"Katherine Kerr - Deverry 02 - Darkspell" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kerr Katherine)

тАШHe has, at that. It doesnтАЩt take dweomer to see a horse in a chamber, good sorcerer.тАЩ

тАШTrue enough. I only hope that no one besides us has seen it, my liege. There are plenty of men who
envy Dannyn.тАЩ

With a sigh, Glyn nodded his agreement.
 тАШIf an old man may offer his liege advice,тАЩ Nevyn went on. тАШThe King had best speak to his brother
about this. It would be a terrible and impious thing for Dannyn to seduce Gweniver into breaking that
vow.тАЩ

Glyn sighed and looked at the map.

тАШI should arrange for Dannyn to marry again,тАЩ he said. тАШI had thoughts of settling Lady Macla and the
Wolf lands upon him, but I didnтАЩt want him so far from my court all winter. Perhaps my selfishness was
all for the best. No doubt Gweniver will visit her sister often.тАЩ

тАШNo doubt, my liege. May I be so presumptuous as to ask you why you favor Lord Dannyn so highly?
I find him worthy of your favor, mind, but most men donтАЩt see their fatherтАЩs bastards so clearly. Most
prefer not to see them at all.тАЩ

тАШTrue enough. Well, you see, since my father claimed the throne for me when I was just a babe in
arms, I was raised to be king. It sounded splendid to a lad: IтАЩd claim the Holy City after glorious battles,
IтАЩd be the ruler of all I could survey, IтАЩd save the kingdom from war. But one day I was out in the ward,
and I saw the stable lads tormenting this other lad. He was just about six, then, and I was eight. They
were mocking him for a bastard, and when he tried to hit one of them, they mobbed him and started
beating him. So I ran over and ordered them to stop. I felt most generous, kingly indeed, defending this
poor little creature.тАЩ He smiled in overscrupulous self-mockery. тАШSo I picked the lad up and wiped his
bloody nose for him, and by every god in the sky, I might as well have been looking into a mirror. I
suppose it goes without saying that no one had ever told the young king that his father took fancies to
kitchen maids. Well, I found out that morning. So I went storming into FatherтАЩs chamber like the king I
felt myself to be and demanded to know what he thought he was doing. ItтАЩs a pity you couldnтАЩt have seen
the look on his face.тАЩ

Nevyn allowed himself a laugh.

тАШBut at any rate,тАЩ Glyn went on, тАШI insisted on having Dannyn come live with me, because he was my
brother, no matter what our father thought about it. And a bit at a time, he told me what heтАЩd gone
through, living mocked and scorned as a scullery lad, made to feel grateful for having scraps to eat. And
so I began to think about what rulership means, good sorcerer, in my childish way. I made a solemn vow
to Great Bel that never would I put my will above all else and worship it the way my father did. For that
alone IтАЩd honor Dannyn. He gave me a gift worth more than a hundred horses. But beyond that, heтАЩs the
only man in this court who loves me for what I am, not for the influence and land he can get out of me.
Do I sound a fool for caring about such things? I must, I suppose.тАЩ

тАШMy liege is not a fool. My liege is one of the sanest men IтАЩve ever met, and lest you think that idle
flattery, let me add that sanity is a curse in mad times like these.тАЩ

тАШIs it now?тАЩ The King looked away, slack-mouthed for a moment. тАШTrue enough, I suppose. Well, my
thanks, good sir, for your counsel. If things allow, IтАЩll come down to the garden one of these days and