"Rawn, Melanie - Dragon Star 1 - Stronghold" - читать интересную книгу автора (Dragon Stories)

He read to her while she sewed a new dress for their daughter, Merisel, thinking with amusement how astounded the others would be to see them. Just like an old married couple. Sometimes she asked for stories of his childhood or Desert legends, but most of all she loved to have him read to her. She was as mind-hungry as he had been in his youth, but with a tragic difference: she could not read. It had not been thought necessary for the child of a farmer, so she had never been taught. In her four years here she had tried again and again to learn, but without success. She confused letters, her mind making them into so many meaningless ink squiggles on a page. It was Jolan's opinion that the Goddess had given her one gift in exchange for another. Brenlis could write her name, and that was all.
Andry read to her that night from a book recently sent from the scriptorium on Kierst. The story dated back hundreds of years before Sunrunners and diarmadh'im had battled for the continent, a thrilling and unlikely tale of a quest for a lost crown called aselej. It took until midnight to finish it, and he was dry-voiced and hoarse by the time he was done, but he had enjoyed the story and Brenlis had begged him to keep reading. He supposed that tales of the past must soothe a mind that so often saw the future.
Perhaps that was why she came to him: for refuge, quiet
36 Melanie Rawn
companionship. She never spoke of her own people or her home, or shared any of her thoughts or feelings unless he specifically asked. He had learned not to ask, schooling himself to patience. Th& night she spoke freely was the night he would know he had won her.
Whatever her elusiveness, it did not extend to rejection of physical pleasure. She had had no lover but him, ever since her first night when he had worn the Goddess' illusionЧand she had seen right through it. But tonight, even as she cried out in his arms, shuddering and clasping him ever closer, he knew he had not reached her heart. He never had. But someday, he promised himself, nestling her in his arms to sleep, someday. ...
When he woke just before dawn, he was alone. Brenlis rarely stayed with him until morning. He buried his face for a moment in her pillow, scenting her in the silk, and wondered yet again if he ought to marry her. He was often near to asking, but supposed he was afraid she would refuse himЧor, worse, accept for the wrong reasons.
It was Valeda who brought his breakfast, instead of the boy who usually waited on him. She obviously had something to discuss in private. In a single glance she took in the evidence of Brenlis' presence the night before: rumpled sheets, the impression left in the second pillow, stray hairpins on the carpet. Valeda tended to take a rather proprietary interest in his bed life, though she was never so foolish as to display jealousy. She knew better, having observed Othanel, long-dead mother of his son Andrev, who had been tediously possessive.
"How are the children this morning?" he asked. Valeda looked after his three daughters and two sons as devotedly as if all of them, not just Chayly, were hers. To the two eldest in particularЧAndrev, Othanel's son, and Tobren, whom Rusina had never wantedЧValeda was the only mother they had ever known. Ulwis and Brenlis were more like fond aunts to Joscev and Merisel than mothers.
"They're all quite well, my Lord."
"Are they used to Tobren's being gone yet?" He had sent his eldest girl, aged twelve, to foster with his brother MaarkenЧa calculated move on Andry's part, and they all knew it.
"Tobren?" Valeda looked blank for a moment, then nodded. "OhЧthey miss her very much, my Lord."
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"You're formal today. What's wrong?"
"Nothing. Just a little nervous, perhaps. Today we test Evarin's idea, after all." She paused. "Brenlis rode out at dawn. Alone."
"She did? Why?" He sat straighter, frowning.
"Word came on first light that her brother is ill. Torien gave permission. She was frantic, poor thing."
"Why didn't she take one of the physicians with her?"
"The Sunranner who sent the message is a Master Physician. ThelynЧyou remember him, the itinerant faradhl who ndes Syr and Gilad."
So Brenlis had been correct in her seeing; within days she would in truth be standing on the grassy bluffs of her home. Very well. I wish she'd taken an escort, though."
Valeda's lips quirked in an almost-smile. "Young she may be, and with only two ringsЧbut none could mistake those nngs and none would dare even think wickedness toward a Sunrunner. Your doing, my Lord."
"Not entirely."
"Don't worry about her. They know she's coming, and will probably send someone to meet her. Besides, consider the country she'll be traveling in."
Not all diarmadh'im had fled to the Veresch all those years ago after defeat at Lady Merisel's hands. While most had sought refuge in Princemarch, some had blended into the populations of the other lands. Only last winter Thelyn had found a tiny community living in the Catha Hills, and a year earlier a pair had been discovered in Gilad. Their homes now stood empty, marked on the doors with the sunburst that had become the Goddess' sign.
"I suppose you're right, and I shouldn't be concerned for her safety," Andry said. "They have a healthy respect for Sunrunners in the south. Besides, she saw this last nightЧor at least herself at her parents' home."
"Did she? An odd talent, this sight. I don't think I'd choose to have it."
"At times I don't think Brenlis likes it, either."
"Her absence won't affect the problem in Grib, will it?"
A slow smile spread over his face. "Not at all. I don't have to promise that the future will be foreseenЧI only have to hint that it might."
"You enjoy tweaking the High Prince's nose, don't you?"
38 Melanie Rawn
"Not his, and not the nose. Pol's pride. And don't tell me again that it may get me in trouble one day."
"I wouldn't presume," Valeda said. "You always know what you're doingЧand how far to take it."
"Your faith warms me," he drawled. Then more briskly, "Well, shall we go over the working Evarin proposes?"
A broad grin lit her face, uncharacteristic in its almost malicious glee. "I don't think that's necessary. It's already been done," Valeda said in Rusina's voice.
Andry sat straight up in bed, gaping.
She called out, "You can come in now," and the bedchamber door opened to admit EvarinЧlooking indecently pleased with himselfЧOclel, and a second Valeda. The real one. Andry was thunderstruck. The dark blonde hair, blue-gray eyes, and sturdy build of the woman seated nearby changed. Dark curls clustered around a high, polished forehead, and the figure fined down to dainty elegance.
Rusina laughed as he greeted the change with a gasp, then rose and went to her husband. "Perhaps I shouldjry it out on you some night, now that I'm good enough to fool even Andry!"
Oclel made a face at her. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?"
Andry closed his jaw and felt his lips thin angrily at the trick played on himЧher vengeance at last for fathering Tobren on her during her first night. She'd even forgotten that the girl was at WhitecliffЧwhich Valeda never would have done. That ought to have told him something was wrong. Rusina cared nothing for the daughter he'd given her. It had been her own damned fault, he reminded himself sharply; if she hadn't been silent about her feelings for Oclel, if she hadn't hesitated so long to Choose him publicly, Andry would never have given her a child.
The others were laughing, too: Evarin at his own cleverness, Oclel at his wife's impudence, Valeda at Andry. He realized that he would have to join in or look even more of a fool. Forcing a rather weak chuckle, he shook his head.
"I ought to toss the lot of you on the next ship to Kierst! How dare you!"
"Don't blame me," Oclel said. "It was Evarin's idea."
"And you gladly volunteered, didn't you?" he asked Rusina, who grinned again and nodded. "Congratulations. I
STRONGHOLD 39
never suspected a thing. I want a complete explanation after
j've_╗
"Soothed your pride?" Valeda offered, smiling. "Poor Andry! It really was rotten to do it this way, but Evarin insisted on a graphic demonstration of success."
"Nonsense," Andry growled. "You did it to humiliate me. Now, get out before I change my mind and ask Prince Tilal to lend me his oldest, smallest, leakiest ship and send you all on a long ocean voyage. Out!"
All but Valeda left him. "I'll help you bathe. The best cure I know for injured pride is a nice, hot soak."