"Dragonlance - Deathgate 3 - Fire Sea - uc" - читать интересную книгу автора (Dragonlance)

Foreboding? Premonition? I do not believe in such things, for they imply a higher power, an immortal hand and mind meddling in the affairs of men. But I know, as surely as I know that he will have to leave this land of his birth and his father's birth and of the many fathers before him, that Edmund will be the last king of the Kairn Telest.

I am thankful, then, for the darkness. It hides my tears.

The king is silent, as well; our thoughts running along the same dark course. He knows. Perhaps he loves him now. Now that it is too late.

"I remember the colossus, Father," says his son hastily, mistaking the old man's silence for irritation. "I remember the day you and Baltazar first realized it was failing," he adds, more somberly.

My tears have frozen on my cheeks, saving me the need to wipe them away. And now I, too, walk the paths of memory. I walk them in the light... the failing light.. . .

CHAPTER * 2

KAIRN TELEST, ABARRACH

,.. THE COUNCIL CHAMBER OF THE KING OF THE REALM OF KAIRN Tfetest is thronged with people. The king is meeting with the council, made up of prominent citizens whose heads of household served in this capacity when the people first came to Kairn Telest, centuries before. Although matters of an extremely serious nature are under discussion, the meeting is orderly and formal. Each member of the council listens to his fellow members with attention and respect. This includes His Majesty.

The king will issue no royal edicts, set forth no royal commands, make no royal proclamations. All matters are voted on by the council. The king acts as guide and counselor, gives his advice, casts the deciding vote only when the issue is equally divided.

Why have a ruler at all? The people of Kairn Telest have a distinct need for propriety and order. We determined, centuries before, that we needed some type of governmental structure. We considered Ourselves, our situation. We knew ourselves to be more a family than a community, and we decided that a monarchy, which provides a parent-figure, combined with a voting council would be the wisest, n╗OSt appropriate form of government.

We have never had reason to regret the decision of our ancestors. Ihe first queen chosen to rule produced a daughter capable of carrying on her mother's work. That daughter produced a son, and feus has the reign of Kairn Telest been handed down through generation after generation. The people of Kairn Telest are well satisfied *|d content. In a world that seems to be constantly changing around

*12*

WEIS AND HICKMAN

usЧchange over which we apparently have no controlЧour monarchy is a strong and stable influence.

'And so the level of the river is no higher?" the king asks, his gaze going from one concerned face to another.

The council members sit around a central meeting table. The king's chair stands at the head. His chair is more elaborate than the other chairs, but remains on a level equal with theirs.

"If anything, Your Majesty, the river has dropped farther. Or so it was yesterday, when I checked." The head of the Fanner's Guild speaks in frightened, gloom-laden tones. "I didn't go by to see today, because I had to leave early to arrive at the palace on time. But I've little hope that it would have risen in the night."

'And the crops?"

"Unless we get water to the fields in the next five cycles' time, we've lost the bread-grain, for certain. Fortunately, the kairn grass is doing wellЧit seems to be able to thrive under almost impossible conditions. As for the vegetables, we've set the field hands to hauling water to the gardens, but thafs not working. Hauling water is a new task for them. They don't understand it, and you know how difficult they can be when they're given something new."

Heads nod around the table. The king frowns, scratches his bearded chin. The farmer continues, seeming to feel the need to explain, perhaps to offer a defense.

"The hands keep forgetting what they're supposed to be doing and wander off. We find them, back at work on their old jobs, water buckets left to lie on the ground. By my calculations, we've wasted more water this way than we've used on the vegetables."

'And your recommendation?"

"My recommendation." The farmer glances around the table, seeking support. He sighs. "I recommend that we harvest what we can, while we can. It will be better to save the little we have than to let it all shrivel up and die in the fields. I brought this parfruit to show you. As you see, it's undersize, not yet ripe. It shouldn't be picked for another sixteen cycles, at least. But if we don't gather it now, it'll wither and die on the vine. After the harvest, we can do another planting and perhaps, by that time, the river will have returned to its normalЧ"

"No," calls a voice, a voice new to the room and to the meeting. I have been kept waiting in the antechamber long enough. It is obvious that the king isn't going to send for me. I must take matters

Fire Sea ╗13╗ into my own hands. "The river will not return, at least not anytime goon, and then only if some drastic change occurs that I do not foresee. The Hemo is reduced to a muddy trickle and, unless we are indeed fortunate, Your Majesty, I believe it may dry up altogether." The king turns, scowls in irritation as I enter. He knows that I am for more intelligent than he is and, therefore, he doesn't trust me. But he has come to rely on me. He's been forced to. Those few times he did not, when he went his own way, he came to regret it. That is why I am now necromancer to the king.