"Quickening - 02 - Blood And Memory" - читать интересную книгу автора (McIntosh Fiona)

УAfter she had told us everything she could, she asked if she could leave. She was very upset, as you can imagine.Ф

УHad it occurred to you, Commander, that the whore was involvedЕcould have given the killer entry? Could have killed Koreldy even?Ф

УYes.Ф

УAnd?Ф

She watched the color rise in her chief of security. УShe could not have killed Koreldy because he would have been too strong for her. You know what an artful fighter he was. As for her being involved, yes, it had occurred to me but I decided she was innocent.Ф

УWhy?Ф

There it was again. The hesitancy, the embarrassment, a flush of red rising at the neck. УI have met her before. She did not strike me as either violent or anything more than a young woman trying to make the best of her situation.Ф

УI see,Ф said Valentyna, understanding perfectly. Romen had not been the first of her acquaintances to lie with this woman. Clearly Liryk had intimate knowledge of the whore Hildyth. УI want soldiers sent immediately to bring this woman back to the castle for questioning. Can I leave that up to you?Ф

Liryk nodded, embarrassed. УOf course.Ф

УWhere is Romen now?Ф she asked, just managing to keep her voice steady as she said his name.

УIn the chapel, your highness.Ф

УThank you, Commander Liryk. I know you must be extremely tired. Please, rest and we shall speak again when you are refreshed. I apologize for having kept you so longФЧand then miraculously her voice lightenedЧУand for losing myself there for a few moments. It was a shock.Ф

She watched LirykТs expression soften at her words. Perhaps her cool detachment had unsettled him, although was this not the very quality one could admire in a queen? One not prone to shrieking hysterics but someone who could control her own emotions and deal calmly with a situation?

УI understand fully, your majesty. In truth, I donТt believe I have come to terms with it myself yet.Ф

УHe died as a result of a blade through the heart, thatТs right, isnТt it?Ф

He nodded. УDriven into his chest with expert precision. The killer knew what he was doing.Ф

УSo it would have been quick?Ф

УDead before Koreldy even realized heТd been struck,Ф he assured her, not quite believing it himself as he stood to bow before his sovereign.

She nodded that he might depart and he did so gladly, flooded with relief that his ugly task was done.



Chapter 2


Knave knew. The dog had woken him in the night with a howl so sorrowful it hurt Fynch to hear it. They had been sleeping rough in the woods because Fynch could not bear to be in the castle after all that had happened.

Most of all he could not face the Queen. She had done something so unexpected that he had been unable to disguise his feelings over her actions, not that he had any status to disapprove. They were friends, though. Friends did not cast each other aside. She needed RomenЕwhy could she not see this?

It was true that even he had been wary of Romen originally; how could he not be? It was Fynch who had overheard King Celimus plotting with Koreldy to assassinate Wyl Thirsk. But it was Fynch who had noticed the curious attachment that Knave, WylТs dog, had shown for Koreldy when they had tracked him back to Pearlis. Fynch had been shocked to see the foreigner with Ylena and to hear that he had brought WylТs corpse back to Stoneheart for the formal respect it was due. It was he alone who had worked it out or at least accepted that something very strange had occurred. Fynch believed in magic and so did not suffer from the same wariness of it as did most Morgravians or dismiss it like the Briavellians.

His suspicion that Wyl Thirsk was somehow still among them had been confirmed, first by KnaveТs uncharacteristic affection for a stranger and then by the fact that Koreldy had claimed Ylena, taking her away to safety. Furthermore, he had cleared the Thirsk family name simply by arriving in Pearlis with WylТs body. Fynch had been relieved when Koreldy had admitted to being Wyl and explained about the frightening phenomenon that was the Quickening, which had given him life and taken the real Romen KoreldyТs.