"Mary Stewart - The Arthurian Saga 02 - The Hollow Hills" - читать интересную книгу автора (Stewart Mary)

theElyRiver ?"

"Very well, my lord." And so it was arranged. I would cross from the Ely to the mouth of the Uxella in
the country of the Dumnonii, and from there I would find my way south-west by the tracks, avoiding the
roads where I might fall in with Uther's troops or Cador's men.
"Do you know the way?" he asked me. "For the last part, of course, Ralf can guide you."

"Ralf will not be with me. But I can find it. I've been through that country before, and I have a tongue in
my head."

"I can arrange for horses тАФ"

"Better not," I said. "We agreed, did we not, that I would be better disguised? I'll use a disguise that has
served me before. I'll be a travelling eye doctor, and a humble fellow like that doesn't expect to post with
fresh horses all the way. Have no fear, I shall be safe, and, when the Queen wants me, I shall be there."

He was satisfied, and stayed for a while longer answering my questions and giving me what news there
was. The King's brief punitive expedition against the coastal raiders had been successful, and the
newcomers had been pushed back behind the agreed boundaries of the Federated West Saxons. For the
moment things were quiet in the south. From the north had come rumours of tougher fighting where
Anglian raiders, fromGermany , had crossed the coast near theAlaunusRiver in the country of the
Votadini. This is the country that we of Dyfed call Manau Guotodin, and it is from here that the great
King Cunedda came, invited a century ago by the Emperor Maximus, to drive the Irish from Northern
Wales and settle there as allies to the Imperial Eagles. These were, I suppose, the first of the Federates;
they drove the Irish out, and afterwards remained inNorthern Wales , which they called Gwynedd. A
descendant of Cunedda held it still; Maelgon, a stark king and a good warrior, as a man would have to
be to keep that country in the wake of the great Magnus Maximus.

Another descendant of Cunedda still held the Votadini country: a young king, Lot, as fierce and as good
a fighter as Maelgon; his fortress lay near the coast south of Caer Eidyn, in the center of his kingdom of
Lothian. It was he who had faced and beaten off the latest attack of the Angles. He had been given his
command by Ambrosius, in the hope that with him the kings of the north тАФ Gwalawg of Elmet, Urien of
Gore, the chiefs of Strathclyde, King Coel of Rheged тАФ would form a strong wall in the north and east.
ButLot , it was said, was ambitious and quarrelsome; and Strathclyde had sired nine sons already and
(while they fought like young bull seals each for his square of territory) was cheerfully siring more. Urien
of Gore had married Lot's sister and would stand firm, but was, it was said, too close inLot 's shadow.
The strongest of them was still (as in my father's time) Coel of Rheged, who held with a light hand all the
smaller chiefs and earls of his kingdom, and brought them together faithfully against the smallest threat to
the sovereignty of theHighKingdom .

Now, the Queen's messenger told me, the King of Rheged, with Ector of Galava and Ban of Benoic,
had joined withLot and Urien to clear the north of trouble, and for the time being they had succeeded.
On the whole the news was cheering. The harvest had been good everywhere, so hunger would not drive
any more Saxons across before winter closed the seaways. We should have peace for a time; enough
time for Uther to settle any unrest caused by the quarrel withCornwall and his new marriage, to ratify
such alliances as Ambrosius had made, and to strengthen and extend his system of defenses.

At length the messenger took his leave. I wrote no letters, but sent news of Ralf to his grandmother, and
a message of compliance to the Queen, With thanks for the gift of money she had sent me by the
messenger's hand to provide for my journey. Then the young man rode off cheerfully down the valley