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

what you were told: you were the kingтАЩs sonтАФnot this recent king, but Garamis. I saw you many times as a small boy,
and you have the same look about the eyes you had then. Your mother was, itтАЩs true, a peasant lassтАФa maidservant in the
summer palaceтАФbut some said she had mageborn blood a generation or so back.тАЭ
Even knowing it was coming didnтАЩt help. He felt the same helpless rage and fear that had overwhelmed him while
listening to Arranha. This old lady, so secure and decent, had seen him, remembered him. She had seen his mother, no
doubt; she had known his father. He shivered, and looked up to find them both staring at him. The old ladyтАЩs
servantтАФEris, he rememberedтАФhad a look he could interpret as contempt.
тАЬDoes it bother you?тАЭ Lady Dorhaniya asked. Her eyes were altogether too shrewd. тАЬYou were a charming boy, very well-
mannered, and youтАЩve grown to a charming manтАжтАЭ It was almost worse, though he could not explain it. If heтАЩd been a
bad child, cruel or wicked or dull, that could justify what had happened to him. If his father had been the last, most
wicked king, that could justify what had happened to him. But he could see, against the inside of his eyelids, the child he
had been, the child she was now describing so carefullyтАж the child who wanted so much to please, the child alert to the
wishes of those who cared for him. тАЬтАФyou brought me a little nosegay,тАЭ she said. тАЬSo thoughtful, for such a young
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LiarтАЩs Oath - The Legacy of Gird 02, Elizabeth Moon
boyтАжтАЭ He had learned that from a mageborn youth, a few years older, and found it impressed ladies visiting; he had
made nosegays for all of them. тАЬтАФand recitations. Your father had you stand up one night before dinner, and speak the
entire text of TorreтАЩs Ride. You must have been nine or so, thenтАФтАЭ
That he remembered; it had been just before he was sent away, and at first heтАЩd thought it was because heтАЩd made an
error. His tutor had scolded him for it. He had known, then, that the king commanded that performance, but not that the
king was his father. And then the steward had come, with a false smile on his face, to take him to an outlying vill and
deliver him to the senior cottager.
тАЬтАФJust before your dear father died,тАЭ Lady Dorhaniya said. тАЬI donтАЩt expect you remember it. They closed the summer
palace, and I suppose you went somewhere else.тАЭ
She could not know where тАЬsomewhere elseтАЭ had beenтАФto someone like her, the closing of one palace meant the
opening of another. His mind, running ahead on its own track, tripped on the memory of тАЬтАФyour dear father died,тАЭ and
came back to the present. тАЬHe died after thatтАФnot long after that?тАЭ
тАЬYes, thatтАЩs what I was saying. Before Sunturning, it was, and then Lorthin took the throne, and sent my dear husband
into exile for a time. So of course I wouldnтАЩt have been to the summer palace even had it been open.тАЭ
тАЬWhatтАФтАЭ His mouth had dried; he swallowed and tried again. тАЬDid you know my motherтАФI mean, her name?тАЭ
тАЬYou donтАЩt rememberтАФ? OhтАФyes; they sent her away when you were just walking. Her nameтАж no, I donтАЩtтАж but she
was a comely lass, never fear. Darker haired than your father, but with red in it; thatтАЩs where you got the red highlights in
your hair, and your eyes are more like hers. Your face is his, brow, cheek and chin.тАЭ
That didnтАЩt help; she seemed to realize it, for she made one of the meaningless comforting sounds old ladies make, and
reached to pat his knee. тАЬThere, young manтАФyoung prince, I should say, for you alone survive of the royal blood, though
it wonтАЩt do you much good. YouтАЩve nothing to fear in my memories of youтАжтАЭ
But I do, he thought, feeling himself squeezed between intolerable and conflicting realities. Already I have much to fear
from you, and I canтАЩt even tell what it is . . but I feel it. тАЬIтАж donтАЩt remember much,тАЭ he said with difficulty. Even as he
said it, details he had forgotten for years poured into his mind as pebbles from a sack, each distinct. Yet it was not a lie,
for he could not remember what he most wanted to at the moment, what this old woman had looked like, which of the
many noblewomen she had been. He could not remember what she remembered; he had nothing to share, no memories
that would make sense to her.
тАЬI expect you remember more than you want, sometimes,тАЭ she said, surprising him again. He had scant experience of old
women, and none of his own background; when he met her eyes, they seemed filled with secret laughter, not unkind.
тАЬMost men remember the bad things; my husband, to the day he died, remembered being thrashed for riding his fatherтАЩs
horse through a wheatfield near harvest. Yet in his family he had the reputation of being a rollicking lad no punishment
could touch. You look now as you did thenтАФsensitive enough to feel a word as much as a blow. ThatтАЩs why I thought,
perhaps, my memories could help you. Show you the way you seemed to othersтАФтАЭ
тАЬNo!тАЭ It got past his guard, in a choked whisper; then he clamped his lips tight. Tears stung his eyes. He swallowed,
unlocked his jaw, and managed to speak in a voice nearly his own. тАЬIтАЩm sorry, Lady Dorhaniya, butтАФthatтАЩs over. ItтАЩs