"Robert Jordan - The Wheel of Time 11 - Knife of Dreams" - читать интересную книгу автора (Jordan Robert)

butтАФтАЭ

тАЬNo second thoughts for me,тАЭ Galad broke in. His intentions had been fixed since yesterday. He was grateful, though. Trom had given
him the opening he needed. They had simply appeared as he rode out, falling in with him without a word spoken. There had seemed
no place for words, then. тАЬBut what about you three? YouтАЩre taking a risk coming here with me. A risk you have no need to take.
However the day runs, there will be marks against you. This is my business, and I give you leave to go about yours.тАЭ Too stiffly said,
but he could not find words this morning, or loosen his throat.

The stocky man shook his head. тАЬThe law is the law. And I might as well make use of my new rank.тАЭ The three golden star-shaped
knots of a captain sat beneath the flaring sunburst on the breast of his white cloak. There had been more than a few dead at Jeramel,
including no fewer than three of the Lords Captain. They had been fighting the Seanchan then, not allied with them.

тАЬIтАЩve done dark things in service to the Light,тАЭ gaunt-faced Byar said grimly, his deep-set eyes glittering as though at a personal insult,
тАЬdark as moonless midnight, and likely I will again, but some things are too dark to be allowed.тАЭ He looked as if he might spit.
тАЬThatтАЩs right,тАЭ young Bornhald muttered, scrubbing a gauntleted hand across his mouth. Galad always thought of him as young,
though the man lacked only a few years on him. DainтАЩs eyes were bloodshot; he had been at the brandy again last night. тАЬIf youтАЩve
done whatтАЩs wrong, even in service to the Light, then you have to do whatтАЩs right to balance it.тАЭ
Byar grunted sourly. Likely that was not the point he had been making.

тАЬVery well,тАЭ Galad said, тАЬbut thereтАЩs no fault to any man who turns back. My business here is mine alone.тАЭ

Still, when he heeled his bay gelding to a canter, he was pleased to have them gallop to catch him and fall in alongside, white cloaks
billowing behind. He would have gone on alone, of course, yet their presence might keep him from being arrested and hanged out of
hand. Not that he expected to survive in any case. What had to be done, had to be done, no matter the price.

The horsesтАЩ hooves clattered loudly on the stone ramp that climbed to the manor house, so every man in the broad central courtyard
turned to watch as they rode in: fifty of the Children in gleaming plate-and-mail and conical helmets, most mounted, with cringing,
dark-coated Amadician grooms holding animals for the rest. The inner balconies were empty except for a few servants who appeared
to be watching while pretending to sweep. Six Questioners, big men with the scarlet shepherdтАЩs crook upright behind the sunflare on
their cloaks, stood close around Rhadam Asunawa like a bodyguard, away from the others. The Hand of the Light always stood apart
from the rest of the Children, a choice the rest of the Children approved. Gray-haired Asunawa, his sorrowful face making Byar look
fully fleshed, was the only Child present not in armor, and his snowy cloak carried just the brilliant red crook, another way of standing
apart. But aside from marking who was present, Galad had eyes for only one man in the courtyard. Asunawa might have been
involved in some wayтАФthat remained unclearтАФyet only the Lord Captain Commander could call the High Inquisitor to account.
Eamon Valda was not a large man, yet his dark, hard face had the look of one who expected obedience as his due. As the very least he
was due.
Standing with his booted feet apart and his head high, command in every inch of him, he wore the white-and-gold tabard of the Lord
Captain Commander over his gilded breast- and backplates, a silk tabard more richly embroidered than any Pedron Niall had worn.
His white cloak, the flaring sun large on either breast in thread-of-gold, was silk as well, and his gold-embroidered white coat. The
helmet beneath his arm was gilded and worked with the flaring sun on the brow, and a heavy gold ring on his left hand, worn outside
his steel-backed gauntlet, held a large yellow sapphire carved with the sunburst. Another mark of favor received from the Seanchan.

Valda frowned slightly as Galad and his companions dismounted and offered their salutes, arm across the chest. Obsequious grooms
came running to take their reins.

тАЬWhy arenтАЩt you on your way to Nassad, Trom?тАЭ Disapproval colored ValdaтАЩs words. тАЬThe other Lords Captain will be halfway there
by now.тАЭ
He himself always arrived late when meeting the Seanchan, perhaps to assert that some shred of independence remained to the
ChildrenтАФfinding him already preparing to depart was a surprise; this meeting must be very importantтАФbut he always made sure the
other high-ranking officers arrived on time even when that required setting out before dawn.