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

УNo one will follow us into the Elderwold wilderness,Ф Cray said. УThatТs where weТll go.Ф
The nursemaidТs face crumpled with dismay. УBut the terrible Green Men live there! Have Casya and I escaped one set of inhuman monsters, only to fall into the hands of others?Ф
УWeТll risk it,Ф Cray said rather tartly. УSit up now, and IТll help you get your clothes on.Ф

eighteen
As soon as the Salka began their attack, Beynor put his own escape plan into action.
He crouched low in the dismasted sailboat and sent his windsight underwater to find the Supreme Warrior. Ugusawnn was still harnessed to the boat; but he was well out from the riverbank, at least five ells away and slightly downstream, resting on the mud bottom. His great body was poised in a tense attitude that seemed to indicate he was in mental contact with his company of warriors, directing them in their initial sprint towards the unsuspecting people on the royal barge.
BeynorТs great Sword of State, which he had brought with him from the Dawntide Citadel, had a double edge keener than the sharpest razor. He removed it now from the oilskin bag where heТd kept it out of sight, buckled on the ornate scabbard, and drew the blade. Then he cut the boatТs stern-line, which had been tied to one of the trees.
He held his breath, his heart thudding in his breast. The Eminent monster was so absorbed in the events taking place out on the water that he had paid no attention to what Beynor was doing.
Moving cautiously, with the sword still in hand, he went to the bow and checked to make sure that the little craft had not drifted into an unfavorable position within the overhanging brush and small trees that screened it. All was well. The boatТs anchor was not out. Instead, a bowline tied to a branch kept its stem pointed upstream.
Beynor waited until the Salka warriors attacked the bargeТs oarsmen, and death screams began to punctuate the wind. Then he leaned over the side and sliced through the mooring line and the leather harness traces attached to the gunwales, setting the sailboat free. Sheathing the blade, he scrambled to the stern, heedless of the noise he made, seized the tiller, and exerted all of his magical strength to propel the small boat out of its hiding place and into the open river. It was a simple trick, known to almost every talented child in Moss but rarely employed by mature sorcerers, and he counted on it now to save his life.
He gave a mighty shout on the wind: УUgusawnn, take care! Press the attack! Fighting men are coming at us from the castle in boats and I must intercept them. Stay here and donТt try to follow me. IТll beat them back!Ф
What?! The distracted Salka still didnТt realize that the traces had been cut. What are you saying?
With the centerboard up and the small craft drawing less than a foot of water, Beynor raced away upstream through the shallows along the northern shore, praying that Ugusawnn would fall for the ruse and remain with his warriors.
A bellow of rage split the air behind him. Stop! Where are you going?
УDo your job!Ф Beynor retorted on the wind, УMake certain that no human escapes the ambush aliveЧelse you and your people will never regain this island home that was stolen from you!Ф
The humans on the barge will be slaughtered and eatenЧand so will you, when I catch you! Scheming traitor! No one is coming at us from the castle. YouТre trying to escape.
Beynor made the boat go faster, zigzagging and swerving among the rocks with no thought of the danger. He dared not pause to scry out possible pursuit, but no monstrous tentacled limb had yet laid hold of his boat, and he was already opposite Boarsden Castle, where the banners and decorations still hung out to welcome a king who would never arrive.
Stop! Come back!
УSink the barge! Kill the people! Do what you came to do and IТll carry out my own part of the bargain!Ф
The ground along the right bank was rising now, changing rapidly from fertile pasture and field into upthrust bedrock dotted by thin stands of pine. A few minutes later the boat turned right and charged along the base of the towering palisade that forced the Malle into its Big Bend. Across the broad elbow of water lay Boarsden Town, with its crowded jetties and docks and the ware-houses of the wool-merchants and northern timberlords. Clogging the shallowing river nearly to midstream were anchored rafts of logs sent down from the forests of interior Didion, waiting for the rains of autumn to raise the water and give them swift passage to the mills and shipyards of Holt Mallburn.
Beynor steered for the opposite shore and the town, crossing the open channel and darting in among the rafts, agile as a minnow fleeing from a pike. The log platforms were anchored with multiple iron chains. Swimming underwater among them at speed would be a perilous business, even for a Salka. If Ugusawnn was still in pursuit, he would have to move more slowly, perhaps even put his head into the air to see which way the boat was going. But no tentacles took hold of the brash young sorcerer, nor did the Supreme Warrior bespeak him with fresh threats. Had the crafty monster swum on ahead? Was he waiting for his prey to arrive at the dock before putting a heartbreaking end to the escape attempt?
The windworld had become a howling chaos of dying minds that Beynor paid no more heed to, feeling no compassion or other emotion at the loss of so many lives, but only a sense of stark and necessary fulfillment. The first difficult step in his rebirth to glory had been taken. If he could only evade UgusawnnТs wrath for a few more minutes, the next step would follow quicklyЧand be so much easier.
His boat skimmed the water like a leaf blown before a gale, drawing the attention of river boatmen, who called out to him with indignant shouts. He ignored them, continuing on his wildly erratic course through larger vessels moored offshore, heading towards the public landing stage. The racing boatТs wake made the small craft tied up at the slips wallow and scrape their fenders. Sailors and dockside hangers-on cursed and yelled at him as he reined in his talent, then forced his boat to halt abruptly in a welter of foam just as it was about to crash into the quayside.
HeТd arrived.
УA madman!Ф somebody yelled. Another cried, УA wizard!Ф
УStand clear!Ф Beynor shouted at the gathering crowd. УIТm coming ashore.Ф
He seized the oilskin bag holding his money and personal effects, crouched, and made a great talent-assisted bound high into the air. He flew over the heads of the people on the dockТs edge like an acrobat and landed on his feet six ells away from the water. No enraged Salka monster surged up after him. He was safe. HeТd won the gamble.
УHere now!Ф cried the dockmaster, a stout, red-faced functionary who came rushing up with a pair of armed toll-collectors. УHere now! You canТt come roaring in here like this, sirrah! Who do you thinkЧФ
Beynor opened his purse and sent a gold mark coin spinning straight into the masterТs admonishing hand. The man stopped dead in his tracks, eyes bulging, and finished his sentence lamely.
УЧyou are?Ф
The tall, pale-haired young man with the darkly compelling eyes drew himself up proudly. He wore modest garments and had a seamanТs duffel slung over one shoulder, but girded about his loins was a sword and scabbard more magnificent than any Didionite prince could hope to wear.
УI am a visiting wizard,Ф Beynor said politely. УMy name is Lund.Ф
The angry murmurs of the crowd were stilled and the people shuffled their feet and looked uneasy. It didnТt do to offend a wizard, even one who had no notion of how to behave on the water.
Beynor produced another gold coin and proffered it to the incredulous dockmaster. УIf I have trespassed upon your laws or customs by my informal arrival, I beg your pardon. I trust that the gratuity IТve vouchsafed to you will be adequate to ensure my temporary welcome here.Ф
The dockmaster was all smiles now. УCertainly, my lord! How may we assist you? Do you require accommodation for the night?Ф The common people began to drift away, along with the two sullen-faced toll-collectors, who were well aware that thereТd be no chance of extorting special fees from this well-feathered bird of passage while the lucky dockmaster had him in tow.
УMuch as I would like to enjoy the hospitality of Boarsden Town,Ф Beynor said, УI regret that urgent business summons me elsewhere. I wish to purchase two blood horses, a fine saddle and harness, and a few other pieces of traveling gear. Perhaps you can direct me to a suitable stable.Ф
УI myself will take you to the best purveyor of horseflesh in all of central Didion! But what of your small boat?Ф
УI leave it in your good hands, since I have no further need of it. Just give me a moment to collect my thoughts, then weТll be off.Ф
УCertainly, my lord.Ф
Beynor turned away, sending his windsight soaring downstream, and drew in a sharp breath as he saw the royal barge being sucked down into the eddy. There was no time to waste. He must be well away from here before the magnitude of the disaster became generally known. He cut off the dreadful oversight and bespoke Ugusawnn silently.
УEminent One, it seems you and your warriors have done the job. I congratulate you. May I also commend your good sense in not pursuing me.Ф
I was sorely tempted to seize you and rip you limb from limb for daring to escape me. But I thought the better of it.
УAnd well you did. If youТd followed your instincts, youТd have to explain to the other three Eminences why the Known Potency would never be activated. The fact is, IТm still quite willing to bring the sigil to life for you and lead you to my sisterТs collection of stones. But I intend to do it in my own way and under my own terms. IТm tired of your bullying and your stupid threats.Ф
Stupid? You dare to call me stupid?
Resentment and frustration flared in Beynor like a tarnstick igniting waxed tinder, but the tone of his mental speech was glacial. УUgusawnn, IТve no doubt that youТre a brave battle-leader. But when it comes to matters of high policy youТre naught but a blubber-brained fool. You have no notion of how to accomplish important deeds save by brute forceЧno way of seeking other beingsТ cooperation save through violent coercion. Back in the Dawntides, I tried to deal with you like a civilized being while making my proposal. Your three colleagues treated me with respectЧbut not you, Supreme Warrior! All youТve done from the start is bluster and try to intimidate me. Well, Eminent Ugu, thatТs all over now.Ф
What do you mean, groundling?
УYou wonТt carry me back to the Dawntides as your prisoner, nor will I immediately bring the Known Potency to life for you.
You promisedЧ
УI donТt trust you to fulfil your part of the bargain. I believe youТve intended from the beginning to kill me just as soon as I activated the Potency. If you deny it, you lie. Therefore, the rules of our agreement have changed.Ф