"Katherine Kurtz - Heirs 1 - Harrowing of Gwynedd" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kurtz Katherine)

"Healer's oaths be hanged, if they protect a man like Hubert MacInnis!" Tavis
snapped, the pale aquamarine eyes blazing as he glared across at the other
Healer. "I am no Gabrilite, to submit meekly to the slaughter. I will not offer my
throat to the regents like some silly sheep, as your brethren did at Saint Neot's.
Nor will I allow Prince Javan to become their victimтАФ not while there is breath
in my body to prevent it!"
"Easy, Tavis, easy!" Joram murmured, jerking out a stool beside Rickart and
straddling it as Niallan and Dermot also made soothing noises and gestures.
"No one's asking you to sacrifice yourselfтАФor faulting your defense of the
prince."
"Certainly not," Rickart hastily agreed. "Prince Javan is our major hope that
something eventually may be done to reverse what the regents have set in
motion. But I beg you, Tavis, do not deliberately seek out MacInnis' life."
"Shall your brethren die unavenged, then?" Tavis demanded.
As Ansel and the Michaeline Knight at the end of the table muttered
something between them about divine retribution, Rickart gently shook his
head.
"My dear young friend, Hubert MacInnis shall pay for what he has
doneтАФnever fear. Not only to my Gabrilite brethren but to all innocent folk who
have become victims of his avarice. But it is not our place to seek vengeance.
'Vengeance is mine, saithтАФ' "
"Yes, yes, but the Lord generally works through mortal agents," Joram
interjected, raising a hand in a fending-off gesture. "Please, Rickart, let's not
start a theological debate. Tavis is not a Gabrilite or a Michaeline, so he's not
arguing from the same assumptions. If the two of you want to take up this
discussion privately, at a later date, that's another matter. Right now, however, I
have more important things on my mind, the chief of which is the prince we're
all trying to protect, in our own ways. Which leads me to ask, Tavis, is it tonight
you're to see him again?"
Tavis sighed, a little subdued. "Aye. He doesn't yet know about Alister and
Jebediah, either. At least I haven't told him. We'd just had a meeting when I
found out, and I didn't want to increase the already considerable risk he runs
every time I go there, by going back too soon."
"I don't envy you the telling," Niallan said quietly.
Shrugging, Tavis shook his head. тАЬSomeone else may already have told him,
by now. That kind of news travels fast. If it has reached Valoret, you can bet the
regents won't keep it a secret."
"I'll say!" Ansel snorted. "There'll be dancing in the streets."
Joram, hushing Ansel with a hand signal, returned his attention to Tavis.
"Naturally, the regents' reaction will be of great interest to us," he said
quietly, "but Javan's safety is our most important concern. I take it that we can
expect a full report in the morning, provided all goes well?"
Tavis nodded, but said nothing.
"Well, then," Niallan said with a sigh. "I suppose we'll have to wait until then.
But you've done right, not to endanger the prince unnecessarily. Whatever else
happens, he must be protected. I wonder, though, if it will make the regents
more or less vindictive to learn that two of their most bitter enemies are dead."
Dermot managed a sickly grin. "They'll probably use it as justification to step
up their campaign against two more troublesome priests. I suppose we should
be flattered that Rhun and his men are giving us so much attention, camped