"Mercedes Lackey - Last Herald Mage 2 - Magic's Promise" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lackey Mercedes)

unmanageable stud! I feel sure he'll listen to you; you're a Herald-the King
himself trusts your judgment. The boy has me ready to throw him down the
blamed well!
Vanyel shifted a little and reached for a wedge of cheese. This letter was
proving to be a lot more enlightening than he'd had any reason to expect.
This is no time for Meke to be mucking about; not when there may be
trouble across the Border. Maybe you remember that alliance marriage
between Deveran Remoerdis of Lineas and Ylyna Mavelan of Baires? The
one that brought a halt to the Linean-Baires war, and that brought that
minstrel through here that you were so taken with as a boy? It doesn't seem
to be working out. There've been rumors for years that the oldest child was a
bastard-now Deveran seems to have given substance to those rumors; he's
disinherited the boy in favor of the next in line. In some ways I can't blame him
too much; even if the lad didn't look so much like his uncle-I've seen both the
boy and the man, and the resemblance is uncanny-the rumors alone would
have been enough to make his inheritance shaky. I wouldn't trust that entire
Mavelan family, frankly. A pack of wizardly snakes, the lot of them, the only
time they stop striking at each other is when they take on an outsider. I only
thank the gods that they've stayed at each other's throats all this time. But
there've been some nasty noises out of them about Tashir's disinheritance
and if it gets to be more than noises, we may have trouble across the Border.
Your brother is all fired up for a war, by the way. Gods, that is the last thing
we need. I just thank the Lady that Randale had the good sense to send a
plain Herald into Lineas as envoy, and not a Herald-Mage. A good solid
Herald might be able to keep this from growing into another feud like the one
the marriage was supposed to stop in the first place. The Lineans will certainly
be far more inclined to listen to a plain Herald; they don't trust anything that
smacks of wizardry, and given what the Mavelans did to them, who can blame
them ?
Vanyel bit his lip, the half-eaten scrap of cheese dangling forgotten from
his fingers. Withen was showing a great deal more political astuteness than
he'd ever given his father credit for. But this business in Lineas -
Please, he sent up a silent prayer. Not now -
It's evidently worrisome enough that Randale sent your sister Lissa and
her Guard Company to keep a cross-Border eye on the Mavelans. You'd
know what that would mean better than your old father, I think. If we're lucky
and things stay calm, perhaps she can slip off for a few days' visit herself. I
know you'd both like that. By the way - I hope you aren't planning on bringing
any of your -friends-home with you, are you? You know it would upset your
mother. You wouldn't want to upset your mother. By the hand of Radevel
Ashkevron and my seal, Lord Withen Ashkevron.
Vanyel grimaced, dropped the letter back down on the table, and reached
for the wine to take the bitter taste of those last words out of his mouth. He
held the cool metal of the goblet to his forehead for a moment, an automatic
reaction to a pain more emotional than physical.
:He doesn't mean to hurt, Chosen.: Yfandes' mind-voice touched the
bitterness, but could not soothe it.
:Awake again, dearling? You should sleep-:
:Too much noise,: she objected. .'Equitation lessons, and I'm too tired to
find a quiet corner of the Field. I'll just stand here by the stable and let the sun