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

You state the facts with tactless candor, for one who was once first counselor to a king and now lives in disgrace, under a deferred sentence of death, stripped of all magical talent by the iron hanging around your neck.
УDonТt be so touchy. Neither of us can afford wounded pride. Together we may possibly rule the world. Apart weТre doomed.Ф
No more word games, Kilian. ItТs time for me to go.
УBefore you do, we must discuss your sister. My agents in Gala Palace will do their utmost to disguise their real objective. But if Conrig suspects that either of us might have caused the trove to be stolen, he might pressure Conjure-Queen Ullanoth to put us under close observation. Even worse, he could ask her to trace my agents. No ordinary talent is able to scry the moonstones, but her Subtle Loophole sigil can.Ф
Conrig would never let the Conjure-Queen know about DarasiloТs Trove. HeТd be afraid sheТd covet it for herself.
УI suppose youТre right. But the king might use some pretextЧФ
Ulla hasnТt spied on me with Loophole since the incident last year that nearly cost her life. IТve been assured of this by Master Kalawnn himself. That particular sigil is the most powerful one she possesses, and the price of its conjuring is tremendous. Unless Conrig tells her that we might have stolen a secret hoard of inactive moonstones, sheТll refuse to endanger her health and sanity by using Loophole to watch us or my men.
УSheТs bound to find out about the trove sooner or later.Ф
ThatТs why I intend to have the Salka attack her. IТve worked out a planЧ
УI agree we should make her demise one of our earliest prioritiesЕ but only after the death of Honigalus! You must convince the monsters to kill him and his heirs first, Beynor. The circumstances are ideal and such an opportunity may never come again. The destabilization of the Sovereignty is absolutely crucial to our success. But that wonТt happen unless Conrig loses his hold on Didion. Do you understand?Ф
Yes. Honigalus first, but then Ulla dies.
A sigh.
Return to your peaceful slumber, KilianЧas I do my best to tiptoe scatheless through the nightmare I inhabit here. Should I manage to gull the Salka, IТll pop back into your dreams to inform you how the matter went. If I fail, remember me as you study DarasihТs worthless collection of baublesЧand think of what might have been.
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The brightness and warmth of the endless midsummer daylight hardly penetrated the dank chambers of the great Salka citadel that crouched on the highest point of the Dawntide Isles. After four years of exile in the awful place, Beynor always felt pierced to the bone by cold, no matter how many furs he piled on. He was one-and-twenty years old now, and had enjoyed excellent health when he first came; but he knew he could not survive here much longer. The citadel was an abode fit only for nonhuman grotesques. It drained his bodily strength and weakened his innate talent more and more with each passing day. If he must risk everything now in a bid to restore his lost fortunes, then so be it. He carried a whale-oil lantern as he descended a slippery flight of steps to a corridor that extended well below sea level. The widely spaced jars of luminous marine plankton used by these Salka to illuminate the lower precincts of their refuge gave too meager a light to accommodate human vision. Even the smoky flame of the lantern was inadequate, and Beynor cursed as he threaded his way among numerous stinking black puddles, fed seawater (and noxious little swimmers) by perpetual leaks in the tunnel ceiling.
At length he reached the anteroom outside the presence chamber of the great trolls known as the Eminences. Six gigantic Salka guards holding granite battle hammers stood before double doors faced with slabs of carved amber and wrought gold. The hanging bowls of glowworms were larger here, giving plenty of light, so the young sorcerer discarded his sputtering lantern, strode forward with as much fortitude as he could muster, and spoke in the harsh tongue of the monsters.
УI am Beynor ash Linndal, rightful Conjure-King of Moss and honored guest of your people, come for an audience with the Eminent Four.Ф
Slowly, the amphibians inclined their crested heads and studied him with a gaze like banked smoldering coals. They beheld a man tall and slimly built, having an intense narrow face and long pale hair that had gone stringy in the dampness. His eyes, which seemed at first to be black, were actually darkest green, with a glimmer of exceptional talent in their depths. The regal garments Beynor had worn when fleeing his lost kingdom had long since fallen to rags; and since his nonhuman hosts were unfamiliar with clothing, he had fashioned with his own hands a suit of pieced sea-otter fur, along with a voluminous fox cloak and sturdy boots of seal hide. The sole emblem of monarchy he had brought from Moss, the Royal Sword in its heavily bejeweled scabbard, was girded about his loins.
Saying nothing, the guards stepped aside and swung the chamber doors wide open. Beynor entered and the doors clanged shut again. He stood with his hands steepled in the Salka gesture of submission, biding his time until he should be recognized by the Eminences.
The beings who awaited him in the fantastically ornamented undersea cavern lolled on stubby-legged golden platforms, heaped with seaweed, that served them as couches. They were unattended and conversed among themselves in voices like muted thunder, apparently paying no attention to the human newcomer. A low table containing dishes and flasks of outlandish food and drink stood within tentacle reach. Behind the dais rose a huge mosaic made from multicolored bits of amber and gleaming pearl-shell, depicting a legendary Salka hero. His flexible arms brandished twin obsidian axes, his saucer eyes glared fire-red, and his fanged mouth gaped in a silent roar. The image was framed by amber-bead curtains and lit with hanging crystal globes containing lively phosphorescent organisms.
Like the champion in the mosaic, each Eminence wore around his thick neck a softly glowing greenish-blue carving suspended from a golden chain: moonstone sigils of the minor kind that drew magical power from the Beacon-folk at the cost of pain to the wearer.
The Eminences were not royalty, but rather ruling elders chosen by their people for strength of character and proficiency in their separate fields of endeavor. Three of themЧthe First Judge, the Supreme Warrior, and the Conservator of WisdomЧBeynor had never seen before. As a mere human sorcerer, even one of royal blood who had come bearing a marvelous gift to ensure his welcome, he had been beneath their notice during his enforced stay in the Citadel of the Dawntide Isles. The only one of the Four familiar to Beynor was Master Shaman Kalawnn, pre-eminent adept of his race, who had been an intimate friend of the late Conjure-King Linndal. Unaware that Beynor had murdered his father, Master Kalawnn had agreed to give the deposed young ruler sanctuary after the Great Lights cursed him and stripped him of all but one of the sigils he had used to secure the throne of Moss.
That single remaining magical moonstone of his, dull and lifeless as it had been since it was first fashioned over a thousand years earlier, rested now on a spindly gold tripod to the right of the dais. Its presence was presumably a tribute to the human who had finally returned it to its original owners. The sigilТs name was Unknown Potency, and it was the most celebrated thing of its kind ever made, priceless at the same time that it was deemed supremely dangerous.
For long centuries following the damnation of the stoneТs Salka creator, the precise manner of the PotencyТs activation and operation had been forgotten by other members of the amphibian race. The person who made itЧ supposedly to be used as the ultimate weapon against the conquering hordes of the Emperor Bazekoy, although the monsters were not certain of thisЧhad in the end failed to empower it.
Never brought to life, dreaded more than cherished, the Unknown Potency had become an enigmatic symbol of extinct Salka glory. Over the centuries, learned thaumaturgists among the monsters believed that the sigil might hold the key to unimaginably great magic surpassing that of the Beaconfolk But none had been brave enough to test it, for fear of the Great LightsТ capricious wrath.
About a hundred years earlier, through subterfuge, the Unknown Potency and six other notable sigils had passed from the Dawntide Salka into the hands of an extraordinary human wizard named Rothbannon, who used some of the stones to establish himself as the first Conjure-King of Moss. Although Rothbannon did eventually learn the spells that would activate the Unknown Potency, he and his descendants were disinclined to make use of the dubious sigilЧas had been Beynor himself, even when the security of his throne was at stake and the fickle Beaconfolk turned against him. As the Great Lights repudiated and cursed the young king, they unaccountably left in his possession the УdeadФ Unknown Potency, at the same time forbidding him to make use of it, or any other sigil, on pain of instant annihilation. But the Lights had not stopped Beynor from handing over the Unknown to the Salka.
Nor had they prevented him from engaging in studies concerning the nature of the cryptic stone while he lived in the Dawntide Citadel under KalawnnТs protectionЕ
УWe give you leave to approach us, Beynor,Ф the Master Shaman now said, Уand to speak to me and my august colleagues about your researches.Ф
He came forward, and without preamble pointed to the Unknown Potency on its golden tripod. УEminences, IТve discovered what this thing does.Ф
The leaders uttered undignified whoops of astonishment. The Supreme Warrior, who was the largest and most physically imposing of the Four, surged up from his couch and slithered across the dais with astonishing speed. He plucked from its resting place the small object resembling a hard translucent ribbon twisted into the form of a figure eight, and held the thing high while bellowing into BeynorТs impassive face.
УYou have discovered the operation of the Unknown Potency? The secret that eluded the most learned of our shamans for over eleven hundred years? How dare you say such a thing? YouТre lying!Ф
УI studied your own archival tablets, EminenceЧdocuments that have lain neglected in the bowels of this citadel since the defeated remnant of the Salka host took refuge in these forsaken isles. The work was very difficult, even though I am fairly fluent in your language. But I persevered. I succeeded. And now I propose to share my hard-won knowledge of the Potency with you.Ф Beynor paused. УAs is only just, I ask something in return for my labors.Ф
УNow we come to the heart of the matter!Ф exclaimed the Supreme Warrior, with a vicious clash of teeth. УHe intends to trick us in some fashion, as the wretch Rothbannon did! KalawnnЧexplain how this miscreant was able to pry into our sacred archives. How long have you been aware of this alleged discovery?Ф
УCalm yourself, Ugusawnn,Ф the Master Shaman replied equably. УI myself gave Beynor leave to investigate the Unknown PotencyТs history not long after his arrival. Why not, since our own scholars seemed unaccountably tepid in their reaction to the precious sigilТs return? As to BeynorТs discovery, he told me of it just hours ago, saying he had finally marshaled sufficient evidence to support his hypothesis. I commanded him to wait on us Four without delay and explain everything.Ф
УAnd now the insolent groundling thinks he can barter his so-called knowledge!Ф roared the Warrior. УI say he should be tortured until the truth is wrung out of him!Ф
УThe journeyman is deserving of his wage,Ф said Beynor, who seemed unfazed by the threat. УForgive my saying so, Eminences, but your shamansЧ with the shining exception of Master KalawnnЧare a timid and lazy lot, fearful of arcane matters outside the range of their limited experience. They flatly refused to help with my researches, so I undertook them alone, working for four years under conditions inimical to human good health. Eventually I uncovered the PotencyТs secrets. It may no longer be called Unknown, Eminences! I know its true nature. And while the Great Lights have forbidden me to empower itЧor any other sigilЧthey have not constrained you Salka. IТm willing to show you how to bring the stone to life. WhatТs more, with my help, this one small moonstone can restore to you your lost homeland on High Blenholme island, avenging your defeat by Emperor Bazekoy.Ф
УAstounding, if true,Ф said the First Judge. He was a rotund personage who snacked on tidbits from the refreshment table as he observed Beynor through shrewd, half-closed eyes.
The ancient Conservator of Wisdom whispered, УIf there is the least chance that the groundling does speak the truth, we must weigh his proposition.Ф
УI am truthful,Ф Beynor stated. УAnd IТll reveal everything I know if you pledge to help me attain my own heartТs goal.Ф
The Supreme Warrior gingerly replaced the precious piece of moonstone on its golden stand and loomed over the young man. Two boneless arms as thick as beech trunks, each having four digits armed with daggerlike talons, reached out in menace as the Salka general spoke with ominous gentleness. УYouТll tell what you know without making demands, carrion-worm, or I will first disjoint your limbs piecemeal, then slowly slice open your belly and consume your throbbing entrails while you watch with dying eyes.Ф
УThat will do, Ugusawnn,Ф said the Conservator of Wisdom. He was an individual of wizened stature, plainly infirm and weighted with years, but his red eyes burned with an authority that quelled the Supreme Warrior like an upstart child. УPlease resume your place. I will question the former Conjure-King of Moss myself.Ф
УHuh!Ф said Ugusawnn. But he crawled obediently back to his slimy kelp couch as the Conservator beckoned for Beynor to come closer.
УIt pains me to speak loudly, groundling. But listening to lies pains me even more. Do you swear by your human God to tell me the truth about the Unknown Potency, on peril of damnation to the Hell of Ice?Ф
УI do indeed, Eminence.Ф
But not all of the truthЕ no more than I told it to Kilian!
УThen say first what favors you seek in return for your discovery.Ф
Beynor took a breath. УMy principal desire is vengeance upon my evil sister Ullanoth and her accomplice Conrig Wincantor, the Sovereign of Blenholme. They conspired to humiliate me and steal my throne, and are ultimately responsible for my losing the friendship of the Beaconfolk. To achieve the ruin of these two persons I would renounce all hope of ever ruling MossЧ or any part of High Blenholme Island. Instead, I offer to restore your original homeland to you, after which I intend to pursue my own destiny on the Southern Continent.Ф
УHe offers Blenholme to us!Ф the Supreme Warrior scoffed. УAs though he ruled it rather than ConrigТs Sovereignty.Ф
УThe Unknown Potency can enable your army to destroy both the Sovereign and my sister,Ф Beynor said. УWith my help.Ф
УTell us how,Ф the First Judge demanded, picking his glassy teeth with one talon and examining the result with a frown.