"Boreal Moon - 02 - Ironcrown Moon" - читать интересную книгу автора (May Julian)
The prince said, УThank you for your advice.Ф The small enclosed platform would provide cramped accommodation for two full-grown men, but there was room to spare for a couple of small boys.
УI donТt want to be tied in like a baby,Ф Bartus growled, as his brother joined him. УIТm not afraid. And IТll hang on tight.Ф He brightened. УI saw a water-kelpie out there in the water. ItТs been swimming right beside the barge ever since we went under the big bridge.Ф
УKelpies are fairy-tale creatures,Ф Onestus scoffed.
УZedvinus and Dagio say theyТre real,Ф the little boy insisted. УAnd I saw it myself. It was huge.Ф
УItТs probably just an old tiger salmon,Ф Prince Onestus said. УThey can weigh seven stone.Ф
Bartus pointed. УHere it comes again. Look!Ф
At first the older boy saw nothing because of the reflection of light on the riverТs surface. Then, to his surprise, he caught sight of a great dark shadow, only a couple of ells away from the bargeТs cutwater and swimming a parallel course. The thing was shaped something like a bull sea-lion, but appeared to be nearly three times the size of the marine mammals common in Didion Bay. Its head was broader and more rounded, too, and while the body was indistinct, Onestus thought he saw some sort of paddlelike appendages or elongated flukes at its hind end that propelled it along at a smart pace.
УCodders!Ф the Crown Prince breathed, awestruck. УI see it, too! But thatТs no kelpie. Maybe itТs a young whale. Sometimes they come up rivers by mistake. The fresh waterТs bad for them and they canТt find the right food, so they get sick and die.Ф
УThat one doesnТt look sick,Ф Bartus said. УAnd it doesnТt look like a whale. I think it wants to race.Ф
УNo, heТs gone under the barge.Ф Onestus was disappointed. УCrumbs! I wish I couldТve got a better look at him.Ф
УLook at what?Ф asked an interested male voice behind the boys.
They turned and saw their father the king standing on the foredeck. УPapa!Ф Bartus exclaimed. УA water-kelpie was right beside us!Ф
УProbably a whale, sire,Ф Onestus said loftily. УSomething large.Ф
Honigalus glanced over the side. УNothing there now. Was it white or grey? Did it have a long horn at its snout like a sea unicorn?Ф
УIt was greeny-black,Ф Onestus said. УMore than three ells long. Almost like a monster sea-lion, but without the pointed nose.Ф
The kingТs brow furrowed in puzzlement. УWhales and sea-lions arenТt green. Very few large sea creatures are.Ф Except one, he thought. But that was impossible. None of them had been seen in the rivers of Didion since the country was first settled, some nine hundred years agoЕ УIt was probably a whale, just as you thought. And the greenish color was just a trick of the light, reflecting off weeds in the water.Ф
Onestus was gazing at the shore. УThe other boats going upriver are tying up at the jetties. We must be getting close to the rapids.Ф
УWill we tie up, too, Papa?Ф Bartus asked.
УNo,Ф the king said. УOrdinarily, only a few boats are allowed to breast the rapids at a time. For safetyТs sake, they take turns. But our royal barge has precedence. That means we can go on without waiting.Ф
Honigalus climbed into the pulpit with his sons. Since it was BartusТs first time up, after having spent the previous voyages in the cabin with the women, the king planted himself firmly behind the little boy, leaving Onestus well braced at his side, with one arm locked nonchalantly about a stanchion.
УI see Boarsden Castle on its hill,Ф the Crown Prince said. УAnd here come the rapids!Ф
One of the royal trumpeters sounded three long warning notes. The coxswain began to beat his drum, so that the sweep of the oars might be perfectly coordinated, and the lookouts assumed their positions fore and aft.
УWhitewater ho!Ф cried the first mate, and a moment later the barge carrying the royal family of Didion began its cautious ascent of the foaming, rock-choked waters.
==========
УBut thereТs a better place to watch boats in the rapids further upstream,Ф Somarus protested. УWe used to go there often as children, when my mother visited her relatives at the castle.Ф
УOther persons have got there ahead of you,Ф Cray said. УAnd the backcurrents in that place donТt suit my purposes.Ф
УYour purposes?Ф The prince reined up and turned to regard her. УThe time has come to tell me just what those purposes are.Ф
УNo,Ф she said simply.
УDamn you!Ф roared the prince. УIТll know sooner or later.Ф
УLet it be later,Ф the small woman said. УAnd I advise you to ride on without delay, lest both of us come too late to view the dire event weТve traveled so far to see.Ф
So they continued as swiftly as they could, and now and then a horse bogged down and had to be pulled to firm ground, but none came to serious harm. By now, all of the princeТs party had a good idea what was about to happen. The knights murmured among themselves and made coarse jokes to cover their nervousness and rising excitement, while Somarus and Baron Cuva rode on in preoccupied silence. A dirty brownish haze thickened in the western sky, turning the sun orange and casting odd-colored shadows over the stands of reedmace, bulrush, and spikegrass that lined the creek. Some small birds began to sing, as though dusk were falling or a storm were on the way. Far away, three horn notes sounded.
УThe barge enters the rapids,Ф Cray said to Tesk, speaking so low that none other could hear. УIt has begun.Ф
The wizard bobbed his head, licked his overlarge lips, wiped his leaking eyes on his sleeve, and said. УStrange-looking sky.Ф
УThere are wildfires in the Elderwold, below the Lake of Shadows,Ф Cray said. УThey were not extensive when I came to your camp, but theyТll spread until a hard rain beats them out.Ф
УSo you came from Lake of Shadows?Ф Tesk asked her. УDo your people dwell there? Oh, I hope theyТre not imperiled by the flames!Ф
УThank you for your concern,Ф she said, smiling, Уbut my home lies elsewhere, and glad IТll be to return to it. IТm not a body who likes to travel. As the saying goes, СEast, west, homeТs best.ТФ
Her eyes were like emeralds, Tesk realized, and her hair gleamed like white gold. No wonder her kind had bewitched men in days gone by! УWhen will you be able to go back?Ф
Cray looked straight ahead. УSoon, when I have that which I came for.Ф
УMistress Cray,Ф the wizard said eagerly, Уif there is aught I can do to help you, please ask.Ф
She tilted her head and pursed her lips, but her frown was not unkind. УAnd why should a humanЧand a magicker attending a future king at thatЧ wish to assist one such as I?Ф
The plain-faced little wizard flushed. УIЧI admire your courage, coming so far to fulfil a duty laid upon you by another. And you are very beautiful.Ф
She gave a soft peal of laughter, reached out, and touched his sleeve. УBeware, Tesk! Many a human male has fallen into the thrall of Green Women, to his doom.Ф
УYou make fun of me. Yet some eldsire of mine must have indeed loved one of you, to have engendered a wizard like me. I ask nothing of you, mistress. But if your appointed task is hard, I stand ready to give you aid.Ф
УCan you swim?Ф she asked him, bringing her mount closer. УRunning water is inimical to my people. Indeed, some of us are loath even to cross a stream on a bridge, although I am not quite so constrained. This thing I must do could take me into the river, and I confess to dreading it. If a friend were to stand by meЧФ
УI will,Ф he declared. УAnd I swim like a fish.Ф
УThen stay close, for in a little while IТll disappear from the sight of this company, and if you would help me, you must vanish as well.Ф
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УAhead of us!Ф Baron Cuva called out. УThe dikeЧand the bridge across Boar Creek.Ф He urged his mount forward, with the prince following, and the knights who rode behind Cray and Tesk were so eager to stay with their masters that they splashed into the creek shallows so they could pass by the Green Woman and the wizard.
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