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

Chapter One

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Fin Panir in summer could be as hot as it was cold in winter; every window and door in the old palace complex stood
wide open. Luap had started work early, before the heat slicked his hands with sweat to stain the parchment. Now, in
midmorning, the heat carried ripe city smells through his broad office window. He paused to stretch and ease his cramped
shoulders. For once Gird had not interrupted him a dozen times; he had finished a fair copy of the entire Ten Fingers of
the Code. He reached for the jug of water and poured himself a mug, carefully away from his work. Could he write
another page without smudges, or should he quit until eveningтАЩs cool? He wondered, idly, why he had heard nothing from
Gird that morning, and then remembered that a Marshal from a distant grange had come to visit. Doubtless they were still
telling stories of the war.
He stretched again, smiling. It was nothing like the life he had imagined for himself when he was a boy, or a young
farmer, but somewhat better than either of those vanished possibilities. As GirdтАЩs assistant and scribe, he had status heтАЩd
never had before; he was living in the very palace to which his father had never taken him. And he knew that without
him, Gird could not have created, and revised, the legal code that offered some hope of lasting peace. His skill in writing,
in keeping accounts, in drawing maps, had helped Gird win the war; his skill in writing and keeping records might help
Gird win the peace.
тАЬLuapтАжтАЭ One of the younger scribes, a serious-faced girl whose unconscious movements stirred him brought her work to
his desk. тАЬI finished that copy, but thereтАЩs a blotтАФhereтАФтАЭ

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LiarтАЩs Oath - The Legacy of Gird 02, Elizabeth Moon
тАЬThey can still read it,тАЭ he said, smiling at her. тАЬThatтАЩs the most important thing.тАЭ She smiled back, shyly, took the scroll
and went back downstairs. He wished he could find one woman who would chance a liaison with him. Peasant women, in
the current climate, would not have him, as some had made painfully clear. They had suffered too much to take any man
with known mageborn blood as lover. The few mageborn women who sought him for his fatherтАЩs name he could not trust
to bear no children; he suspected they wanted a kingтАЩs grandson, and in his reaction to their pressure he could understand
the peasant womenтАЩs refusal. As for those women who sold their bodies freely, he could not see them without thinking of
his daughterтАЩs terrible death. He needed to feel that a woman wanted him, the comfort of his body, before he could take
comfort in hers.
But he knew that would not happen, any more than wishing would bring back GirdтАЩs wife or children, or restore any of
the losses of war. All the Marshals had lost family; everyone around him had scars of body and mind both. His were no
worse, he reminded himself, and decided to work on another page. Work eased his mind, and kept it from idle wishesтАФor
so the peasants always said, in the endless tags and ends of folktales that now colored every conversation. He was lucky
to have his work indoors, in this heat, or in winterтАЩs cold. He was lucky to have GirdтАЩs understanding, if he could not have
his indulgence.
He had just pulled another clean sheet toward him when he heard the old ladyтАЩs voice all the way up the staircase. He
covered his inkwell; perhaps he would be needed. With that accent, she had to be mageborn, and with the quaver in it, she
had to be old. The young guards, he suspected, would have no experience with her sort.
тАЬI donтАЩt care what you say, young man.тАЭ A pause, during which some male voice rumbled below his hearing. тАЬI must see
your Marshal-General, and I must see him now.тАЭ
Luap rolled his eyes up and wondered how far the respect for age would get her. Her voice came nearer, punctuated by
puffs and wheezes as she came up the stairs.
тАЬYes, it is important. It is always important to do things right. If your Marshal-General had had the advantages of good
education, he would know that already, but since he has notтАФтАЭ A shocked interruption, from what Luap judged to be a
very young yeoman, whose words fell all over each other in disarray. He grinned, anticipating the old ladyтАЩs response.
She did not disappoint him. тАЬYou see, young man, what IтАЩm talking about. YouтАЩre very earnest, IтАЩm sure, and very
dedicated to your Marshal-General, but you cannot express yourself in plain language with any graceтАжтАЭ