"Alphabet Of Thorn" - читать интересную книгу автора (McKillip Patricia A)

УKane lived so long that he forgot who he was. He died in some rulerТs palace, where for decades he had been useful, so that in his decline he was well treated even when nobody else could remember who he was, either.Ф

УYou are not kind to heroes.Ф

УNo,Ф she said, her eyes mirroring a cold reflection of the burning hearts. УNor were they, Axis and Kane, the brothers who ruled the world. Nor were they kind.Ф

His hand opened on her back, warm against silk and skin. УYouТve laid them to rest. And me as well. Now come to sleep. Meet me in my dreams.Ф

УWhere?Ф she asked him, settling into his arms, and he told her a briefer, gentler tale that lured her into sleep before he finished it.

They lived, as befitted a great mage and a great warrior, in a high central tower from which they had the windТs view of everything: the waves, the broad island across the channel that was the Third Crown, the archipelago beyond it that was the Fifth Crown, the misty northern forests and slopes, the southern fields, and the great green plain that flowed like a second sea over the cliffs above the sea. From there, Gavin watched for trouble; Vevay kept an eye on the Floating School and other anomalies. When he wasnТt summoned to the kingТs company, so weighted with mail and leather and jewel-crusted weapons that he could barely mount his horse, Gavin wrote poetry and studied the accounts of early battles in the long history of Raine. Vevay toyed with an account of her own very long life, ignoring those events that might be embarrassing to the living, including herself.

Now the shrewd and vigorous king was dead from falling off his horse during a hunt, leaving his rabbity daughter Tessera to rule the Twelve Crowns of Raine. Vevay, not certain that the girl could even name them all, had tutored her ruthlessly before her coronation. She had learned everything obediently, but with a distinct lack of interest, her mind occupied by other matters. What matters these were eluded Vevay completely. In desperation, Vevay consulted the queenТs mother, who was no help whatsoever.

The lady Xantia, who had loved the dead king dearly, was in deep mourning and had no patience for anything but her grief.

УYou must help her,Ф she said brokenly to Vevay. She wore dark purple and black, even to her daughterТs coronation. Since then she had appeared in court only rarely, blinking bewilderedly like something seldom exposed to light. УOf course she is lacking in experience; what do you expect? No one expected her to rule so soon, and under such circumstances.Ф

УSheТs fourteen,Ф Vevay said grimly. УYour husband the king was crowned not two years older than that. And he faced the first challenge to his reign from the Fifth Crown three months later. And won.Ф

Xantia closed her eyes and applied black linen to them. УYou teach her,Ф she said faintly. She leaned back in her chair, summoned her ladies-in-waiting with a gesture. УTeach her, Vevay. As you taught the king to rule. I place all our hope in you.Ф

УThank you,Ф Vevay said dourly. The queenТs mother shifted a corner of the silk over one eye to glance at her.

УYouТre a mage, Vevay. Do some magic.Ф

Baffled, Vevay went in search of the queen. The days after the coronation were scarcely less hectic than the preparations had been. The palace had never held so many noble guests, all with their families and entourages; the people camped on the plain, celebrating night and day, showed no signs of going home. A few days of rain might dampen their spirits, Vevay thought. Perhaps the students at the Floating School could practice conjuring with the weather. The queen, who should have been holding audiences with various rulers that morning, meeting with ambassadors, accepting gifts and giving them, becoming acquainted with possible suitors, was doing none of those things. She was, Vevay realized after coming across any number of bewildered courtiers, nowhere to be found.

She roused Gavin from his poetry with a silent call; he knew how to search without causing alarm. Then she took the shortest way to the top of her tower and began her own silent search through the palace, among the throng on the plain, even in the depths of that most unlikely place, the library. Trawling the busy palace and plain with a single line of thought baited with the queenТs name, she felt no response to it anywhere. In desperation she searched wildly improbable places, like the kitchens and the stables. Finally she flung a question into the Floating School, catching FelanТs attention.

Is the queen in the wood?

Forever passed, it seemed, before he answered. She paced the tower roof, waiting, while banners from the Twelve Crowns whipped around her like snakes. What would Tessera be doing in the wood? she asked herself impatiently. She had never shown any interest in it. But if not there, then where?

The answer from the Floating School came finally in the form of Felan, who fashioned himself out of cloud and light to stand with Vevay on the tower.

УNo,Ф he said, his habitual calm shaken, though his face did not show it. Vevay could feel the perturbed air between them. УThe queen is not in the wood. You donТt know where she is.Ф

УI donТt,Ф Vevay agreed grimly. Then she saw the tiny figure, far down on the face of the cliff, as far as the ancient outermost stairs led, which was, to all but the most knowledgeable eye, nowhere. She sighed. УYes. I do. Thank you, Felan.Ф

He rubbed a hairless eyebrow, gazing down. She saw his expression before he vanished, and she thought darkly: you can laugh.

She met the queen halfway down the steps, as Tessera made her painstaking way back up. The queen reeled at the unexpected sight of a body on her next step, but Vevay had expected that. A solid, invisible wall of magic protected the young queen from any danger, including an errant wind or her own clumsy steps. Vevay sat down on the weathered, crumbled stairs; Tessera stood still, gazing at her perplexedly.

She was slight, with lank hair, pale gold like her latherТs but lacking its exuberant curls. She had his almond eyes, too, though hers were a more watery blue, especially now after her trek in the raw wind. A quiet, seemingly unimaginative child, she was growing into a pallid young woman, with powdery skin and uncertain expressions. She looked apprehensive now, thin lines appearing and fraying above her colorless brows.

УWhat,Ф Vevay asked, trying for calm on the deadly face of the cliff, with the wind roaring around them and the sea wrinkling and snarling below, Уare you doing here?Ф

УJust Ч I was just Ч Ф She shrugged slightly, shivering at the same time, for she had come without a cloak. УIt was something I always wanted to do.Ф