"Kerr, Katharine - Deverry 01 - Daggerspell v1.1" - читать интересную книгу автора (Dragon Stories)

УDonТt you think I have you followed?Ф Adoryc went on with a grim smile. УYou may be fool enough to ride alone, but IТm not fool enough to let you.Ф
УCurse your very soul!Ф Galrion snapped. УSpying on me.Ф
УListen to your insolent little hound.Ф Adoryc glanced at Ylaena. УCursing his own father. But answer me, lad. What have you been doing? The village folk tell my men that this RhegorТs a daft old herbman. I can get you an apothecary if the prince has royal boils or suchlike.Ф
Galrion knew that the moment had come for truth, even though he had never been less willing to tell it in his life.
УHe earns his living with his herbs, sure enough,Ф Galrion said. УBut heТs a dweomer-master.Ф
Ylaena caught her breath in an audible gasp.
УHorsedung!Ф Adoryc said. УDo you truly think IТll believe such babble? I want to know what youТre doing, spending so much time with him when you tell me youТre at the Falcon dun.Ф
УStudying with him,Ф Galrion said. УWhy shouldnТt a prince study the dweomer?Ф
УAh ye gods!Ф Ylaena burst out. УIТve always known youТd leave me for that!Ф
Adoryc rose, turning to stare his wife into silence. Hastily Galrion scrambled up to face him.
УWhy not?Ф the King said. УWhy not? Because I forbid it.Ф
УOh here, you just called it horsedung,Ф Galrion said. УWhy are you raging now?Ф
Swinging too fast to be dodged, Adoryc slapped him hard across the face. When Ylaena cried out, Adoryc turned on her.
УGet out of here, woman,Ф Adoryc said. УNow.Ф
Ylaena fled through the curtained archway that led to the womenТs hall. Adoryc drew his dagger, then stabbed it into the back of the chair so hard that when he took his hand away, the dagger quivered for a moment. Galrion held his ground and stared steadily at him.
УI want a vow out of you,Ф Adoryc said. УA solemn vow that youТll never touch this nonsense again.Ф
УNever could I lie to my own father. So I canТt swear it.Ф
Adoryc slapped him backhanded.
УBy the hells, Father! What do you hold so much against it?Ф
УWhat any man would hold. Whose stomach wouldnТt turn at somewhat unclean?Ф
УItТs not unclean. ThatТs a tale the priests make up to frighten women away from witchcraft.Ф
The barb hit its mark. Adoryc made a visible effort to be calm.
УI canТt give it up,Ф Galrion went on. УItТs too late. I know too much already for it to let me rest.Ф
When Adoryc took a sharp step back, Galrion finally realized that his father was afraid, and him a man who would ride straight into a hopeless battle and take no quarter from man or god.
УJust what do you know?Ф the King whispered.
Galrion had RhegorТs permission to display one small trick to persuade his father. He raised his hand and imagined that it was glowing with blue fire. Only when the image lived no matter where he turned his mind did he call upon the Wildfolk of Aethyr, who rushed to do his bidding and bring the blue light through to the physical plane, where Adoryc could see it too. It flared up like a torch, raging from his fingers. Adoryc flung himself back, his arm over his face as if to ward a blow.
УStop it!Ф Adoryc bellowed out. УI say stop it!Ф
Galrion forced the fire away just as the KingТs guard flung open the door and rushed into the chamber with drawn swords. Adoryc pulled himself together with a will almost as strong as his sonТs.
УYou can all go,Ф Adoryc said, grinning, УMy thanks, but IТm only arguing with the stubbornest whelp in the litter.Ф
The captain of the guard bowed, glancing GalrionТs way with a smile of honest admiration. As soon as the men were gone and the door shut, Adoryc pulled the dagger free of the chair back.
УIТm half minded to slit your throat and put a clean end to this,Ф Adoryc remarked, in a casual tone of voice. УDonТt you ever do that again around me.Ф
УI wonТt, then,Ф Galrion said, smiling. УBut it makes a handy thing on a dark night when youТve dropped your torch.Ф
УHold your tongue!Ф Adoryc clutched the dagger tight. УTo think a son of mineЧand as cold as ice about it!Ф
УBut ye gods, Father, canТt you see? ItТs too late to go back. I want to leave the court and study. ThereТs no other road open to me.Ф
Adoryc held the dagger up so that the blade caught the torchlight.
УGet out,Ф Adoryc whispered. УGet out of my presence before I do a dishonorable thing.Ф
Galrion turned and walked slowly toward the door. The flesh on his back prickled. Once he was safely out, Gabion allowed himself one long sigh of relief that the dagger was still in his fatherТs hand, not in his back.
On the morrow, Galrion went early in search of his mother, but he found her talking urgently with her serving women. To pass the time until he could speak with her, he decided to go for a walk through the parkland. As he walked down the hill to the first gate, he was thinking that it should have come as no surprise that the King would fear a prince with dweomer-powerЧAdoryc feared every possible rival to his throne. At the gate, two guards stepped forward and blocked his path.
УMy humble apologies, my prince,Ф one said. УThe KingТs given orders that you not be allowed to pass by.Ф
УOh, has he now?Ф GalrionТs voice snapped in fury. УAnd would you raise your hand to stop me?Ф
УMy apologies, my prince.Ф The guard licked nervous lips. УBut at the KingТs orders, I would.Ф
As Galrion stalked back to the broch, he was determined to have it out with his father over this insult no matter what it cost him. As he strode down the corridors, servants scattered in front of him like frightened birds. Galrion slammed into the council chamber, knocked aside a page who tried to stop him, and found the King standing by the window and talking with a dusty, travel-stained lad who knelt at the KingТs feet.
УWell and good,Ф Adoryc was saying. УTomorrow you can take back the message of our condolences to Lord Gerraent. Our heart sorrows for the Falcon.Ф
Only then did Galrion recognize one of the pages from the Falcon dun. Ah ye gods, he thought, Dwen is dead! All at once, he felt his subtle plans slipping away from him, as when a child builds a tower out of bits of wood only to see it tumble down at the first breath of wind.
УAnd here is the prince,Ф Adoryc said. УDoes your lord have any message of import for him?Ф
УHe does, Your Highness,Ф the page said. УMy prince, Lord Gerraent has set the period of mourning until the turning of the fall. He humbly begs your understanding on this matter.Ф
УHe has it, truly,Ф Galrion said. УCome to me before you return to the Falcon. IТll give you a message for my lady.Ф
Adoryc dismissed the page in the care of another, who would feed and shelter him for the night. Once they were alone, the King dropped his false civility.
УSo,Ф Adoryc said. УYou seem to know whatТs going on well enough. Did your cursed dweomer show you DwenТs death?Ф
УIt did,Ф Galrion said. УBut I never thought it would come so soon.Ф