"Melanie Rawn - Dragon Prince 3 - Sunrunners Fire" - читать интересную книгу автора (Rawn Melanie)

Rohan looked pensive. "You're both right, of course. But consider Andry's
motives. He needs to do something to indicate how different his rule will be
from Andrade's."

"She's been dead forty days," Sioned murmured. "Why does it seem so much
longer?"

Ostvel used one finger to smooth a ripple in the carpet. "You've told me she
was uneasy about Andry. But Urival is there, and knows him well. Urival will
guide him."

"But not control him," Sioned replied.
"And did Andrade ever really control you?" Ostvel smiled faintly. "Andry's not
a fool, Sioned, nor is he venal or grasping. He's a very young man thrust into
a position of great power before being prepared for it. I think there are
those among us who can understand his feelings and his needs."

Rohan nodded. "Oh, yes. I understand him very well. I've been the architect of
a few departures from tradition myself, many of them in my first year as a
ruling prince. And this is Andry we're talking about hereтАФa boy you and I
played dragons with, Ostvel. Nephew, son, and brother." His gaze moved around
the circle.

Sioned cleared her throat and looked down at the wine cup. Slowly she filled
it from the golden pitcher. Then she reached into a pocket and took out a
small cloth pouch.

"SionedтАФis that truly needed?" Tobin asked worriedly. "I don't like the idea
any more than you do. But Urival was quite specific. And it will only be a
little bit. Not enough to do me any harm." Loosening the drawstrings, she took
out a pinch of powdery gray-green substance. "Enough to fit inside a thumb
ring," she murmured, quoting Urival. "The Star Scroll advises caution, but
this amount is safe enough."

"According to a half-translated book hundreds of years old!" Maarken shook his
head and glanced at his wife. Hollis did not shrink back from the sight of the
dranath in Sioned's fingers, but her eyes were haunted. She had spent the
journey from Waes to Stronghold freeing herself of addiction to the drug; even
though she no longer craved it, the anguish of withdrawal was still evident in
her pale lips and bruised eyelids.

"The conjure I'm working tonight is difficult enough to sustain under ordinary
circumstances," Sioned reminded them. "This one will take all night. Urival
says dranath can increase powers. And he sanctioned its use."

Before anyone could say anything else, she sifted dranath into the wine and
swirled the cup to mix it in before drinking off half the contents.

"I remember how it felt," she murmured into the silence. "Dizziness for a
moment, then warmth. ..." Her cheeks flushed. There was another effect of