"Elizabeth Moon - Gird 02 - Liar's Oath" - читать интересную книгу автора (Moon Elizabeth)

doorwards may have thought, they offered no challenge to Arranha and Luap.
Inside, the coolness of stone and tile and shadowed air. Most of the windows shattered when the city fell had been
boarded up. Luap supposed that someday artists would design new windows to fill the interior with manycolored light,
but for now Gird had no intention of spending the landтАЩs wealth on such things. The great round hole in the end wall,
above the altar, had been left open, for light, and through it the sunтАЩs white glare fell full on the pale stone of the floor, a
bright oval, glittering from minute specks in the slabs of rock. Luap noticed how it was all the brighter for the shadows
around it, focusing the eye on what lay within the light.
Arranha walked up the Hall, followed by the other three, their footsteps sounding hollowly in that high place. They
walked through the sun, and back into shadow, halting when Arranha did, then moving at his gesture to stand at either
side, where they could see. At the altar, he bowed before laying the bag atop it. His prayer seemed, to Luap, unreasonably
elaborate for something so simple as the consecration of a handwoven cloth for its covering, but he omitted none of the
details the old lady had mentioned, from the selection of the animal, to the washing and spinning and weaving. From time
to time, he asked the old lady for the name of the person who had performed each rite. At last, he came to some sort of
conclusion. By then Luap was bored, noticing idly how the sunтАЩs oval slipped up the floor, handspan by handspan, as the
morning wore on. ArranhaтАЩs shadow appeared, a dark motionless form; when he looked, the sun blazed from ArranhaтАЩs
robe. It shifted minutely to catch the edge of the altar, which would be in full sun any moment.
Abruptly, in silence, Arranha came alight. As if he had turned in that instant to the translucent stone of a lamp, his body
glowed: Luap could see the very veins in his arms, the shadows of his bones. Once more he prayed, this time in a
resonant chant. Without haste, yet swiftly as the sun moved, he opened the bag and drew out the cloths, unfolding them
with cadenced gestures. In the full light of the sun, that rich embroidery glittered, shimmered, gold and silver on blue.
ArranhaтАЩs hands spread, and passed above the cloth. Its folds flattened as if heтАЩd soothed a living thing. Blue as smooth
and deep as the skyтАж light rose from the altar, as light fell from the empty window, to meet in a dance of ecstasy.
Luap did not know if Arranha kept on chanting, or if he fell silent. Until the sun moved from the altar, as it passed
midday, he stood rapt in some mystery beyond any magicks heтАЩd thought of. Then the spell passed, and he looked across
to find the old ladyтАЩs face streaked with tears; she trembled as she leaned on ErisтАЩs arm. Arranha folded the cloths, just as
ceremoniously, and returned them to the snowy bag for storage. Then, stepping away from the altar, he turned to her.
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LiarтАЩs Oath - The Legacy of Gird 02, Elizabeth Moon
тАЬLady, Esea accepts your service, and I, his priest, thank you for your years of diligence.тАЭ
She ducked her head. тАЬIt is my honor.тАЭ From the way she said it, Luap wondered if she had anything else in her life to
look forward to. He smiled at her when she looked up, but none of them said anything as they left the Hall. Back outside,
she seemed to have recovered her composure, and turned to Luap with a sweet smile.
тАЬYou will thank the Marshal-General for me? I will come again, but nowтАФI am a little fatigued. Eris will see me home;
please donтАЩt trouble yourselves.тАЭ
тАЬOf course, lady,тАЭ he said. He might have offered to escort her anyway, but sheтАЩd already turned away, and something in
ArranhaтАЩs expression suggested that Arranha wanted to talk to him out of the old ladyтАЩs hearing. For a few moments,
Arranha was silent, then he shook his head abruptly and smiled at Luap, a smile twin to the old ladyтАЩs, before leading the
way back to his own chosen courtyard. There he waved Luap to a seat on the stone bench and sat beside him, hot as it was
now in midday. Luap was about to suggest that they find a cool inside room in the palace when Arranha shook his head
slowly. тАЬI had forgotten her, you know. Until you brought her, I had not thought of Dorhaniya for years.тАЭ
тАЬYou knew her,тАЭ Luap said. тАЬAтАж dukeтАЩs daughter?тАЭ
Arranha sighed, and nodded. тАЬYesтАФlonger ago than I care to think.тАЭ He gave Luap a searching look, then went on. тАЬYou
need to know some of this, and you probably donтАЩt remember it.тАЭ
Luap felt himself tense, and tried to relax; he was sure Arranha saw through that, as he did through most pretense. тАЬDonтАЩt
remember what?тАЭ
Arranha peeled a late peach with care, and then handed it to him before starting to peel another for himself. Luap bit the
peach fiercely, as if it were an enemy, and Arranha talked as he peeled.
тАЬYou need to know that we both saw you, as a child. Dorhaniya and I.тАЭ
тАЬWhat!тАЭ It came out an explosive grunt, as if heтАЩd been punched in the gut, which is what it felt like.
Arranha gave him an apologetic look. тАЬI didnтАЩt remember, until I saw her, and she started talking. Then, thinking of