"Troy Denning - Forgotten Realms - The Cormyr Saga 02 - Beyond the High Road" - читать интересную книгу автора (Denning Troy)

something wrong with those barley fields?"
The thin priest leaned in front of her and peered out the window. "There is, Princess. It's too early for
such a color. There must be some sort of blight."
Tanalasta frowned. "Across the whole heath?"
"So it appears."
Tanalasta thrust her head out the window. "Stop the carriage!"
Merula scowled and reached for his own drape to countermand the order, but Tanalasta caught his arm.
"Do you really want to challenge the command of an Obarskyr, wizard?"
The wizard knitted his bushy eyebrows indignantly. "The royal magician's orders were clear. We are to
stop for nothing until we have cleared the mountains."
"Then proceed on your own, by all means," Tanalasta retorted. "Vangerdahast does not command me.
You may remind him of that, if he is listening."
The carriage rumbled to a stop, and a footman opened the door. Tanalasta held out her hand to Dauneth.
"Will you join me, Warden?"
Dauneth made no move to accept her hand. "Merula is right, milady. These mountains are no place-"
"No?" Tanalasta shrugged, then reached for the footman's hand. "If you are frightened...."
"Not at all." Dauneth was out the door in an instant, jostling the footman aside and offering his hand to
Tanalasta. "I was only thinking of your safety."
"Yes, you did say you have reason to concern yourself with me."
Tanalasta gave the Warden a vinegary smile, then allowed him to help her out of the coach, prompting a
handful of peasants to gasp and bow so low their faces scraped ground. Outside, it was a warm mountain
afternoon with a sky the color of sapphires and air as dry as sand, and the princess was disappointed to
note they had already crossed most of the heath. The foot of Worg Pass lay only a hundred paces ahead,
where the barley fields abruptly gave way to a stand of withering pine trees.
Tanalasta motioned the peasants to their feet, then turned to Harvestmaster Owden, who was climbing
out of the carriage behind her. "Do you think your assistants could do anything to save these fields,
Harvestmaster?"
Owden glanced toward a large, ox-drawn wagon following a few paces behind the princess's carriage.
A dozen monks in green woolen robes sat crammed into the cargo bed among shovels, harrows, and other
implements of Chauntea's faith. They were eyeing the blighted fields and muttering quietly among
themselves, no doubt as concerned as Tanalasta by what they saw.
Owden motioned his assistants out of the wagon. "It will take a few hours, Princess."
"A few hours!" Merula hoisted his considerable bulk through the carriage door with surprising ease. "We
can't have that! The royal magician-"
"-need not know," Tanalasta finished for him. "Unless he is spying upon us even as we speak-in which
case you may inform him that the Crown Princess will spend the afternoon walking."
Tanalasta eyed the Purple Dragons guarding her carriage, one company mounted on their snorting
chargers ahead of the procession and the other bringing up the rear, lances posted and steel helmets
gleaming in the sun. At the end of the official column followed a long line of merchant carts taking
advantage of Tanalasta's escorts to ensure a safe passage through the mountains. Sighing at the futility of
trying to find a little privacy with her suitor, Tanalasta turned to Dauneth.
"Will you join me, Warden?"
Dauneth nodded somewhat uncomfortably. "Whatever the princess wishes."
Trying not to grind her teeth in frustration, Tanalasta took Dauneth's arm and led him past the long file of
riders to the front of the column. Though her shoulders were draped in a silken cape of royal purple,
underneath she wore a sensible traveling smock and a pair of well-worn walking boots, and it was not long
before they reached the foot of Worg Pass. She sent the company captain ahead with two scouts and
instructed the rest of the company to follow twenty paces behind, but she could not quite make her getaway
before Merula the Marvelous came puffing up from behind.
"I trust ... the princess will not object to... company," Merula panted.