"The Scepter_s Return" - читать интересную книгу автора (Chernenko Dan)

CHAPTER NINE

Much of the dirt dug out of the tunnel approaching Trabzun went to strengthen the inner and outer fieldworks surrounding the town. That was Hirundo's idea, and King Grus liked it very much. It gave the Avornans somewhere inconspicuous to conceal the spoil from the mine. As the amount of dirt dug out grew greater and greater, that became ever more important.

After being beaten back once, the Menteshe outside Trabzun did not return for another attack on the besiegers. That relieved Grus, and also rather surprised him. One evening, he remarked, "I hope they've gone back to fighting their civil war again."

"That would be nice," Hirundo agreed. He fanned himself with the palm of his hand. "I'll tell you something else that would be nice – it would be nice if it got cooler around here."

"So it would," Grus said. The air was still and breathless. Things farther than a few hundred yards away shimmered in a heat haze. A drop of sweat tickled as it trickled through his beard. A bird called. Even the noise seemed flat and dispirited – or maybe that was Grus' imagination, as overheated as everything else that had to do with Trabzun. He went on, "Don't expect anything different, though, not till summer finally decides to let up."

"Oh, I don't. I've seen what the weather's like around here." Hirundo swatted at a bug that landed on his bare arm. He killed it, and wiped his hand on his tunic. "Knowing it doesn't mean I have to like it."

"No, I suppose not. I don't much like it myself." Grus snapped his fingers. "Did I tell you? No, of course I didn't, because it just happened today. I got a plan of the streets inside Trabzun."

"Did you, by the gods?" The general beamed. "That's good news. Where did you get it from? Did Pterocles pull a new spell out of his belt pouch?"

Grus shook his head. "No. He was just as surprised as you are. I got it from Lanius. He found it in the archives back at the palace."

Hirundo laughed so loud, several soldiers stared at him. "He's all the way back there, and we're here, and he knows more about this stinking place than we do? That's funny, is what that is." He paused. "That plan will be older than dirt, if he pulled it out of the archives. D'you think it's still good?"

"Funny you should ask. He warned me about that. He said he didn't know what the buildings were like in there, but the way the streets ran shouldn't have changed much."

"That does make sense," Hirundo allowed. "His Majesty thought of everything, didn't he?"

"So it seems. He has a way of doing that." Grus heard the edge in his own voice. He'd been happy to have Lanius excavate the archives. If the other king played with things from long-ago and far-off days, he wouldn't worry about other things – like power for himself, for instance. But Lanius, not for the first time, had found a way to make the past matter here and now. And if he could do that, then he wasn't so disconnected from the real world after all, was he? As though I need more things to worry about, Grus thought.

"He certainly does. He's a clever fellow, King Lanius is." Hirundo, by contrast, sounded enthusiastic. And why not? He would keep on being a general no matter who gave him his orders. Not only that, he'd never shown the least interest in the throne himself. That alone would have been plenty to keep him a general regardless of who wore the crown. Capable soldiers without undue ambition were worth their weight in gold.

"I'll have my secretaries copy out the street plan so our officers can use it when they break into Trabzun," Grus said. "No matter how old it is, it'll come in handy."

"Fair enough," Hirundo said. "The timing was good. The way these things usually work, we would have gotten it two days after we fired the mine."

"I know, I know." Grus nodded, and then asked, "How much longer before the diggers get under the wall?"

"Another few days," the general answered. "The engineers have some way of figuring out when they're in the right place, or maybe it's the wizards who know. I don't worry my head about that kind of thing too much. I suppose it's a little more complicated than unrolling a ball of string till you've gone far enough."

"Probably. Most of the time, things do turn out more complicated than you wish they would. If they were easy all the time, just about everybody could do just about anything. I suppose that's why people in songs and stories can do whatever they want so easily – if you're listening to that kind of thing, you think you can do anything."

Hirundo gave him a wide-eyed, innocent stare. "You mean I can't, Your Majesty?" He looked as though he were about to break into tears.

Grus laughed. "With you, nothing would surprise me."

"Me? What about you?" Hirundo pointed at him. "Am I the fellow who made Dagipert of Thervingia leave us alone? Am I the fellow who taught the Chernagors respect? Am I the fellow who took an Avornan army south of the Stura for the first time in gods only know how many years?" He paused. "Well, I suppose King Lanius would know how many years, too."

"Yes, I suppose he would." Grus was sure the other king would know not just the year but to the hour. That was Lanius' way. And if he talked about Lanius, he didn't have to talk about himself.

But his general wouldn't let him get away with modesty. "What do you aim to do when you grab the Scepter of Mercy?" Hirundo asked.

Bash you over the head with it, was the first thing that came to Grus' mind. Hirundo was a cheerful soul who didn't worry about things as much as he should. "Don't talk about that, please," Grus said. "I may not be the only one listening."

"What? There's nobody else around. Oh." Another pause from the general. "You mean the Banished One? This for the Banished One." Hirundo snapped his fingers.

He'd never had the exiled god come to him in dreams. He'd never started up in bed after one of those dreams, heart pounding, eyes staring, cold sweat and gooseflesh all over his body. He didn't know how lucky he was. "For my sake if not your own, please – please! – don't mention him again," Grus said carefully.

"Sure, Your Majesty." Hirundo was nothing if not agreeable. "How come, though?"

"Because he really might be listening," Grus answered, and let it go at that. Most of the time, a man learned only by experience. Hirundo had no experience. Grus wished he didn't, either.

A mug flew past Lanius' head and shattered against the wall behind him. "You – You slimy thing, you!" Sosia shouted, and looked for something else to throw.

"Oh, dear," Lanius said unhappily. He knew what sparked fury like that in his wife. Knowing, he tried to pretend he didn't. "What's wrong, dear?"

"You are, that's what. You're wrong if you think you can bed any cute little chit of a serving girl and have me sit still for it. Not even Queen Quelea would put up with the trouble you give me." Sosia scaled the tray the mug had sat on at him. He sidestepped more nimbly than he'd thought he could. The tray slammed into the wall with a noise like a thunderclap.

No servants came running to see what the trouble was. When the servants heard shouts and bangs like that, they already had a good idea what the trouble was. They were likely to interfere only if they saw blood dribbling out under the doorway to the royal bedchamber.

Sosia went on, "Well, you won't be bedding Oissa again, by the gods! I sent her packing – you can bet on that."

"Oh, dear," Lanius said again. He'd have to find out where Sosia had sent Oissa. Was she still in the city of Avornis, or had Sosia exiled her to the provinces? The provinces, probably; the queen didn't do those things by halves. Wherever she was, Lanius knew he would have to find a quiet way to make sure she stayed comfortable. That was only fair. He was, in his own way, scrupulous about such things.

"What have you got to say for yourself?" Sosia snarled. " 'Oh, dear' doesn't do the job, believe you me it doesn't."

She wouldn't believe him if he called Oissa a liar. The next best thing was to plead for mercy. He tried that, spreading his hands placatingly and saying, "I'm sorry."

She laughed in his face. "How many times have you told me that? How many times have I believed it? How many times have I been a fool? The only thing you're sorry about is that I found out again."

"I am sorry," Lanius insisted. "I don't want to make you unhappy." That was true. He also noticed Sosia was careful not to say she'd never let him into her bed again. If she said that, what was to keep him from going out and looking for another serving woman? If the King of Avornis looked, he wouldn't have to look very far, either. They both knew that.

"If you don't want to make me unhappy, why do you do things like this?" Sosia demanded. "You don't fall in love with them, not anymore."

"I only did that once," Lanius said. Sosia rolled her eyes. Lanius' cheeks heated. No matter how embarrassing, what he'd said was true. Only his first affair had turned into what he thought was love.

"Why?" Sosia asked once more.

That had but one possible answer, the obvious one: Because it's fun. The trouble with that answer was equally obvious – Sosia wouldn't want to hear it. That being so, Lanius looked around for something else. "I don't know," he said at last. "I just do."

"You certainly do," his wife agreed bitterly. "You can't resist a pretty face, can you?" Face wasn't exactly the word she meant.

Lanius felt himself flush again. "I am sorry," he repeated. She went right on glaring at him. "That doesn't mean you don't want to keep on doing it. It only means you don't want me to find out about it. Pretty soon, there'll be banished serving girls in every country town in the kingdom."

"How can I make it up to you?" Lanius said.

"You could start by not dropping your drawers whenever you walk into a linen closet," Sosia snapped. That was more precise information than he'd thought she would have. Somebody had been spying on him.

"I'll… do my best," Lanius said – a promise that was not a promise.

Sosia knew perfectly well that it wasn't a promise, too. She looked no happier. "If you were somebody ordinary, I could walk away from you and try my luck somewhere else. But I can't even do that, can