"George R. R. Martin - Ice and Fire 2 - A Clash of Kings" - читать интересную книгу автора (Martin George R R)

dutiful as a younger brother should be to an elder, as Renly should be to me.
And what was Robert's thanks? He names me Lord of Dragonstone, and gives
Storm's End and its incomes to Renly. Storm's End belonged to House Baratheon
for three hundred years; by rights it should have passed to me when Robert
took the Iron Throne."
It was an old grievance, deeply felt, and never more so than now. Here was the
heart of his lord's weakness; for Dragonstone, old and strong though it was,
commanded the allegiance of only a handful of lesser lords, whose stony island
holdings were too thinly peopled to yield up the men that Stannis needed. Even
with the sellswords he had brought across the narrow sea from the Free Cities
of Myr and Lys, the host camped outside his walls was far too small to bring
down the power of House Lannister.
"Robert did you an injustice," Maester Cressen replied carefully, "yet he had
sound reasons. Dragonstone had long been the seat of House Targaryen. He
needed a man's strength to rule here, and Renly was but a child."
"He is a child still," Stannis declared, his anger ringing loud in the empty
hall, "a thieving child who thinks to snatch the crown off my brow. What has
Renly ever done to earn a throne? He sits in council and jests with
Littlefinger, and at tourneys he dons his splendid suit of armor and allows
himself to be knocked off his horse by a better man. That is the sum of my
brother Renly, who thinks he ought to be a king. I ask you, why did the gods
inflict me with brothers?"
"I cannot answer for the gods."
"You seldom answer at all these days, it seems to me. Who maesters for Renly?
Perchance I should send for him, I might like his counsel better. What do you
think this maester said when my brother decided to steal my crown? What
counsel did your colleague offer to this traitor blood of mine?"
"It would surprise me if Lord Renly sought counsel, Your Grace." The
youngest of Lord Steffon's three sons had grown into a man bold but heedless,
who acted from impulse rather than calculation. In that, as in so much else,
Renly was like his brother Robert, and utterly unlike Stannis.
"Your Grace," Stannis repeated bitterly. "You mock me with a king's style, yet
what am I king of? Dragonstone and a few rocks in the narrow sea, there is my
kingdom." He descended the steps of his chair to stand before the table, his
shadow falling across the mouth of the Blackwater Rush and the painted forest
where King's Landing now stood. There he stood, brooding over the realm he
sought to claim, so near at hand and yet so far away. "Tonight I am to sup
with my lords bannermen, such as they are. Celtigar, Velaryon, Bar Emmon, the
whole paltry lot of them. A poor crop, if truth be told, but they are what my
brothers have left me. That Lysene pirate Salladhor Saan will be there with
the latest tally of what I owe him, and Morosh the Myrman will caution me with
talk of tides and autumn gales, while Lord Sunglass mutters piously of the
will of the Seven. Celtigar will want to know which storm lords are joining
us. Velaryon will threaten to take his levies home unless we strike at once.
What am I to tell them? What must I do now?"
"Your true enemies are the Lannisters, my lord," Maester Cressen answered. "If
you and your brother were to make common cause against them-"
"I will not treat with Renly," Stannis answered in a tone that brooked no
argument. "Not while he calls himself a king."
"Not Renly, then," the maester yielded. His lord was stubborn and proud; when