"Paul Thompson - [Elven Nations Trilogy 1] - Firstborn" - читать интересную книгу автора (Thompson Paul B)

Hermathya.
Sithel spoke for the first time since entering the Tower of the Stars.
"Lady," he said to Hermathya, "will you remain?"
Hermathya, clad in an embroidered gown the color of summer
sunlight, her striking face framed by two maidenly braidsтАУwhich
Kith-Kanan knew she hatedтАУbowed to the speaker and stood aside from
her family at the foot of the throne platform. The hiss of three hundred
whispering tongues filled the hall.
Sithel stood and offered a hand to Hermathya. She went up the stair
without hesitation and stood beside him. Sithel nodded to the heralds. A
single note split the air.
"Silence in the hall! His Highness will speak!" cried the herald.
A hush descended. Sithel surveyed the crowd, ending his sweep by
looking at his wife and sons. "Holy clerics, elders, subjects, be at ease in
your hearts," he said, his rich voice echoing in the vast open tower. "I have
called you here to receive joyous news. My son, Sithas, who shall be
speaker after me, has reached the age and inclination to take a wife. After
due consultation with the gods, and with the chiefs of all the clans of
House Cleric, I have found a maiden suitable to be my son's bride."
Kith-Kanan's left hand strayed to his sword hilt. A calm had
descended over him. He had thought long and hard about this. He knew
what he had to do.
"I have chosen this maiden knowing full well the disappointment that
will arise in the other clans," Sithel was saying. "I deeply regret it. If this
were a barbarian land, where husbands may have more than one wife, I
daresay I could make more of you happy." Polite laughter rippled through
the ranks of the nobles. "But the speaker may have only one wife, so one
is all I have chosen. It is my great hope that she and my son will be as
happy together as I have been with my Nirakina."
He looked at Sithas, who advanced to his father's side. Holding
Hermathya's left hand, the speaker reached for Sithas's right. The crowd
held its breath, waiting for him to make the official announcement.
"Stop!"
The couple's fingers were only a hairsbreadth apart when
Kith-Kanan's voice rang out. Sithel turned in surprise to his younger son.
Every eye in the hall looked with shock at the prince.
"Hermathya cannot marry Sithas!" Kith-Kanan declared.
"Be silent," Sithel said harshly. "Have you gone mad?"
No, Father," Kith-Kanan said calmly. "Hermathya loves me."
Sithas withdrew his hand from his father's slack fingers. In his hand
he held a starjewel, the traditional betrothal gift among elves. Sithas knew
something had been brewing. Kith-Kanan had been too obviously troubled
by the announcement of his bride-to-be. But he had not guessed at the
reason.
"What does this mean?" demanded Lord Shenbarrus, moving to his
daughter's side.
Kith-Kanan advanced to the edge of the raised floor. "Tell him,
Hermathya. Tell them all!"
Sithas looked to his father. Sithel's gaze was on Hermathya. Her
cheeks were faintly pink, but her expression was calm, her eyes cast down.