"Christopher Stasheff - Wizard in Rhyme 04 - Secular Wizard" - читать интересную книгу автора (Stasheff Christopher)

make him forsake his pious ways, the prince had been his assurance that the Devil would
make him live-for only if the old king lived could the kingdom of Latruria be held against the
wave of good-ness that would have flowed from Prince CasudoтАЩs charity. тАЬWhat do I have left
now?тАЭ the old king ranted. тАЬOnly a single grandson, a puling boy, not even a stripling; a
child, an infant! Nay, I must rear him well and wisely in the worship of Satan, or this land will
fall to the rule of Virtue!тАЭ

What he didnтАЩt dare say, of course, was that if his demonic master knew he was raising little
Prince Boncorro any other way, the Devil would rack the king with tortures that Accerese
could only imagine-but imagine he did; he shuddered at the very thought. тАЬFool! Coward!
Milksop!тАЭ the king raged, and went on and on, ranting and raving at the poor dead body as if
by sheer rage he could force it to obey and come alive again. Finally, though, Accerese caught
an undertone to the tirade that he thought impos-sible, then realized was really there: The
king was afraid! At that, AccereseтАЩs nerve broke. Whatever was bad enough to scare a king
who had been a lifelong sorcerer, devoted to Evil and towickedness that was only whispered
abroad, never spoken openly-whatever was so horrible as to scare such a king could blast the
mind of a poor man who strove to be honest and live rightly in the midst of the cruelty and
treachery of a royal court devoted to Evil! Slowly, ever so slowly, Accerese began to edge
toward the stable door. No one saw, for everyone was watching the king, pressing away from
his royal wrath as much as they dared. Even Chancellor Rebozo cowered, he who had
endured King MaledictoтАЩs whims and rages for fifty years. No one noticed the poor humble
groom edge his way out of the door, no one noticed him turn away and pace quickly to the
postern gate, no one saw him leap into the water and swim the moat, for even the sentries on
the wall were watching the stables with fear and apprehension. But one did notice his
swimming-one of the monsters who lived in the moat. A huge scaly bulge broke the surface,
oily waters sliding off it; eyes the size of helmets opening, gaze flick-ing here and there until
they saw the churning figure. Then the bulge began to move, faster and faster, a V-shaped
wake pointing toward the fleeing man. Accerese did not even look behind to see if it was
coming; he knew it would, knew also that, fearsome as the monster was, he was terrified
more of the king and his master. The bulge swelled as it came up behind the man. Accerese
could hear the wash of breaking waters and redoubled his efforts with a last frantic burst of
thrashing. The shoreline came closer, closerтАж But the huge bulge came closer, too, splitting
apart to show huge dripping yellow fangs in a maw as dark as midnight. AccereseтАЩs flailing
foot struck mud; he threw himself onto the bank and rolled away just as saw-edged teeth
clashed shut behind him. He rolled again and again, heart beating loud in his ears, aching to
scream but daring not, because of the sentries on the walls. Finally he pushed himself up to
his feet and saw the moat, twenty feet behind him, and two huge baleful eyes glaring at him
over its brim. Accerese breathed a shuddering gasp of relief, and a prayer of thanks surged
upward within him-but he caught it in time, held it back from forming into words, lest the
Devil hear him and know he was fleeing. He turned away, scrambling over the brow of the
hill and down the talus slope, hoping that God had heard his unvoiced prayer, but that the
Hell spawn had not. Heaven preserved him, or perhaps simply good luck, for he reached the
base of the plain and raced toward the cover of the woods. Just as Accerese came in under the

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Prologue

trees, King Maledicto fi-nally ran out of venom and stood trembling over the corpse of his
son, tears of frustration in his eyes. Yes, surely they must have been of frustration. Then,