"Kate Forsyth - Eileanan 01 - The Witches Of Eileanan" - читать интересную книгу автора (Forsyth Kate)

prionnsachan had disappeared one night, apparently stolen from their beds. She and Meghan had
been traveling through the highlands when they heard the news, selling herbs, healing sicknesses in
return for supplies, and listening to gossip. Once or twice a year they made these journeys to the
villages, always dressed in their roughest clothes. The disappearance of the R├мgh's three brothers
had caused widespread consternation and anxiety. Many rumors had circulated through the
marketplaces and inns, and Meghan, mixing medicines and potions or selling her little wooden boxes
of herbs, heard them all. Most seemed to think they had sailed away to distant lands, seeking
adventure. It was still common practice for young men and women of high courage to set out on a
quest, of which there were manyтАФto look for the fabled gardens of the Celestine where all illnesses
could be cured; to find the black winged horse of Ravenshaw, often seen but never tamed; to find
the Lost Horn of Elayna or the Ring of Serpetra. "But the youngest prionnsa was only twelve years
auld," Meghan had said softly. "Surely too young to be thinking o' quests?" The villagers had shifted
uneasily, one muttering, "Never too young to want adventure, eh?" As the years passed and Isabeau
grew older, they occasionally heard rumors of sightings, but the Lost Prionnsachan of Eileanan never
returned home.

"Maya herself ordered the search, for the R├мgh was beside himself with grief, we heard. But
nowhere was there sound nor sight o' the lost prionnsachan. After the three bairns had disappeared,
feeling rose up against Maya and there were rumors she'd something to do with their going. They
called her a witch herself, and this was, ye ken, only five years after the Day o' Betrayal when an
accused witch still faced death by burning. Maya faced them down, though, cutting off all o' her hair
as proof she was no' a witch, for even then few witches would let their hair be cut... In the end, she
won them all over, as she always did. I fain think she used compulsion on them, though I've never
heard o' compulsion being used on more than one or two people at a time, and this was literally
thousands!"

"She seems to be a powerful sorceress, Isabeau, and we can only guess at her motives but I
personally have seen her order the deaths o' two hundred witches and apprentices. Once the Coven
o' Witches was a power in this land, its Towers the center o' all learning and study, its witches
among the finest healers and thinkers. Once witches were respected and feared, now they are hated
and reviled. All o' Eileanan carries Maya's yoke across its shouldersтАФshe is no' to be
underestimated!"

"Have ye heard the other big news? Apparently the Red-cloaks have been sent into the mountains
to hunt out uile-bheistean again. They say the Fairy Decree is no' working fast enough, and that the
peasants fain be stubborn." The scorn in Seychella's voice was very clear. "I heard in the highland
villages that a force was being sent against the dragons, to wipe them out for good."

"She's sent a force against the dragons?" Meghan said incredulously, her brow furrowed deeply.
"She must be very confident ... the dragons do no' take trespassing lightly, and will no' hesitate to
defend their land . . . She must have dragonbane," Meghan mused, more to herself than to the
others. "There's nothing else that'll fell a dragon, though I wonder where she found it. A very rare
plant, and dangerous to distill. .."

"The villagers are all nervous. They say the dragons will come and burn the houses in revenge."

"If Maya breaks Aedan's Pact, that's exactly what they'll do."

"Well, I heard it was because the dragons had broken the Pact that she sent the Guards against
them in the first place."