"Duncan, David - Seventh Sword 3 - Destiny of the Sword, The" - читать интересную книгу автора (Duncan Dave)

"It is a trivial matter. Lord Shonsu, but near to my honor." _I'm not going to talk about it._
"Then I shall guess!" Nosiness was a prerogative of Sevenths. "You have come from the temple?"
Polini half rose, again almost reaching for his sword. He sank back uneasily, staring.
Wallie smiled cheerfully. "You are right to suspect sorcery. The sorcerers can change facemarks, so any man or woman may be a sorcerer. I, however, am not." He wondered if they had noticed the damnable feather mothermark that the god had placed on his left eyelid. That was going to be a serious problem. "I was merely speculating what a man of honor would do in what I suspect to be your situation." Polini had an honest face. He had been chosen as the most suitable member of the palace guard to be mentor to a prince -- a strong tribute to his character. The lad's worshipful attitude seemed genuine. "For some reason you had cause to embark on a ship. You would have many swordsmen in your entourage if you were guarding a prince. The Goddess wanted them for Her tryst, so here you are."
Polini and Arganari both nodded, speechless at such acuity in a swordsman, making Wallie feel smug.
"So you find yourself in a dilemma of honor -- your duty to the Holiest and your duty to the prince. Your decision was to send the rest of the swordsmen on to the tryst and seek to take the boy home. In that situation I would go to the temple and beseech Her to let me return him safely, making solemn pledge that I myself would come back here immediately afterwards. I should throw in a promise to enlist more swordsmen, I think."
Polini looked down at the boy, and then they both smiled.
"A kill!" the Fifth said.
"Your perception is suited to your rank, my lord?" said Arganari.
Again that curious questioning? And a very flowery speech for one of his age.
Then Tomiyano himself appeared with a tray, placing foaming tankards on the planks beside each of the visitors, bowing low to offer the tray to Wallie -- who should have been suspicious at once.
"May She strengthen your arms and sharpen your eyes!" he said, raising his tankard in salute.
"And yours!" the others chorused, and all three drank.
Wallie gagged and gasped and spluttered. His beer had been generously salted. He turned to glare at Tomiyano's retreating back and saw the grins on the other sailors standing beyond -- that would teach him to pull rank on the captain in front of strangers! Wallie hurled the tankard over the side, wiped his mouth, and shamefacedly explained his performance to the others, who were again giving him very puzzled looks.
"You know that the water-rat swordsmen teach fencing to sailors?" he asked
Polini scowled. "So I have heard, my lord. It is an abomination!"
"No," Wallie assured him, "there is a sutra that excludes sailors from the normal run of civilians. I just wanted to explain why I put up with my insolent friend over there. On his own deck, that man is at least a high Fifth or even a Sixth at swordsmanship."
The Fifth's eyes widened. "You jest, my lord!"
"No, I certainly do not! On land he would be lower, of course, for he has no opportunity to practice footwork. But a civilian with that skill can be forgiven much."
That illogical reasoning impressed the swordsmen.
"I mention that as a warning, Master Polini. Now, tell me why you chose this ship."
At the return of his own problem, Polini stiffened. "It seemed well cared for, my lord."
Wallie nodded approvingly. "Would you consider a piece of advice?"
Of course he would, from a Seventh.
"Your trappings are of much value, master. There are no witnesses, in mid-River, and not all sailors are above a little piracy. Why not exchange your clothes and gear for something less tempting?"
Polini flushed. "I thank you for the advice, my lord!"
He was not going to take it, though Wallie sighed. This was the sort of pigheaded attitude that he had been trying to domesticate in Nnanji. Polini could not stomach the thought of arriving back in Plo without his fancy kilt and harness and boots. It would lessen his infernal honor. Wallie had forgotten just how narrow swordsman thinking could be -- which showed him how far he had brought Nnanji along.
"And you may well arrive at the tryst yet, master," he persisted. "Most of the swordsmen there will be frees. There will certainly be no First decked out like Novice Arganari."
He got a glare. The boy was frowning.
"I see now that this ship would be a poor choice for us, my lord," Polini said, changing the subject. "Obviously She will require your valiant service in Her tryst. You sail to Casr."
Now it was Wallie's turn to become edgy. "Not so! I have been journeying these waters for two weeks since I heard of the tryst." The wind god had been cooperative since _Sapphire_ left Ov, but the Goddess had not put out Her Hand to move the ship.
Polini looked astonished, as well he might. The Goddess not taking a Seventh?
"We are making good time, though," Wallie said. "Another week or so may get us to Casr."
"You know these waters, then, my lord," the boy said, and his tone made it a statement, while the words were a question. Now Wallie understood: Arganari was tone deaf. He would make himself a laughingstock if he attempted to chant, and even a royal priest would have to do that. So he had been sworn as a swordsman instead -- no other craft had sufficient status for a king's son.
"I am getting to know them, novice. You see those mountains to the south? They are RegiVul, and the sorcerers' city of Vul lies somewhere within them." The swordsmen stared out over the bright waters. Above the low smudge of the far bank, the distant peaks shone faint and blue in the heat haze. The volcanic cloud above them was fainter still. "The River flows all around RegiVul. The left bank, the inside of the loop, has been taken by the sorcerers -- all seven of its cities. Set no foot there, or you will certainly die."
"It is true, then?" Polini said. "There are legends of sorcerers in the mountains south of Plo, but I never believed in such men until we arrived here and heard the news of the tryst."
Holiyi, a very skinny sailor, came sauntering over to give Wallie another beer and a lopsided grin. Wallie thanked him and washed the foul taste from his mouth.
"It is true. This ship has called at all fourteen cities within the loop, but I freely admit that I hid within the deckhouse when we were in sorcerer ports."
Polini was shocked, but tried not to show it. "So they are as dangerous as the locals report?"
"Probably more so," Wallie assured him. "One slew a man on this deck. A sorcerer can kill at a distance. Only speed will prevail against them, a throwing knife would be a better weapon than a sword." His hearers would have been horrified to hear that he had a knife hidden in his boot and that he practiced with it daily. He did not bother to point out the holes in the ship's rail that had been made by musket balls.
"But they are not invincible?" Arganari exclaimed, wiping beer froth from his lips. "The locals tell of one swordsman victory!"
"Do they now?" Wallie said. "Tell me that, then."
The boy beamed and began to chatter in a curious singsong, although Polini was already showing doubt on his craggy face.
"At Ov, my lord, two weeks ago. It is said that swordsmen from a ship attacked a band of sorcerers on the dock and survived the thunderbolts. They charged them in a wagon, my lord, and made great slaughter of the unholy ones. They were led by a Seventh and a very young, red-haired Fourth, my lord. We were told that they could have seized the evildoers' tower and taken back the city, except that ... the Seventh ... chose ... not to?" Horror spread over his youthful face.
Shouts and thumps drifted up from the dock, white birds soared by on the wind. A windlass on the next ship squeaked painfully.
Sevenths were rare. Sevenths who sailed these waters were as common as square eggs. Sevenths did not appreciate innuendoes of cowardice. Polini was rigid, obviously wondering what his protege might have provoked.
"I am sure that he had excellent reason, my lord," the boy whispered.
"Probably," Wallie said bitterly. He had not expected the story to be up and down the River already. In this primitive World he expected no news to travel faster than the sorcerers' pigeons, and most to travel hardly at all. But now the Goddess was moving ships around like snowflakes. The news of the battle at Ov would be all along the River, and that meant all over the World -- news of swordsmen battling sorcerers, a red-haired Fourth, and a black-haired Seventh who had called back his troops from the brink of victory. That was another problem, then, to add to his others -- one he had not anticipated.
He discovered that he had been sitting in silence and scowling. So he smiled and said, "There may be more to that story than the dock gossip tells."
He got a chorus in reply.