"Hawke, Simon - Iron Throne" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hawke Simon)

that," he said, "but now I understand. Michael and I were like two
sides of the same coin. Each stamped differently, but meant to
complement the other. I feel my worth diminished by his ...

absence." He shook his head. "But I am being a poor host.

May I offer you a drink?"

"Anuirean brandy?"

"But of course." He poured them each a gobletful from a decanter on his
writing table, then handed one to Gylvain. "What shall we drink to?"

"Why not absent friends?" said Gylvain.

Aedan nodded. "To absent friends," he toasted.

They drank, and as the brandy flowed, the two old friends sat vigil and
remembered.

**chapter one**

"I'm going to be Haelyn; Aedan will be my brother, Roele; and you,
Derwyn, will be the Black Prince, Raesene," announced Michael in a tone
that brooked no argument. But he got one anyway.

'I don't want to be Raesene! Why can't I be Roele?"

Lord Derwyn whined petulantly.

"Because you are not of the royal house," said Michael in a tone of
lofty disdain.

"Well, neither is Aedan," Derwyn protested, unconvinced by this
argument. "Besides, my father is an archduke, while his is just a
viscount, so I outrank him."

"Nevertheless, Aedan is my standard-bearer and his father is the lord
high chamberlain," said Michael.

"As such, despite his rank, he is closest to the royal house."

"Well, if I cannot be Roele, then I cannot be Raesene, either," Derwyn
insisted. "Raesene was Roele's half-brother, so he was also of the
royal house."

Michael neatly sidestepped this piece of logic.

"When Raesene gave his allegiance to Azrai, he betrayed the royal house
and was thereby disinherited. Besides, I am heir to the imperial