"Douglas Niles - Forgotten Realms - Moonshae 02 - Black Wizard" - читать интересную книгу автора (Niles Douglas)

"My... prince," he began. The pause was long enough that none could miss its
significance. "Your gracious hospitality and entertainment is greatly
appreciated. It is time, however, that we arrived at the true purpose of this
council.
DOUGLAS NILES
"Leave us, please, to attend to the man's task of selecting the next king of
Corwell." Pontswain turned back to the lords, his gesture emphasizing the
prince's dismissal.
Tristan had been prepared for a maneuver of some kind, but the bhmtness of it
took him by surprise. He found his voice a second later.
"My ... lord." He mimicked Pontswain's pause perfectly. "I have earned the
right to attend this council, as much as any other man hereтАФperhaps more than
some, if such earning is measured in blood shed for the kingdom." He saw the
lords who had suffered during the war nodding in mute agreement, as attention
turned back to Ponstwain.
"Now, now, lad . . ." Pontswain's patronizing tone gave Tristan his opening.
"Where do you earn the right to condescend?" he growled. "The laws of the
Ffolk provide that my fitness to rule will be judged alongside of yours, old
manтАФand it may be that it will be judged superior to yours!"
In a brief minute, the field of candidates for the kingship had been narrowed
to two. Both men understood this and sized each other up for a moment before
proceeding.
"None would deny," began Pontswain, "that, under the guidance of your father,
you made some remarkable contributions to the realm. But your father is gone
nowтАФ"
"Which is why we are here...." Tristan interrupted flatly. "I stood without my
father upon Freeman's Down, where my troops stopped an army of Northmen
numbering four times our own! I found the Sword of Cymrych Hugh without my
father, returning that weapon to the Ffolk after it had been lost for
centuries! My father lay wounded within these walls when I faced the Beast in
the courtyard and drove it from this castle. And it was also without my father
that I pursued and slayed the Beast in mortal combat!"
"And since that time you have wasted your time drinking and carousing, and not
done a single thing to better yourself!" accused Pontswain. Several of the
lords turned to regard the prince somewhat critically, and he paused. It had
not occurred to Tristan that his reputation would have reached these men.
"Perhaps I have enjoyed myself," Tristan finally conceded.
BLACK WIZARDS
"But it was at my own expense. I have not been collecting and hoarding a
fortune by overtaxing the peasants of Corwell! " Now several lords regarded
Pontswain accusingly, for it was well known that Lord Pontswain was a harsh
taxer and miserly with his expenses.
"My experience as the administrator of a cantrev has given me an opportunity
to prepare for the kingship. My cantrev has been prosperous far beyond the
normтАФ"
"Because you stood behind your stone walls while war ravaged the cantrevs of
your neighbors and countrymen!"
"That accusation is not true," Pontswain returned, "and I'm glad you've given
me the opportunity to respond.
"During the Darkwalker War, my troops diligently patrolled the southern shore