"Boreal Moon - 02 - Ironcrown Moon" - читать интересную книгу автора (May Julian)

УGood. You and your warriors can give the barge a good look-see while itТs tied up at Mallthorpe, so youТll be clear about what I expect you to do later.Ф
Ugusawnn gave an ill-tempered grumble.
УThe matter has to be handled just right. You must follow my orders exactly, orЧФ
Or WHAT, you insolent heap of whale puke?!
УEminence, IТm not trying to insult your intelligence, or that of your warriors. IТm only anxious that we succeed. Be easy in your mind! When the present King of Didion and his family are dead, weТll have taken the first step in destroying Conrig WincantorТs SovereigntyЧand giving the Salka back their ancestral home.Ф
So youТve saidЕ
УBelieve it,Ф Beynor assured him, with all the coercive power his great talent could summon. УBelieve it!Ф
==========
Snudge and his men reached the south gate of Elktor at about the tenth hour after noon. It had been locked for the night an hour earlier; but Vra-Mattis had previously bespoken the Brothers resident at the castle, warning of their coming, so they were admitted with alacrity. They paused in the shelter of the guardhouse, and Snudge showed the royal writ to the sergeant of the guard. By then the rain was coming down steadily, but the intelligencer had managed to sleep in the saddle in spite of it and felt much refreshed.
УSir Deveron,Ф said the sergeant, handing back the parchment with a salute, Уone of my men will lead you to the castle if this is your wish. Count Olvan is in residence. HeТll be eager to tell you of the search for the fire-raisers being conducted in this region, as well as offering his hospitality.Ф
Snudge thanked him. УWeТll tarry here a moment while my windvoice announces our arrival, then welcome an escort.Ф
While the novice attended to this, Snudge beckoned the other riders to come close to him. УIf itТs true, as I believe, that the fugitives have gone into the mountains at some point above this city, then they must necessarily travel much slower than heretofore. Mat and I will confer with the Brethren at the castle and make contact with Zeth Abbey as well. WeТll ask that all windsearching now be concentrated in the area of Roaring Gorge.Ф
УWill we go after the villains at once if theyТre overseen, sir?Ф asked the armiger Valdos.
УAll of you are in need of sleep,Ф Snudge said. УWeТll likely wait until morning. Vra-Mattis and I will confer with the resident wind adepts to see if there are new developments. But itТs likely the fugitives have also stopped to restЧ especially if theyТre mounted. WeТll ride out with a force of Lord OlvanТs rangers tomorrow.Ф
Vra-Mattis pushed the hood of his cloak back from his face and announced, УTheyТre awaiting us at the castle.Ф
One of the guards joined them, having fetched a horse. УMortal steep road up the castle knoll,Ф he said with a grin. УThose poor beasts of yours look about done in, so IТll take it nice and easy.Ф
He set off. Snudge motioned for Mat and the armigers to follow, while he and Gavlok brought up the rear.
УDo you really think someone will be able to scry out our quarry?Ф the lanky knight murmured doubtfully. УSurely these local magickers have already combed the area to the best of their ability.Ф
УMy hope is that I myself might catch an oversight of the thieves from the high vantage point of the castle, now that IТve recovered my strength somewhat. We can always pretend that Mattis found them, and he can direct the searchers with my prompting.Ф
УAh.Ф Gavlok smiled. УThe lad nearly popped the eyeballs from his skull when I revealed your wild talents to him earlier. He was very impressed with my tales of your prowessЧdefeating Iscannon, taking Redfern Castle, and opening the Mallmouth Bridge. I had to caution him not to make his hero-worship of you too obvious.Ф
Snudge gave a brief bark of mirthless laughter. УMe, a hero? I think Vra-MattisЧand the High KingЧwill find another name to call me if I have no luck finding those two wretches and the stolen trove!Ф

twelve
Riding on muleback, Felmar and Scarth traveled eastward for about nine leagues along the Beorbrook track from Elktor. They were still without a firm plan of action, and tonight their only wish was to get as far away from Kilian as possible. The rain increased to a near-blinding downpour. Soon it became obvious that they could go no further. Even the surefooted mules were starting to balk as they sank into deepening mud.
Dropping the cover spell briefly, both Brothers cast about with their talent for a likely place to take shelter. They had purchased a piece of stout canvas that could be used as a tent in a pinch; but the deserted croft, when they scried it, was a much more attractive option, even though it looked more like an animal lair than human habitation. The hut was situated in a sheltered moorland hollow where stunted junipers grew, backed and hemmed about by outcrop-pings of bedrock. It was well out of sight of the track and looked reasonably secure from windwatchers as well. A rill of clear water ran nearby and there was even a patch of rain-flattened grass for the mules.
The entrance was an inverted V formed by two slabs of rotting wood. There were no windows and the interior was dark. Felmar struck a flame at the tip of his finger with his talent and peered inside, alert for wildlife, but the place was empty except for some ancient sheep droppings. The fieldstone walls and the turf roof were still sound and the dirt floor almost dry, except in the corner where a smokehole above a simple hearth let rain drip in.
УThis is as good as weТll find tonight,Ф Felmar decided. УLetТs hobble the mules and get our things inside.Ф
A little later, after Scarth had chopped up dead branches from the small trees with his woodsmanТs axe and got a fire going, they were reasonably comfortable. The canvas covered most of the dirt floor, and saddles and pads made acceptable beds. Felmar was finally able to remove his hated female disguise. The two of them shared some of the harsh brandywine that Bo HernТs good-wife had sold them at exorbitant cost, and ate some of her excellent honey-raisin oatcakes.
Then they decided it was time to examine the Trove of Darasilo.
For the next two hours, they pored over the books and the two bags of moonstones they had taken from the crypt in Gala Palace. The fragile volumes contained pictures of countless sigils, along with blocks of indecipherable text. The trove included one hundred and twelve milky translucent carvings of varying shapes, most rather small and some duplicates. Many stones were strung on golden chains or decaying leather cords, and all of them were minutely incised with arcane symbols or exquisite tiny pictures that gave tantalizing hints of their function.
УThis book shows fewer stones,Ф Felmar noted as he turned crumbling pages, Уbut the illustrations are larger and more elaborate than those in the other one, and the descriptions are much longer. I suspect that my book describes the more important sigils. LetТs see how many of those we can find in the collection.Ф
To their vast disappointment, only four of the carvings matched the criterion: a moonstone finger-ring; an oblong sigil that looked just like a tiny door, complete with simulated latch; a thing about the size of a manТs little finger that was shaped like a carrot or an icicle; and a short rod or wand with a drilled perforation at one end, incised with the phases of the moon.
УWell,Ф Felmar said with an ironic smile, Уat least there are two for you and two for me. Shall we draw straws for first pick?Ф
Scarth gave him a startled look. УAre you suggesting that we somehow keep back theseЧthese important sigils for ourselves?Ф
Felmar set the stones aside, put more wood on the fire, and sighed. УIТm only joking.Ф
He unsheathed his knife, picked up a stick, and began to trim off splinters. УHereТs something we have to consider, Brother. Lord Kilian promised to bespeak us when he was well into the mountains and there was only a small chance of the thread of his windspeech being traced back to him. Very soonЧ perhaps tomorrow or the next dayЧweТre bound to hear his call. If his talent has sufficiently recovered from the strictures of the iron gammadion, I wouldnТt be surprised if he tried to scry us as well.Ф
УWe wonТt answer him! And if we keep the cover spell in place, he wonТt be able to find us.Ф
Felmar gave an exasperated grunt. УKilian devised the spell of couverture weТre using. You can be sure he knows how to puncture itЧor even turn it off completely. We can only hope that his powers remain weak for a while longer, giving us a chance to put more distance between us. The mountains will help block his windsight if he does obliterate the cover spell.Ф
УBut eventually, heТll be able to find us, Pel! And if he thinks weТre running away from him with the trove, heТll come after us and kill us.Ф
УTrue. ThatТs why we canТt simply ignore his call on the wind. When it does come, we must answer him, so his suspicions arenТt immediately aroused. But what we ought to sayЕ as yet, I donТt know.Ф
УWhat would he do Ф Scarth said carefully, Уif we didnТt take the trove with us when we fled? What if we hid it in some safe place and told him where to find it?Ф
Felmar paused in his whittling. His eyes gleamed in the firelight. УBrother, you may have hit on the solution! HeТd certainly be furious at us for abandoning the troveЧbut not to the point of chasing us down. HeТs a fugitive, too, and his life depends upon getting over the border into Didion as fast as possible.Ф
УHeТd know he could retrieve the things sooner or later,Ф Scarth said. УHe could even scry them in their hiding place and know we were telling the truth.Ф
УYes. Good point! If we spin a plausible yarn, I think Kilian would be satisfied to let us go our own way. When he bespeaks us, why donТt we say that we were unable to follow the path to Roaring Gorge. We only escaped a search party by the skin of our teeth. TheyТre hot on our heels and we donТt want the trove to fall into their hands. Our only chance now is to travel cross-countryЧ north into the trackless mountains.Ф
УThatТs no lie, either.Ф ScarthТs long face was somber. УThe story sounds good to me. We could leave the trove right hereЧmaybe hide it up in the roof of this hovel.Ф
Felmar resheathed his knife. He had made four tiny wooden sticks of differing lengths. УReady for the magical moonstone drawing?Ф
Scarth frowned. УI thought you were just fooling.Ф
УCome on! Just for the fun of it.Ф Felmar put his hands behind his back, fumbled, then held out a fist with the stick ends peeping out. УTake any two. Longest chooses his important sigil first, then we take turns, on down to the shortest. Each man says what his sigils are capable of. Then we decide whoТs the greater sorcerer.Ф
УOh, hell. Why not?Ф
Scarth won the first and third choices. He picked the ring and the icicle. Felmar got the miniature doorway and the wand.