"Jordan, Robert - Wheel of Time 09 - Winter's Heart" - читать интересную книгу автора (Jordan Robert)

not be pressed. After a fashion she had learned. There was
the estate and title. And commanding the Guards. And a few
other small matters.
Dyelin bent her neck a fraction, and perhaps her knees; it
might have been a curtsy, yet her face was stone. It was well
to remember that many who did not want Elayne Trakand on the
Lion Throne wanted Dyelin Taravin instead. The woman had been
nothing but helpful, but it was early days yet, and sometimes
a niggling voice whispered in the back of ElayneТs head. Was
Dyelin simply waiting for her to bungle badly before stepping
in to УsaveФ Andor? Someone sufficiently prudent,
sufficiently devious, might try that route, and might even
succeed.
Elayne raised a hand to rub her temple but made it into
adjusting her hair. So much suspicion, so little trust. The
Game of Houses had infected Andor since she left for Tar
Valon. She was grateful for her months among Aes Sedai for
more than learning the power. Daes DaeТmar was breath and
bread, to most sisters. Grateful for ThomТs teaching, too.
Without both, she might not have survived her return as long
as she had. The Light send Thom was safe, that he and Mat
and the others had escaped the Seanchan and were on their way
to Camelyn. Every day since leaving Ebou Dar she prayed for
their safety, but that brief prayer was all she had time for,
now.
Taking the chair at the center of the arc, the QueenТs
chair, she tried to look like a queen, back straight, her free
hand resting lightly on the carved chair arm. Looking a queen
is not enough, her mother had told her often, but a fine mind,
a keen grasp of affairs, and a brave heart will go for nothing
if people do not seen you as a queen. Birgitte was watching
her closely, almost suspiciously. Sometimes the bond was
decidedly inconvenient! Dyelin raised her winecup to her
lips.
Elayne took a deep breath. She had harried this question
from every direction she knew, and she could see no other way.
УBirgitte, by spring, I want the Guards to be an army equal to
anything ten Houses can put in the field.Ф Impossible to
achieve, likely, but just trying meant keeping the mercenaries
who signed now and finding more, signing every man who showed
the least inclination. Light, what a foul tangle!
Dyelin choked, her eyes bulging; dark wine sprayed from her
mouth. Still sputtering, she plucked a lace-edged
handkerchief from her sleeve and dabbed at her chin.
A wave of panic shot down the bond from Birgitte. УOh, burn
me, Elayne, you canТt meanЕ.! IТm an archer, not a general!
ThatТs all IТve ever been, donТt you understand yet? I just
did what I had to do, what circumstances forced on me!
Anyway, IТm not her, anymore; IТm just me andЕ.!Ф She trailed
off, realizing she might have said too much. Not for the