"Elenium 02 - The Ruby Knight" - читать интересную книгу автора (Eddings David)

It was nearly midnight when the two injured men saw
a torch approaching through the darkness, and, not
knowing if the torch-bearer was friend or foe, they
struggled to their feet and weakly prepared to defend
themselves. The one who approached, however, was not
an Elene, but was rather a white-robed and hooded Styric
woman. Wordlessly, she tended their wounds. Then she
spoke to them briefly in a lilting voice and gave them the
pair of rings which have come to symbolize their lifelong
friendship. Tradition has it that the oval stones set in the
rings were as pale as diamond when the two received
them, but that their mingled blood permanently stained
the stones, and they appear to this day to be deep red
rubies. Once she had done this, the mysterious Styric
woman turned without a further word and walked off
into the night, her white robe glowing in the moonlight.
As misty dawn lightened the field, the troops of
Antars household guard and a number of Sparhawk's
fellow Pandions found the two wounded men at last, and
they were borne on litters to our Mother-house here at
Demos. Their recovery consumed months, and by the
time they were well enough to travel, they were fast
friends. They went by easy stages to Antor's capital at
Cimmura, and there the king made a startling announcement.
He declared that henceforth the Pandion
Sparhawk would be his champion and that so long as
both their families survived, the descendants of
Sparhawk would serve the rulers of Elenia in that
capacity.
As inevitably happens, the king's court at Cimmura
was filled with intrigues. The various factions, however,
were taken aback somewhat by the appearance at court
of the grim-faced Sir Sparhawk. After a few tentative
attempts to enlist his support for this or that faction had
been sternly rebuffed, the courtiers uncomfortably
concluded that the King's Champion was incorruptible.
Moreover, the friendship between the king and
Sparhawk made the Pandion Knight the King's confidant
and closest adviser. Since Sparhawk, as we have pointed
out, had a towering intellect, he easily saw through the
oft-times petty scheming of the various officials at court
and brought them to the attention of his less-gifted
friend. Within a year, the 'court of King Antor had
Page 3
Eddings, David - Elenium 2 - The Ruby Knight.txt
become remarkably free of coruption as Sparhawk
imposed his own rigid morality upon those around him.
Of even greater concern to the various political factions
in Elenia was the growing influence of the Pandion order
in the kingdom. King Antor was profoundly grateful, not