"Rawn, Melanie - Dragon Star 2 - Dragon Token" - читать интересную книгу автора (Dragon Stories)

"Fine, fine." Yarin gestured with one well-kept hand. "Aldiar? Come in, boy, come in."

A tall, thin-limbed youth of about fifteen winters slunk through the door. Aldiar had the biggest black eyes Idalian had ever seen, all the larger for the hollow cheeks below them. There was no resemblance to Yarin at all, but the jawlineЧslightly wider on one side than the otherЧwas reminiscent of Tirel and his mother. What was charming in Lisiel and would be interesting in Tirel when he was grown was simply off-kilter in this boy.

"This is Idalian of FaolainЧforgive me, but I can never recall which Faolain you're from."

"Riverport, my lord," Idalian said quietly.

"Oh, of course. A great pity it was destroyed in this terrible war. Nothing to do with our part of the continent, but a terrible thing all the same. Aldiar comes from the mountain branch of our family."

Black hair spilled down a high forehead as the boy bowed low. "My father's mother's cousin was sister to my lord Yarin's mother's uncle'sЧ"

"Yes, yes," came the hasty interruption. "It's all as convoluted as the bloodlines of the princesЧand the Sun-

runners. Well, Idalian, is there anything here you can work with?" The smile was back.

The squire answered politely. "I'm sure Aldiar will be an apt pupil. Height and a long reach are good beginnings."

"Really?" The dark face flushed with pleasure. "I hope so. I already know a little about knives, and I can bring down a doe at two hundred paces with a single arrow, andЧ"

"I'll leave you to your martial discussions," Yarin said. "Idalian, I'll expect to hear that Tirel is back at his regular lessons this morning."

Unwisely, he protested, "But Arpali was his teacher, and sheЧ"

"Natham's tutor is also here from Snowcoves," said the regent. "I sent for him so that neither my son nor my nephew would suffer in their education, what with your Sunrunner dead."

He understood now. Aldiar would keep him busy and under watch; Natham and the tutor would do the same for Tirel. A ten-year-old boy and a teacher were unlikely assassinsЧbut was Aldiar, already proficient with a bow, meant to kill Idalian in an "accident"?

The boy was watching him. "Will you show me first how to use a knife?"

Now, many days later and facing Aldiar across a snowy practice yard, Idalian looked at midnight eyes set in a thin, dark face, and wondered again if he saw his executioner.

One, moreover, that he himself was teaching how to do it.

Neither thought made his tutelage a gentle one.

A few stable boys and men-at-arms paused in their duties to watch. The former were Laric's; the latter, Yar-in's. It was emblematic of the situation at Balarat these days, but oddly the reverse of what was happening now. For the moment, Idalian was the elder and stronger, and Yarin's kinsman the victim.

He came in low and fast, knife angled for the boy's ribs. Aldiar's backbone curved awkwardly as he shrank

from the thrust. Off-balance, he staggered and would have gone down but for Idalian's hand snatching his wrist, spinning him into an armlock.

There was scattered applause for the tidiness of the move. Idalian ignored it. With his blade at Aldiar's throat, he wrenched the captive arm tighter and said, "Stop trying to stand your ground. Step back if you need to. Give as you mustЧyou can take it back later."

"I thought this was a lesson in knife-fighting, not philosophy," the boy panted, twisting his neck as he tried to see Idalian's face.

The words puzzled him, but then he shrugged. "It's always better to yield ground than fall all over yourself trying to keep it." Releasing Aldiar, he stood back and observed, "At least you hung onto your knife. That's something, anyway."

"Show me how you'd do it," he challenged. "Not today." Tirel had been out of his sight now for a whole morning, and he could feel the familiar tension building. He still slept on a cot in the prince's chamber, so at least he could give his protection by night. But though the winter days were short, he spent too much of them away from his charge. Too much time for mischief to occur, with Yarin's mournful explanation of a tragic accident following close after.