"Vance, Jack - Elder Isles 03 - Madouc" - читать интересную книгу автора (Vance Jack)

УSpeak, Robaif! Above all, I value frankness.Ф

УVery well, Your Majesty. I apprehend in TorqualТs conduct not so much insolence as indifference mixed with a dark twist of humour. He would seem to live in a world where he is alone with Fate; where all other persons, your august self and I as well, are no more than colored shadows, to use a flamboyant figure. In short, rather than indulging in purposeful insolence, Torqual cares nothing one way or another for your royal sensi bilities. If you are to deal with him, it must be on this basis. Such, at least, is my belief.Ф Robalf looked sidewise toward Casmir, whose face gave no clue as to his emotions.

Casmir spoke at last, in a voice reassuringly mild. УDoes he intend to do my bidding or not? That is the most important matter of all.Ф

УTorqual is unpredictable,Ф said Robalf. УI suspect that you will find him no more malleable in the future than in the past.Ф

Casmir gave a single curt nod. УRobalf, you have spoken to the point, and indeed have clarified the mysteries surrounding this perverse cutthroat, at least to some small extent.Ф

УI am happy to be of service, Sire.Ф

For a moment Casmir ruminated, then asked: УDid he render any account of his achievements?Ф

УSo he did, but somewhat as afterthought. He told of taking Castle Glen Gath, killing Baron Nols and his six sons; he mentioned the burning of Maltaing Keep, seat of Baron Ban Oc, during which occasion all within were consumed by the flames. Both of these lords were staunch in the service of King Aillas.Ф

Casmir grunted. УAillas has sent out four companies to hunt down Torqual. That is my latest information. I wonder how long Torqual will survive.Ф

УMuch depends upon Torqual,Ф said Robalf. УHe can hide among the crags or down in the fastnesses, and never be found. But if he comes out to make his forays, then someday his luck must turn bitter and he will be tracked to his lair and brought to bay.Ф

УNo doubt but what you are right,Ф said Casmir. He rapped on the table; Eschar entered the room. УSire?Ф

УPay over to Robalf a purse of ten silver forms, together with one heavy coin of gold. Then house him comfortably near at hand.Ф

Robalf bowed. УThank you, Sire.Ф The two departed the Room of Sighs.

Casmir remained at the table thinking. Neither TorqualТs conduct nor his exploits were gratifying. Casmir had instructed Torqual to incite the barons one against the other, using ambush, false clues, rumours and deceit. His acts of plunder, murder and rapine served only to identify Torqual as a savage outlaw, against whom all hands must be turned in concert, despite old feuds and past suspicions. TorqualТs conduct therefore worked to unite the barons, rather than to set them at odds!

Casmir gave a grunt of dissatisfaction. He drank from the beechwood mug and set it down on the table with a thud. His fortunes were not on the rise. Torqual, considered as an instrument of policy, had proved capricious and probably useless. He was more than likely a madman. At Poыlitetz, Aillas had entrenched himself, impeding CasmirТs grand ambition. And yet another concern, even more poignant, gnawed at CasmirТs mind: the prediction uttered long years before by Persilian the Magic Mirror. The words had never stopped ringing in CasmirТs mind:

Suldrun Сs son shall undertake
Before his life is gone
To sit his right and proper place
At Cairbra an Meadhan.
If so he sits and so he thrives
Then he shall make his own
The Table Round, to CasmirТs woe,
And Evandig his Throne.

The terms of the prophecy, from the first, had mystified Casmir. Suldrun had borne a single child: the Princess Madouc - or so it had seemed - and PersilianТs rhyme would appear to be sheer nonsense. But Casmir knew that this was never the way of it, and in the end, the truth was made known and CasmirТs pessimism was vindicated. SuidrunТs child had indeed been a boy, whom the fairies of Thripsey Shee had taken, leaving behind an unwanted brat of their own. All unwittingly King Casmir and Queen Sollace had nurtured the changeling, presenting her to the world as СPrincess MadoucТ.

PersilianТs prophecy was now less of a paradox, and therefore all the more ominous. Casmir had sent his agents to search, but in vain: SuldrunТs first-born was nowhere to be found.

Sitting in the Room of Sighs, clasping the beechwood mug in one heavy hand, Casmir belabored his brain with the same questions he had propounded a thousand times before: УWho is this thrice-cursed child? What is his name? Where does he bide, so demure and quiet from my knowledge? Ah, but I would make short work of it, if once I knew!Ф

As always, the questions brought no answers, and his baffle ment remained. As for Madouc, she had long been accepted as the daughter of the Princess Suidrun, and could not now be disavowed. To legitimize her presence, a romantic tale had been concocted, of a noble knight, secret trysts in the old garden, marriage pledges exchanged in the moonlight, and at last the baby who had become the delightful little princess, darling of the court. The tale was as good as any, and for a fact corresponded closely with the truth-save, of course, for the identity of the baby. As to the identity of SuidrunТs lover, no one knew or cared any longer, except King Casmir, who in his rage had dropped the unfortunate young man into an oubliette without so much as learning his name.

For Casmir, Princess Madouc represented only an exasperation. According to accepted lore, fairy children, when nurtured upon human food and living in human surroundings, gradually lost their haifling cast and were assimilated into the realm of mortals. But sometimes other tales were heard, of changelings who never crossed over, and remained odd wild beings: fickle, sly and cantankerous. Casmir occasionally wondered which sort might be the Princess Madouc. Indeed she differed from other maidens of the court, and at times displayed traits which caused him perplexity and uneasiness.