"Kerr, Katharine - Westlands 02 - A Time Of War v1.1" - читать интересную книгу автора (Dragon Stories)

СWell, by all means,Т Carra said. СBut youТll have to tell me what to do. IТm rather new at princessing, you know.Т
СVery well, then,Т Rhodry said. СI say: Your Highness, may I present to you Jahdo of the Rhiddaer? If you accept, you incline your head in a slight and regal manner. DonТt smile, now. HaughtyТs the look you want.Т
Carra tried to follow his instructions but ended up giggling. The older women smiled and shook their heads.
СItТll do,Т Rhodry went on. СNow, I say: Jahdo of the Rhiddaer, you have the honour of being in the presence of Princess Carramaena of the Westlands and Her Grace, the Lady Labanna, wife to Gwerbrct Cadmar of Dun Cengarn. СITien you bow from the waist Ч one hand behind your back, lad, and stay as straight as kneeling will allow -thatТs right. Bow to the princess first, and then the lady.Т
Carefully, solemnly, Jahdo followed his instructions.
СVery good,Т Lady Labanna pronounced. СAnd very well taught, silver dagger, I must say.Т
Rhodry noticed the serving women assessing him with shrewd eyes.
СMy thanks, my lady,Т he said hurriedly. СWeТd best leave your presence and not impose ourselves upon you any longer.Т
СOh Rhodry, donТt be so stiff!Т Carra laughed. СItТs not like IТve got much to do this afternoon. Dar - er, the prince my husband, I mean Ч is out hunting with his men again.Т
СYour Highness?Т Labanna leaned over and laid a firm hand on her arm. The silver dagger is quite correct. There is a limit to the time he may tarry in your presence,Т
Rhodry got up, motioning to Jahdo to join him, and bowed all round.
СI bid you ladies a good day,Т he said, smiling. СCome along, lad. Time for you to get back to your master.Т
As they hurried out of the great hall, Jahdo was babbling about how beautiful the princess was, but Rhodry barely listened. He was reminding himself that if he wanted his past to stay bidder,, heТd best roughen his manners. All at once he heard the boy shriek in terror. Rhodry spun round, found heТd drawn his sword without even thinking, and saw nothing at all, except for a pair of men riding in the main gate.
СWhat is it?Т Rhodry snapped.
СGods,Т Jahdo was shaking from head to foot as he held out a trembling hand, pointing to the gate. СGods. Riding in there.Т
СWhat?Т Rhodry sheathed his sword again. "ThatТs only a pair of Prince DarТs men.Т
The two men of the Westfolk were dismounting, tossing their reins to a waiting stable boy. Tall and slender, with moonbeam pale hair, they were both handsome fellows, except for their eyes, slit vertically like those of a cat, and their long ears, as delicately curled as seashells. Jahdo tried to speak but only made a choking noise deep in his throat. All at once Rhodry realized that the boy had most likely never seen an elf before.
СHere now,Т he said. СTheyТre real flesh and blood, just like you and me. They look different, truly, but theyТre much the same as us under the skin. Why, doesnТt a wolfhound look different than a gwertrae? But both breeds are still dogs, and you could even get healthy pups out of mating a pair, couldnТt you? Prince Daralanteriel is a man of the Westfolk, and Princess CarraТs a woman of Deverry, and here she is, growing bigger with his child every day. So you know that they must be much like us.Т
JahdoТs terror turned to puzzlement. The two elves waved at Rhodry and strolled on by, heading toward one of the side brochs, where they were quartered.
СBut they do look like gods,Т Jahdo said at last. "Two times now I did see a god, and they both looked just like that.Т
СUh, are you sure you didnТt just see two elves?Т
СAs sure as sure, because the gods did appear out of nowhere and then disappear again. One of them did come to the cell, when we were locked up, I mean. She just walked right through the wall and said we were going to be safe, and then she were gone. And not long after that you did come and take us to Jill, and Jill did make things well for us, and we were safe, just like the goddess prophesied.Т
It was RhodryТs turn for the surprise.
СOh, indeed?Т he said. СYou run along and tend to your master, lad. IТm going to find Jill and tell her about this. I think me sheТll find it interesting.Т
To Dallandra, the long night and morning that Jill had spent returning to Cengarn and questioning Meer and Jahdo passed as a bare couple of heartbeats, the brief interval of Time in which she flew over the water-veil from the dark of a Deverry night to the gold of day in EvandarТs country. Simply making that transition stripped away her bird form, and in the semblance of her real body, and in illusions of clven clothing, she found herself standing on a hill top overlooking the silver river. All round her the grass stretched green, but stunted, browning in the shade of sickly trees. When she turned and looked in the other direction, she saw a mound of tangled weeds and muddy bricks, all that was left of a once-lovely garden.
On impulse she walked down for a closer look. When sheТd first come to EvandarТs country, well over two hundred and fifty years past as men and elves reckon Time, heТd created this garden to please her. She remembered it as precisely geometric, a huge square marked off by brick walls and hedges and divided corner to corner by gravelled walks that led to a central fountain. In each division red roses bloomed, surrounded by various other flowers she couldnТt name, purple and blue and gold. Now the walls had fallen, the hedges gone wild or died back altogether, the walks lay hidden by burdock and dandelions, the roses fought with the weeds for sun. The few blooms she saw were no longer the doubled flowers of the cultivated rose but the simple five-petalled wild variety. In the middle, the marble basin of the fountain had shattered. Mossy chunks lay round the cracked shaft.
Out of sheer grief for something once lovely Dallandra started to walk in through the remains of a gate. In the snarl of weeds near the fountain, something moved with a scurrying little sound. She went frozen, one foot over the threshold, the other not, and waited till the sound came again. This time she saw someone peering at her for -A brief moment before it drew back into the foliage - elven eyes in a pale grey face, snouted like a hog, though with a human mouth. One of the Wildfolk? But for all their pranks and malice those elemental spirits, sprite and gnome, undine and salamander, were harmless at root, especially to a dwcomermaster like her. Here she felt danger, a sharp hard stab of dweomcr warning stinging her heart. Carefully, slowly, she stepped back out of the precinct; carefully, slowly, she moved back a few steps, never turning round, keeping a close watch on the ruined garden.
СDalla!Т It was EvandarТs voice from the hill top. СWhat are you doing down there?Т
СCome join me.Т
Although she could hear him hurrying down to join her, she never turned nor looked away from the garden.
СWhatТs all this?Т he was saying. СOh, your gardenТs fallen into rack and ruin. Shall I build it up for you, my love?Т
СWhist! Just be silent for a moment and watch. I thought I saw a member of your brotherТs court lurking round in there,Т
Out in the weeds something moved, stirred, then rose, standing up with a scatter of torn foliage - the owner of the snouted face, roughly human in form though stooped and twisted, wearing a tattered pair of brigga and naught else. At the sight of Evandar it whimpered, holding out clawed and clubby paws.
СHelp us! Without you we have nowhere to live.Т
СYou have everywhere to live.Т F.vandar said. СAll the world between the stars belongs to you.Т
The creature whimpered, shaking its head in a stubborn no.
СWe want a real home, the home we know, the grass and the rivers, the Lands.Т
СBuild your own, then. Or better yet, get that lord you serve to build them for you.Т
With one last cry, like a despairing baby falling into tear-stained sleep, the creature scuttled off. His arms crossed over his chest, Evandar watched it skittering over the billowing meadows till it disappeared.
СI suppose you think I should help them,Т he said at last.
СI honestly donТt know what to think. The best thing for them would be to choose life and birth, just as your people should, but would it cost you so much to save their lands for them?Т
СBut I donТt understand. Why should I do a thing for them that I donТt want to do?Т
The question was perfectly calm, perfectly civil, not petulant nor angry in the least. Its very placidity made her remember how alien he was, no matter how much an elf he looked.
СIt would be a compassionate thing, a right thing, a - well, a loving thing to do.Т
Kvandar laughed.
СBut theyТre ugly.Т
СThatТs true.Т Dallandra was choosing each word carefully. СBut they suffer, they have feelings even as you do С
"Them? My brotherТs little monsters? His ugly wretched brutes?Т
Something came clear in DallandraТs mind.
СYou made a country for your brother, but he had to fashion the bodies for his folk.Т