"Juliet E. McKenna - Einarinn 4 - The Warrior's Bond" - читать интересную книгу автора (McKenna Juliet E)

CHAPTER ONE
The Sieur's Frontispiece to the D'Olbriot Chronicle, as Written by Messire
Guliel in His Own Hand at This Winter Solstice, Concluding
the Second Year of Tadriol the Provident
There are years when I swear it takes me as long to compose this short summary
of notable events as it does for all the clerks and archivists, the stewards
and chamberlains to abridge their ledgers and records for the posterity of the
House. There have been times when I wonder if any Sieur in later generations
will even read my carefully chosen words detailing important alliances,
significant births or sorely mourned deaths. This year and last, my fear is
that some future guardian of D'Olbriot's interests will treat my record with
the same amused condescension I have been wont to feel when reading the more
fanciful entries made by my forebears.
But as a rational man I must accept I can do nothing to counter whatever
beliefs or prejudices might influence subsequent readers of this annal. By
that same token, I can only relate the startling dealings of this past year
and ask that my words be accepted as the unvarnished truth, on my oath as
Sieur of this House.
The first year of our new Emperor's reign concluded with the discovery of
islands far in the eastern ocean, inhabited by a race of men hostile to
Tormalin and backed by inimical magic entirely unlike conventional wizardry.
These men of the Ice Islands ~ or in their own tongue, Elietimm - were
pursuing some arcane purpose of their own that led them to attack vulnerable
members of this and other Names, robbing them of heirloom jewels and
artefacts. As this year opened, I was persuaded by Planir, Archmage of
Hadrumal, to assist his search for answers to this puzzle by granting him the
service of Ryshad Tathel, sworn to this House for ten years and more. Ryshad
had already done much to track these villians to their remote lair, as he
sought justice in my Name for a victim from our House. I also acceded to the
wizard's suggestion that I reward Ryshad with an ancient sword the Archmage
had recently returned to me.
Believe me as I declare here and for perpetuity that I had no notion what this
seemingly innocent gesture might demand of Ryshad. But as my honour binds me,
I confess I might have yet done the same, even had I known what would befall
him. My duty as Sieur of this House demands I must look to the wider interests
of all, even at severest cost to any one individual.
These Elietimm pursued Ryshad and the wizards he had been sent to protect,
seeking the sword I had given and other artefacts held by the mages. By some
foul connivance, the Elietimm encompassed Ryshad's enslavement by the
Aldabreshin, and it was only by virtue of his resourcefulness and courage that
the man escaped alive and whole from the savagery of those southern islands.
His first safe landfall beyond the Archipelago was regrettably the island of
Hadrumal. There, Planir determined the sword Ryshad carried held vital
knowledge, locked within it by archaic enchantments. I do not pretend to
understand by what means but the Archmage had learned that this blade and
other treasures sought by the brutal Elietimm had come from that supposedly
rich and fertile colony founded by Tormalin nobles in the final years of
Nemith the Last, and lost thereafter in the mists of the Chaos that toppled
the Old Empire.
Thus far I can picture your astonishment, unknown reader, but hereafter I am