"Robin Hobb - Assassin 1 - Assassin' s Apprentice" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hobb Robin)
"My mother, the Queen, will certainly not approve. Favoring the boy will only
make it appear you recognize him. It will give him ideas, and others."
"Faugh!" The King chuckled as if amused.
Regal was instantly incensed. "My mother, the Queen, will not agree with you,
nor will she be pleased. My mother-"
"Has not agreed with me, nor been pleased with me for some years. I scarcely
notice it anymore, Regal. She will flap and squawk and tell me again that she
would return to Farrow, to be Duchess there, and you Duke after her. And if very
angry, she will threaten that if she did, Tilth and Farrow would rise up in
rebellion, and become a separate kingdom, with her as the Queen."
"And I as King after her!" Regal added defiantly.
Shrewd nodded to himself. "Yes, I thought she had planted such festering
treason in your mind. Listen, boy. She may scold and fling crockery at the
servants, but she will never do more than that. Because she knows it is better
to be Queen of a peaceful kingdom than Duchess of a Duchy in rebellion. And
Farrow has no reason to rise up against me, save the ones she invents in her
head. Her ambitions have always exceeded her abilities." He paused, and looked
directly at Regal. "In royalty, that is a most lamentable failing."
I could feel the waves of anger Regal suppressed as he looked at the floor.
"Come along," the King said, and Regal heeled after him, obedient as any
hound. But the parting glance he cast me was venomous.
I stood and watched as the old King departed the hall. I felt an echoing
file:///F|/rah/Robin%20Hobb/Hobb,%20Robin%20-%20Assassin%201%20-%20Assassin's%20Apprentice.txt
loss. Strange man. Bastard though I was, he could have declared himself my
grandfather, and had for the asking what he instead chose to buy. At the door,
the pale Fool paused. For an instant he looked back at me and made an
incomprehensible gesture with his narrow hands. It could have been an insult or
a blessing. Or simply the fluttering of a fool's hands. Then he smiled, waggled
his tongue at me, and turned to hurry after the King.
Despite the King's promises, I stuffed my jerkin front with sweet cakes. The
pups and I shared them all in the shade behind the stables. It was a bigger
breakfast than any of us were accustomed to, and my stomach murmured unhappily
for hours afterward. The pups curled up and slept, but I wavered between dread
and anticipation. Almost I hoped that nothing would come of it, that the King
would forget his words to me. But he did not.
Late that evening I finally wandered up the steps and let myself into
Burrich's chamber. I had spent the day pondering what the morning's words might
mean for me. I could have saved myself the trouble. For as I entered, Burrich
set aside the bit of harness he was mending and focused all his attention on me.
He considered me in silence for a bit, and I returned his stare. Something had
changed, and I feared. Ever since he had disappeared Nosy, I had believed that
Burrich had the power of life and death over me as well; that a fitz could be
disposed of as easily as a pup.
That hadn't stopped me from developing a feeling of closeness for him; one
needn't love in order to depend. That sense of being able to rely on Burrich was
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