"SM Stirling - Change 02 - Scourge of God" - читать интересную книгу автора (Stirling S. M)

And blessщd the mortals who toiled with You
Their hands helping Earth to bring forth life.Ф
а
УIТm Church of England, myself,Ф Nigel Loring added dryly, and there was a general chuckle. УAll thissincerity gives me hives, rather.Ф
Dmwoski shook his finger at him. УAnd the Anglicans have returned to Holy Mother Church,Ф he said in mock reproof.
УTaken it over, in fact, from all IТve heard, Padre,Ф the Englishman said. УAfter Alleyne and John and I left, of course.Ф
Juniper bit into a sandwich, shaved ham and a sharp Tillamook cheese on a crusty roll. The bread was made from hard Eastern wheat, and freshЧalmost warmЧwhich meant the Regent had managed to drag a portable bake-oven along with her . . .
John Brown of Seffridge Ranch and the Central Oregon RanchersТ Association spoke first. УI suppose JuneyТs told you all, her son Rudi and the, ah, Princess MathildaЧФ
He sounded a little uncomfortable using the title; terminology was different over east of the Cascades, away from the influence of the PPA and the Society for Creative Anachronism. They used the old-time words there, even ifSheriff andRancher meant pretty much the same asCount andBaron these days.
УЧand the others were at my place back around the beginninТ of May. Went East with my son Bob and some hands and a big herd of remounts I was selling to the Mormons, and got into a scrap with some Rovers. HavenТt heard much of them since they headed East with the Deseret folk.Ф
Tiphaine dТAth cleared her throat and went straight to the reports of the Battle of Wendell, flashed westward by the chain of heliograph stations in the PPA that ran from castle tower to mountain outpost down the Columbia and over the whole of the AssociationТs territories.
УAnd there are rumors that one or more of the late General ThurstonТs sons have been intriguing with the Church Universal and Triumphant.Ф
УPlace might as well be one of our baronies,Ф Renfrew said with a gargoyle grin at the tale of treachery and sudden death.
УAnd the Princess Mathilda, Rudi, Mary and Ritva Havel, Baron Odard Liu and the others were definitely thereЧguests of General Thurston before then, for about a week, and with him during the battle,Ф she continued, leaning back with a nod to the Regent.
УAnda certain knight-brother of the Order of the Shield of St. Benedict was there with my daughter,Ф Sandra added, giving Dmwoski a slow look. УA Father Ignatius, I believe.Ф
The head of the OrderТs warrior-monks spread strong battered hands a little gnarled with the beginnings of arthritis.
УMy lady, he did not conspire with Princess Mathilda when she planned to . . . ah . . . abscond.Ф
Sandra snorted. УPlausible deniability, Your Eminence? Casuistry?Jesuitical casuistry?Ф
The prelate winced; the Benedictines and their militant post-Change offshoot had never been all that fond of the Society of Jesus. And Mt. Angel was independent, but tiny next to the PPA . . .
Sandra raised athat point to me finger and went on: УHe certainly seems to havestrongly suspected she and Odard were going to run off and join Rudi on his . . . hisquest . And hejust happened to turn up and join her when sheabsconded from Castle Odell.Ф
The Count of Odell looked abashed. Dmwoski replied calmly:
УYes, and now he is with her, with sword and counsel. Would you rather he wasnot there to help?Ф
УIdo so hope his help doesnТt include the last rites,Ф Sandra said pleasantly. УAnd I wouldrather Mathilda was safely in Castle Todenangst or in the palace in Portland.Ф
Her voice was calm; you needed to really know her to hear the deadly seriousness beneath.
УIt was fated, probably,Ф Astrid said.
Faces turned towards the D·nedain leaders. There were four; Astrid Larsson and her husband, Alleyne, NigelТs son by his long-dead English wife, JuniperТs own eldest daughter, Eilir, andher man, John HordleЧuniversally known as Little John, from his massive size. The same ship had brought the two younger Englishmen and Sir Nigel himself to Oregon, back during the War . . .
Astrid was the senior, the one whoТd founded the Rangers with heranamchara Eilir, when they were both teenagers. She was as tall as Tiphaine, and as lithe and slender-strong with a face framed in a long fall of white-blond hair; her great turquoise eyes were rimmed and veined with silver as well.
УWhy fated?Ф someone asked.
УThat brought the number up to nine,Ф she said. УNine is the . . . canonical . . . number for a Quest.Ф
There was a moment of silence, as everyone wondered whether she was serious or not; you could hear the capital letters in her voice. Juniper didnТt doubt it for a moment, and wouldnТt have even without that momentary exalted look, as if she was being carried beyond the world of every day to the realm of legend and hero-tale.
I love Astrid like a daughter, and her children are a delight, but Nigel is right. She is, quite definitely, barking mad.
УAnd nine is a very practical number,Ф Astrid went on. УJust enough to keep a good watch and be able to fight off a band of bandits or win a skirmish with a patrol, but not so many they stand out like an army to anyone looking.Ф
But sheТs also quite functional,Juniper told herself.Though itТs a good thing sheТs had Eilir around all these years. And Alleyne, to be sure, and John has enough common sense for three, as well as enough bulk.
УWe know that Rudi and the others survived the battle,Ф Juniper said.Thank You! she added silently, not for the first time.
Half the people around the table nodded. Dmowski looked troubled at participating in augury, even secondhand . . . and Sandra a little angry.
УPardonme if I donТt find hints seen in a pool of water too reassuring,Ф she said dryly.
УMy lady,Ф Tiphaine said, and then whispered in her ear.
Sandra looked grudging, then nodded. Juniper met the Grand ConstableТs cool gray eyes for a moment, and then the younger woman looked away. Tiphaine had been there twelve years ago when Raven came to her son in the light of common day, and Juniper thought it had shaken the cynicism sheТd learned from her mentor a little. Not SandraТs of course; that would take more than the Change itself.
УAnd theProphet certainly seems to take the whole business of the Sword seriously,Ф the Regent said thoughtfully. УOf course, heТs likely as insane as his stepfather.Ф
УInsane but dangerous,Ф Tiphaine said; Juniper thought her eyes flickered to Astrid for a moment.
УWhich means we may be facing a coalition between Boise and Corwin,Ф Nigel said. УIf Martin conspired with them against his father . . .Ф
УBoise has a damned good army,Ф Tiphaine said. УGood infantry, and a good siege train. The Prophet has a hell of a lot of good, experienced light cavalry. Put them together . . .Ф
УWe have a problem,Ф Juniper said.
Almost enough of a problem to make me forget to worry about Rudi. Almost, but not quite.
УWe need to start positioning ourselves,Ф Tiphaine said. УThe interior didnТt suffer nearly as badly as coastal Oregon did in the Change. Say a million each in the United States of Boise, the ProphetТs bailiwick, and whatТs left of Deseret. Even with immigration and natural increase, they outnumber us heavily.Ф
A silence fell. Sandra struck into it:
УWe must hang together, or be hung separately, as Franklin said.Ф
УThe Church Universal and Triumphant usually crucify people, but the principleТs the same,Ф Conrad added, in a voice like gravel in a bucket.
Edward Finney of Corvallis spoke for the first time, running a hand over his iron-gray hair and scratching the back of his neck; it was a gesture his father, old Luther, had used too, though heТd been taller and skinnier than his son.
УLook, IТve got some pull in the Popular Assembly, well, a fair bit of pull. But I canТt just tell them to do something. A lot of the farmers listen to me, but thereТs the Economics Faculty, the town unions . . . guilds, theyТre calling themselves now . . . and the Faculty Senate . . . and IТll be telling them things none of them want to hear, if weТre talking about another big war.Ф