"Mercedes Lackey - Last Herald Mage 3 - Magic's Price" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lackey Mercedes)

branch, and a few of the earliest songbirds had begun to invade the garden. Vanyel had been watching
and listening to a pair of them, rival male yellowthroats, square off in a duel of melody.
:Probably not the last article of clothing you'll ruin, either,: she said with resignation.
:You've come a long way from the vain little peacock I Chose.:
"That vain little peacock you Chose would still have been in bed." He yawned. "I think he was
the more sensible one. This hour of the day is positively unholy."
The sun was barely above the horizon, and most of the Palace inhabitants were still sleeping the
sleep of the exhausted, if not the just. This half-wild garden was the only one within the Palace grounds
with its eastern side unblocked by buildings or walls, and the thin, clear sunlight poured across it, making
every tender leaf and grass blade glow. Tradition claimed this patch of earth and its maze of hedges and
bowers to be the Queen's Garden - which was the reason for its current state of neglect. There was no
Queen in Valdemar now, and the King's lifebonded had more urgent cares than tending pleasure gardens.
An old man, a gardener by his earth-stained apron, emerged from one of the nearby doors of the
Palace and limped up the path toward Vanyel. The Herald stepped to one side to let him pass and gave
him a friendly enough nod of greeting, but the old man completely ignored him; muttering something under
his breath as he brushed by.
His goal, evidently, was a rosevine-covered shed a few feet away; he vanished inside it for a
moment, emerged with a hoe, and began methodically cultivating the nearest flowerbed with it. Van might
as well have been a spirit for all the attention the old man gave him.
Vanyel watched him for a moment more, then turned and walked slowly back toward the Palace.
"Did it ever occur to you, love," he said to the empty air, "that you and I and the entire Palace could
vanish overnight, and people like that old man would never miss us?"
:Except that we wouldn't be trampling his flowers anymore,: Yfandes replied. :It was a bad
morning, wasn't it.:
A statement, not a question. Yfandes had been present in the back of Vanyel's mind during the
whole Privy Council session.
"One of Randi's worst yet. That's why I was taking my frustration out with Tran." Vanyel kicked
at an inoffensive weed growing up through the cobbles of the path. "And Randi's got some important
things to take care of this afternoon. Formal audiences, for one - ambassadorial receptions. I won't do,
not this time. It has to be the King, they're insisting on it. Sometimes I wish I didn't have to be so politic,
and could knock a few diplomatic heads together. Tashir, bless his generous young heart, handled things
a bit better with his lot."
Another gardener appeared, and looked at Vanyel oddly as he passed. Van suppressed the urge
to call him back and explain. He must be new; he'll learn soon enough about Heralds talking to thin
air.
:What did Tashir do with his envoys? I was talking to Ariel's Darvena while you were dealing
with them. You know, I still can't believe your brother Mekeal produced a child sensitive enough to be
Chosen.:
"Neither can I. But then, illogic runs in the family, I guess. As for Tashir; his envoys have been
ordered to accept me as the voice of the King-" Vanyel explained. "The trouble's with the territories he
annexed on Lake Evendim. This lot from the Lake District is touchy as hell, and being received by
anyone less than Randi is going to be a mortal affront."
:Where did you pick that tidbit up?:
"Last night. After you decided that stallion from up North had a gorgeous - "
:Nose,: Yfandes interrupted primly. :He had a perfectly lovely nose. And you and Joshe were
boring me to tears with your treasury accounts.:
"Poor Joshe."
He meant that. Less than a year in the office, and trying to do the work of twenty. And
wishing with all his soul he was back as somebody's assistant. And unfortunately, Tran knows less
about the position then he does.