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

throne," he added, the color rising to his cheeks, "so I can make anyone
anything I want them to be!"

Aedan stepped in to play the diplomat before a minor court scandal
erupted. "Why not let me take the part of the Black Prince, Your
Highness? I always play Roele, and this would give me the opportunity
to do something different for a change. I would enjoy that."

Michael did not want to give in too easily. He tossed his thick, dark
hair and frowned, making a great show of considering the matter, then
finally relented. "Oh, very well then, since you request it, Aedan, you
can be Raesene. Derwyn can be my brother, Roele, and Caelan can be
Traederic, the standard-bearer."

He quickly assigned roles to all the other boys, and they made ready to
begin the battle. For Aedan, this was sheer torture. At eighteen,
armed with a wooden sword and shield, he felt absolutely ridiculous
playing with a group of children aged from six to thirteen. However,
his duty was to serve his prince, and if his prince wanted to play war,
then war it was.

They were playing the Battle of Mount Deismaar, yet again. It was
Michael's favorite game, and he

stuck to it with a dogged persistence only a twelve year-old could
maintain. He never seemed to tire of it. As usual, Michael took the
part of Haelyn, champion of Anduiras. It was just like him to pick
Haelyn, Aedan thought. It gave him the chance to die spectacularly and
become a god.

Every child in the empire knew the story by heart.

Those of noble blood had learned it from their tutors, while commoners
heard it from the bards, who sang it as an epic ballad called "The
Legacy of Kings."

There were several slightly different versions of the ballad, each
divided into four main parts, but in all of them, the story was
essentially the same. It was the history of the formation of the
empire, and like most children of the nobility, Aedan had been taught it
early, when he was only six years old.

It began with "The Six Tribes," the ancestors of the humans now settled
in Cerilia. The story told how five of the tribes came on a mass exodus
from the embattled southern continent of Aduria. The Andu, from whom
the modern Anuireans were descended, took their name from their god
Anduiras, the deity of nobility and war. The Rjuven had venerated
Reynir, the god of woods and streams. The Brechts had worshiped Brenna,
the goddess of commerce and fortune, while the Vos had followed Vorynn,
the moon lord, who was the god of magic. The last of the five Adurian