"Dave Duncan - A Man Of His Word 1 - Magic Casement" - читать интересную книгу автора (Duncan Dave)

not trust, and you are right. And you have not told your daughter?"
"Heavens, no! She is only a child. She couldn't handle that!" Handle what? Inos
wanted to stamp her foot with frustration, but of course she was hardly daring
to breathe, let alone stamp.
"But you will? " Another pause.
"I don't know," her father said softly. "If... if she is older when... or maybe
not at all."


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"You must! " The stranger spoke in a tone that no one used to a king. "You must
not let it be lost!" His voice reverberated in the empty room.
"Must?"
Inos could guess at her father's mocking, quizzical expression.
"Yes, must! It is too precious... and it is Krasnegar's only hope for survival.
You know that."
"It would also be her greatest danger."
"Yes, that is true," the stranger admitted. "But the advantages of having it
outweigh the disadvantages, do they not?" His voice became diffident, almost
pleading. "You know that! You... you could not trust me with it? If I promised
that later I would tell her?"
She heard her father's dry chuckle. He had come closer. She must be prepared to
run.
"No, Sagorn. For her sake. I trust you, friend, but not... certain others."
The other man sighed. "No, certainly not Darad. Never trust him. Or Andor. "
"You keep them away, both of them!" That was a royal command.
"Yes, I will. And so will Jalon. "
The stranger's voice was suddenly very close. Inos wheeled around and started
down the stairs as fast as she could safely and silently go. Jalon? The
minstrel? She was sure that was the name she had just heard. What had he to do
with this? And who was this Sagorn?
Then--
Dust! With horror she saw her own footsteps below her, mingled with those of her
father and his visitor, giveaway marks on the deposits of years. Coming up, she
had not noticed them, but going down they were obvious, even in the dim glow
coming through the grimy panes. Panic! They would know that she, or at least
someone, had been listening.
At the bottom she stumbled against the heavy door and the rusted old hinges
creaked horribly. She squeezed through the opening, dashed across her father's
bedroom, and was plunging down the next stairs when she heard a shout behind her
and then a clatter of boots.
It was a race, then. She must escape from the tower and, certainly, she must
hide her precious packet of silk until the storm blew itself out.
She reached the dressing room, skidded on a rug in the middle of it, regained
her balance, dashed down the next flight, and burst into the withdrawing room,
into an astonished collection of six matronly ladies just sitting down to Aunt
Kade's midmorning salon. For a long moment Inos wavered on one foot, with the
other still in the air and arms spread like a cormorant. She stared her horror