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

"I beg a few moments, Diarmadh'reia."

Distracted by her concern for Cluthine, Naydra did not immediately understand the strange word. When she did, her knees buckled and she stumbled to a chair.

The man leaned back against the door into the anteroom. It snicked shut. He had the temerity to lock it.

"You knew, your grace," he said quietly. "Your sister Pandsala knew at the last. lanthe did notЧand thank the Goddess for it. Lenala died of Plague before she could find out. Your mother was Lallante of the MountainЧa line of so-called 'stone burners' old before the time of Lady Merisel."

Naydra stared at him. She had never seen a sorcererЧ

that she knew ofЧbut they were said to almost always be Fironese in appearance, reflecting their exile to the Veresch and the mingling of their blood with that of the mountain folk. This young man was fair, with blue eyes and reddish-blond curls and a pale complexion. He didn't look like a madman. But he babbled complete nonsense.

"My name is Branig," he said. "I am the latest of those who have watched SwalekeepЧfor Princess Chia-na's safety, although she wouldn't see it that way," he added with a little smile. "After what happened nine years ago, we decided that certain persons might be vulnerable to their own ambitions, and need guarding againstЧ"

"We?" She clutched the arms of her chair. "Who are you? What do you mean?"

Branig sighed. "This will take time, which we don't really have. Not all of us side with Mireva, who challenged Prince Pol. Your mother was their hope. You may very well be ours."

"My mother?" Naydra shook her head weakly. "What are you talking about?"

"May I explain, Diarmadh'reia? May I tell you what you are?"

"Stop calling me that!" she cried. " 'Princess of sorcerers!' "

"No. A princess who is a sorcerer."

"I'm not! Get out! I want nothing to do with your wickedness!"

"Mireva's clan-kin have much to answer for," Branig muttered.

"This war is your doing! The enemy use the very name as their battle cry!"

"I can't help that. I don't know why they do it. I don't even know who they are! What I do know is that they must be defeated. And to do that, I need you."

Naydra pushed herself to her feet and backed away from him. "If I cry out, guards will comeЧ"

"I know. Am I so stupid that I would risk coming here if it were not vital?" Urgency was in his pale eyes, his extended hands. "Listen to me. Lady Cluthine is dead.

Lord Rialt and Lady Mevita are in custody by Chiana's order. She works with the enemy, and Lady Aurar is her courier, as traitorous as she and for the same reason: desire for a princedom." He came forward. Tall and inexorable, he reminded her frighteningly of her father.

But his voice was soft, almost pleading, and there was need in his eyes as he said, "Diarmadh'reia, you must believe me. You can no longer ignore what you areЧ and we can no longer let you."

Her mind reeled. Cluthine dead, Rialt and Mevita in prison? This could not be happening. She knew he must be insane.

She suspected suddenly that she was, too, when she heard herself say, "Sit down, Branig, and tell me what you think I am."

*

"PolЧ"