"Douglas Niles - Druidhome 2 - The Coral Kingdom" - читать интересную книгу автора (Niles Douglas)

queen's smile was wistful, and Alicia waited for her to continue. "I fear you'll need it, and much more, in the
days and weeks to come."
"But Father lives! Doesn't he?" The disturbing fear that the ambassador might have been lying pushed its
way to the forefront of Alicia's mind, but angrily she forced it back. "He must be alive! Can't you tell
somehow?"
 "Aye, Daughter. I believe that I can." Robyn sighed, sinking to a stone bench beside the pool. Alicia sat
beside her. "I didn't realize it at first. When the news came that the ship was lost and everyone had
drowned, I tried to accept the fact that Tristan was dead. There could be no other explanation, no other real
hope.
"Yet as the days and weeks went by, I couldn't bring myself to believe it. I dreamed about him almost
every night, and there was something so real about those dreams that I came to believe that he must be
alive somewhere.
"Now this messenger comes, with these claims that they hold the High King prisoner, and I find it all too
easy to believe."
"Then you must have faith, Mother!" Alicia insisted. "He's lived this long, and when I get to Synnoria I
promise that I'll find a way to go after him!"
Robyn smiled, forcing her expression to brighten. "I believe you, my daughterтАФand more than that, I will
help."
"What do you mean?"
"Tomorrow, when you begin your journey along the Corwell Road in search of the Llewyrr, I intend to
ride with you."

* * * * *

During the long afternoon and evening, Deirdre watched the preparations of her sister's party in the
mirror of scrying. She viewed the scene with the same wry amusement with which she had greeted the
images of the disrupted festival. She kept the fact of her spying crystal a secret, spending long hours
secluded in her room while she observed the activities around the castle in the glass.
Then, when Alicia, the queen, and their companions rode through the gate in the morning, she amused
herself by watching their progress, trying to imagine the substance of their undoubtedly trivial conversations.
The mirror provided no sound for the scene being observed.
Eventually she tired of this eavesdropping and turned back to her books. She went about her own
business, relieved that the burden of court and council could be delayed to some nebulous future hour.
Deirdre had brought several tomes with her, carried in a large sack over her shoulder, and she spread these
on the desk near the room's window. Bright sunshine flooded the land of Corwell, and in its light, she would
be able to read easily.
She returned to a book she had started the day before, a treatise on travelтАФboth voluntary and
involuntaryтАФthrough the ethereal stuff that connected the planes of existence. Her nimble mind absorbed
each detail, recognizing where the writer overextended his arguments and where he had touched upon a
real germ of truth.
As she progressed through the book, the sun sank into the west and the household servants brought her
some food and lit several candles for her reading. The former remained untouched and the latter burned
low as the princess learned more, and more, and more.

* * * * *

The supple bay raced along Corwell Road, and Alicia gave the horse her head. Her companions trailed
along the smooth surface of the highway, riding at the easy lope that for two days had carried them across
central Corwell. Hanrald led the way, alternately lumbering forward on his huge war-horse or probing
possible places of concealment along the road to either side, while Alicia and Robyn alternately raced,