"02 - The Star Scroll" - читать интересную книгу автора (Rawn Melanie)

Meath glanced down as Pol plucked at his sleeve. "What is it?"

"I've sent Giamo to fetch the patrol. They should be here soon."

"Good thinking. Thanks." The boy looked a little pale, but seemed in perfect control of himself. "Are you all right?"

"Fine. But I don't think this was any simple disagreement," he added thoughtfully. "In fact, I'm sure the one with the beard started it on purpose."

Meath was almost afraid to find out why. Neither was he looking forward to an explanation about Pol's conjuring of Fire. Meath and Eolie had never shown him how. Perhaps Sioned had before Pol left Stronghold, but somehow Meath doubted it. Pol would have told him.

The faradhi looked down into clear eyes. "Why would he start a fight?" he asked quietly.

"Because he wanted to kill me." Pol shrugged. "Rialt kept him from throwing his second knife. You were busy with the others and didn't see. But he wasn't aiming at you the first time, either. He was after we.''

It wasn't natural for a fourteen-year-old to speak so calmly about such things. Meath started to put an arm around his shoulders, but Pol slid away and went to the cellar door, where Willa had just appeared with clay mugs

of wine. Pol appropriated one and took a long swallow, then helped her serve the rest. Meath downed the contents of his mug in two gulps and then approached the man who lay trapped and unconscious beneath the overturned table.

He was unremarkable in every wayЧheight, weight, coloring, featuresЧand that very plainness signaled dan- ; ger. Who would notice this man, but for the uniform and the beard? Yet both were too easy to identify, and Meath could not help but wonder about them. Even if Velden of Grib had had a compelling reason to kill Pol, Meath couldn't believe anyone was stupid enough to send an assassin dressed in the colors of his own princedomЧ unless he counted on everyone's assuming that no one would be that stupid. Intricate schemes made Meath's head ache. And he could just hear himself accusing a ruling prince of attempted murder. It was much easier to absolve Velden of complicity and decide that the uniform was borrowed protection, gaining the assassin access to Graypearl as part of the Gribain suite, with chance placing the soldiers here at the inn at the same time as Pol.

Besides, there was the beardЧa disguise that could be discarded almost as easily as the uniform. Meath crouched down to peer at the man's face.

"What are you looking for?" Pol asked over his shoulder.

"I'm not sure," Meath admitted. "I don't think he's had his beard very long. It's uneven and hasn't grown long enough to trim neatly. And that place on his chin is practically bald."

The boy knelt and fingered the beard. When he met the Sunrunner's eyes, his own were haunted. "Merida," he whispered.

"Impossible. They were all but wiped out the year you were born. Walvis got them at the Battle of Tiglath."

"Merida," Pol repeated stubbornly. "The scar's on his chin in just the right place. They're trained assassins. And who else would want to kill me?"

Meath heard reaction beginning at last as Pol's voice rose slightly, and he pulled the boy to his feet. He snagged another cup of wine from the tray on the table and gave it to Pol after seating him firmly in a chair.

Rohan had sent his son to Dorval for its safety, with the understanding that Meath, Sioned's friend since their student days at Goddess Keep, would act as bodyguard whenever the boy was not in the immediate confines of Graypearl. Meath's hands shook as he thought about what might have happened here today.

Pol's color and poise had come back. He complimented the merchants and shipwrights on their fighting skills, speaking as easily as if this had been a simple tavern brawl, not an attempt to kill him. But Lleyn's carefree squire had vanished, replaced by a young man who now knew how much his death was worth. Rohan and Sioned would find that their son had taken a very long step toward manhood in the space of a few moments. Pol's identity known by now, as he thanked Rialt for his quickness the low bow he received seemed to embarrass him. This reassured Meath for reasons he did not immediately understand.

The patrol arrived and Meath was glad to hand over the prisoners to their keeping. They would be brought before Prince Lleyn; he looked grimly forward to hearing the Merida explain himself.

"I'm sorry about the damage," Pol was saying to Giamo. "And your goblet was broken. I'll find a replacement for it at the Rialla, I promise."

"My goblet?" Willa exclaimed. "Great Goddess watch over us, what's a foolish goblet? If your Sunrunner hadn't called Fire and startled them so much, more than my goblet and a few sticks of furniture would have been broken!"

Pol did not correct her impression that the Fire had been of Meath's making. "Well, just the same, you'll get another Fironese crystal when I return this autumn.''

One of the merchants cleared his throat. "Well-spoken, your grace. But I differ with good Willa here. It was your shout that distracted them and probably saved me a bloodlettingЧif not my life. It may be the duty of a prince to be brave, but courage always deserves a reward."

"We know you'd not accept anything for yourself," said his companion. "But come to our warehouses when you've time and choose whatever you fancy would suit your lady mother's famous beauty.''