies quietly within you, by long habit if nothing else, but nothing constrains it except that you do not call it up. Sooner or later, some Temple sensitive is bound to notice, or else you will make some revealing blunder.Ф His voice grew low and intense. УThere are alternatives to cutting off your hand for fear of your fist, Ingrey.Ф
УHow would you know?Ф
WencelТs hesitation was longer, this time. УThe library at Castle Horseriver is a remarkable thing,Ф he began obliquely. УSeveral of my Horseriver forefathers were collectors of lore, and at least one was a scholar of note. Documents lie there that I am certain exist nowhere else, some of them hundreds of years old. Things old AudarТs Temple-men would not have hesitated to burn. The most amazing eyewitness accountsЧI should tell you some of the anecdotes, sometime. Enough to lure a not very bookish boy to read on. And then, laterЧto read as though his life depended on it.Ф His gaze found IngreyТs. УYou dealt with your so-called defilement by running away from all knowledge, and acknowledgment. I dealt with mine by running toward. Which of us do you think has the best grip by now?Ф
Ingrey blew out his breath. УYou give me a lot to think about, Wencel.Ф
УDo so, then. But do not turn away from understanding, this time, I beg you.Ф He added more softly, УDo not turn your back on me.Ф
Indeed not. I should not dare. He gave Wencel an equivocal salute.
The cortege came then to a rocky ford, fortunately not in so great a spate as the near-disastrous crossing on the first day, and Ingrey turned his attention to getting all across in safety. A mile farther on, the wagon nearly bogged in a stretch of mud, then a guardsmanТs mount went lame from a lost shoe. Then, at a stop to water the horses, a fight broke out between two of BolesoТs retainers, some smoldering private quarrel that burst into flame. IngreyТs customary menace almost did not contain it, and he turned away from the separated pair pale with worry, which they fortunately took for rage, about what might happen the next time if mere threat was not enough, and he was forced to follow with action.