"Peter David - Sir Apropos 01 - Sir Apropos Of Nothing" - читать интересную книгу автора (David Peter)

even started to form a sentence, I was off again. "The instant I entered, he bolted the door to make sure
that no others would follow. Overwrought and ashamed of himself, he knew he could not face you, my
king, after he felt he had failed you. Nor did he feel that he could face you good sirs, knowing that this
more tender side was...and there is no delicate way to put it, milords...out of control. He felt the only
honor left to him was a respectable death. But I," and I clenched my fist, "did not agree. I begged him to
reconsider, to think of all the carnage and slaughter that he could still inflict. There was so much death left
for him to live for. But he wouldn't attend my words, milords, no, he wouldn't." I made a visible effort to
keep back the tears. "With those great hands of his, those great hands that have throttled so many, he
tried to drive his sword into his mighty chest." There were gasps now. I was reasonably sure I had them,
but I didn't let up. My voice went up an octave, to properly project my fear and terror. It wasn't much of
an acting chore. If I didn't get the job done, they'd see through this crap I was hurling at them and have
me executed, most likely right on the spot. "I struggled with him, milords. As presumptuous, as doomed
to failure as that may sound, I tried to stop him. I'm sorry, Sir Umbrage," I said to my master as humbly
as I could. "You have taught me" (no he hadn't, see above) "to obey the wishes of a knight, whatever the
circumstance. But I could not do so here. I wanted to try and save one of the king's own greats. I wanted
to be...to be a hero, milords. To be like you." This brought nods of approval. My heart was pounding.
"And then...and then--"

"And then...then it was amazing, milords!" Rosalie suddenly cried out. I felt my heart sink into my
boots. One false word out of her and the entire thing was done for. But Rosalie rose to the challenge.
"My husband's strength...it's...it's legendary. But this young man, this squire, nearly matched him pound
for pound, milords! He came so close, so close to saving the life of my noble husband, your noble peer.
But...ultimately...he..." She choked on the words. "He...could not. My noble lord threw himself upon the
upraised blade of his mighty weapon. 'With honor' were the last words he managed to gasp out...and
then was cleaved in half the great heart."

It was damned near poetic. Even the vaunted Justus himself was becoming choked up.

There was dead silence. I realized that all eyes were turning toward the king. There might have been
suspicion, confusion on the parts of the other knights, but ultimately, it all came down to the king. His
thinking shaped the reality.

His gaze never waved from me. As withering an opinion as I'd earlier formed of him, I felt myself
starting to get nervous. His reputation for incisiveness and canniness had to be based onsomething. If
he'd seen through the nonsense, I was finished.

And finally, he said two words and only two:

"Good work." And then, with no further comment, he turned and left the room, the jester cavorting
and drooling after him.

The relief that flowed through me caused me to sag and almost collapse, but I managed to catch
myself before that happened. The other knights came forward, clapping me on the shoulder, clucking
over the corpse of their fallen comrade, and offering succor to the lovely Rosalie. Rosalie in turn caught
my eye and there seemed to be a slight glittering triumph in there, as if to say,See? I could spout
nonsense as well as you. Clearly, she could. And she was in an excellent position as well. As widow,
she would acquire all of Granite's lands and titles, and no doubt have a number of eligible men courting
her. She wouldn't require the attentions of a lowly squire and stablehand, which was fine by me. As
entertaining between the sheets as she was, I didn't need the aggravation. Besides, if anyone caught sight
of us together or any whispering began about us, it could utterly shred the tissue of lies that was, at that