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

She gave a hiss of frustration. "Very well, then, let's talk about what goes on immediately outside these walls! Jayachin and her people have been impossible enough with you hereЧwhat will happen if you leave?"

Andry shrugged and poured himself more wine. "I have complete trust that Torien will keep everyone in line."

"My Lord. ..." Torien's dark Fironese face was worry-lined. "I value your confidence, but I have a hard time sharing in it."

"I don't see why," Andry said.

"That's not the issue," Valeda snapped. "What about your leg, Andry? It's not healed yetЧand don't pretend it doesn't hurt. You've been drinking like a tavern slug to numb it."

"I'm fine." He took a long, deliberate swallow of wine and waited for the next objection.

It came from the young woman who had replaced Rus-ina in their defensive configuration. Crila had eyes and hair as pale as dawn, but her skin was a rich, deep brown with a lustrous sheen over her high, prominent cheekbones. The color of that skin and the cant of those bones were the only physical clues to distant Fironese ancestryЧand the diarmadhi blood that sometimes went with it.

"My Lord, you must do as you will in all things," she

said in her light, soft voice. "But as much as I trust in your teachings and in Lord Torien's ability to lead us, I confess I would much rather have you here with us if we must use the ros'salath."

Smiling at her, he said, "You wouldn't hold the title devri and drink from Rusina's cup if you hadn't learned everything you need to know."

It had taken many days to test everyone here, and Crila had been the closest match to Rusina's colors and strengths. That her four Sunrunner's rings had turned to fiery circles on her fingers during the final test increased her valueЧthough Torien was still trying to convince her that Sorcerer's blood was not necessarily an evil thing. Andry had found her the perfect pupil and perfectly obedient; born the year Lady Andrade died, Crila was entirely of Andry's making as a Sunrunner.

Not so the man who had taken Oclel's place. Antoun was of the old guard. Past sixty, his gray hair was thin and his fingers were gnarled and stiff. But the dark blue eyes, surrounded by fine lines and thick lashes, were astonishingly young. Antoun had earned all of his nine rings under Andrade's tutelage; as a Master Teacher, he had supervised Andry's own training years ago. He had been willing to give up the eighth ring when Andry decided it would betoken physician's status alone, but his knuckle had swollen so with joint disease that the only choice would have been to cut the ring off. And this Andry would not do to his old teacher. Antoun was part of his memories of his youthЧa youth ended when at barely twenty he became Lord of Goddess Keep. Antoun was part of the past, having known Andrade and Urival and Sioned. And despite the changes Andry had wrought here, despite the traditions overset and the innovations made, he valued the heritage of Goddess Keep.

From a purely practical standpoint, of course, there was no one better to fill Oclel's position. The older Sunrunners, those who had their doubts about Andry, would approve of one of their number being admitted to his innermost circle.

He turned his gaze to Antoun now, arching a brow.

"Well? You've been as quiet as autumn sunshine all the years I've known youЧexcept in the classroom when I did something wrong."

"If you're asking me to judge whether or not this is wrongЧ" Lean shoulders shrugged. "It's not for me to say, Andry. Nor any of us, except for you. But I do have a question."

"Ask."

"Meaning no offense, but why does everyone fight so hard for the Desert?"

Jolan looked taken aback, then nodded. "I've always wondered that, myself."

Antoun continued, "I've never understood what's so compelling about the place. It's hot, empty, and exhausting. Except for Skybowl, there's not enough water to take a bath in. It grows nothing but cactus. I've given up wondering why the Vellant'im want it, but why is Pol so determined to keep it? I say let them have it, and welcome. They wouldn't last two seasons. I've been there, and I know."

Andry chuckled. "You're telling me this? I was born there!"

Ulwis, who usually said even less than Antoun, smiled at him. "And you can't explain it, my Lord?"

"Oh, I could grow philosophical like my uncle Rohan, and say that the deeper one's roots must go to find water, the harder one clings to the landЧeven the Desert. Lady Merisel called it a Sunrunner's natural habitatЧfor which a case can be made!"

Valeda shrugged. "Yet you've been uprooted."

"Never." He was surprised to hear the word from his own lips, but the instant it was spoken he knew it to be true. And it sobered him as nothing else could have.