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СКАЧАТЬ to the tournament.’

      I felt the coldness of King Hadaru’s eyes touching mine. And he must have felt a little of the fire of the dream that blazed inside me. ‘An alliance?’ he asked. ‘Waashians stand with Taroners? Ishkans stand with warriors of Mesh?’

      ‘Even as we stand together in this room, King Hadaru. Even as we stood at the Sarburn three thousand years ago.’

      King Hadaru gazed at the little bowl. A soft radiance flowed out of it and spilled over him in a golden sheen. There was a burning in his eyes, and in my own. It came to me then that shame was only a bitter reminder of our instinct to be restored to our inborn nobility. King Hadaru, I knew, might long for death in battle and the slaying of all his foes. But there was something he desired even more.

      ‘Help me,’ I said to him. ‘Help me make this alliance.’

      ‘Help you? How?’

      ‘Journey with us to Nar. If the Valari see the Ishkans and Meshians riding together, they’ll believe any miracle is possible.’

      ‘If I saw that myself, I would believe in miracles, too,’ King Hadaru said. He paused to look down into the soft, golden curves of the Lightstone. ‘You speak of riding together, of sharing this cup. But those who guard it are all of Mesh. Are we of Ishka to follow in your train like dogs hoping for leavings from your plates?’

      I exchanged glances with several of the knights framing King Hadaru’s throne. Then I said to him, ‘All right, then. Choose ten of your finest men, and they will take oaths as Guardians, too.’

      These words had scarcely left my lips when a great sigh of surprise blew through the room. Some of the knights about me grumbled their disapproval of my suggestion, but many more seemed pleased.

      ‘Ten knights?’ King Hadaru said. ‘Why not a hundred? Do you think that Ishka is so poor in spirit that we cannot spare so many?’

      ‘No one will ever say that of Ishka, King Hadaru. But it is my intention to journey from Nar into Tria. A hundred knights will be quite enough to alarm the Alonians, as they alarmed Lord Shadru. Two hundred Valari will begin to look like an invasion.’

      King Hadaru thought about this as he studied the cup in his hand. Then he said, ‘Yes, perhaps you’re right. Fifty knights would be better.’

      ‘That is still too many,’ I said. ‘Warders must be found for each of them so that Morjin’s illusions won’t touch them. And I must be sure of every Guardian.’

      ‘Are you saying that you’ll doubt the knights I choose?’

      ‘No, King Hadaru. But the Guardians’ first loyalty must be to the Lightstone, and to me. I must know the men I lead.’

      ‘How long, then, would it take you to become acquainted with thirty of my knights?’

      ‘Twice as long,’ I said, ‘as it would half that number.’

      ‘Fifteen knights,’ he muttered, shaking his head. ‘Of course, all this is only speculation. Who could think that even fifteen Ishkan knights could ride with Meshians all the way to Tria?’

      ‘Is it easier,’ I asked him, ‘to imagine twenty knights making this journey?’

      ‘Perhaps. Surely you can understand that my knights would long for the company of their countrymen.’

      ‘Then why don’t you choose these knights now, since they stand with their companions?’

      ‘Why don’t I? Why, I don’t because it hasn’t been decided yet that the Ishkans will join the Guardians as you propose.’

      He gazed at the Lightstone for what seemed an hour. Then he announced, ‘It’s said that the Gelstei is able to find all other gelstei and have power over them. It’s also said to give immortality.’

      He held out his old, scarred hand and studied it for a long few moments. And then again his fingers closed around the golden cup as if he were loathe to let it go. I, of all men, knew how he felt. To surrender the Lightstone to another was like giving up one’s heart.

      My eyes found his then, and he snapped out, ‘What are you looking at? Don’t look at me that way!’

      All Valari, I remembered, aspired to polish their souls until they shone with the fire of flawless diamonds.

      ‘Maybe you are the Maitreya,’ King Hadaru said to me. He stared at the Lightstone for a moment before looking back at me. ‘Maybe you aren’t. But your hope of making an alliance is a good one. I have come to see that Morjin must be opposed, after all. He is like a spider who weaves his webs in dark places to ensnare the innocent.’

      He leaned forward from his massive wooden throne as if to stand and give the Lightstone to Prince Issur. Then he seemed to think better of this impulse. He settled back into his seat as he pointed at Estrella. ‘Others have suffered worse insults at the hands of the Red Dragon than have I. This girl, perhaps, who has lost her power of speech. And yet I have lost a son to him; it is like losing one’s life. The one whose name I will no longer speak was not always a creature of Morjin’s. He was hot-headed, yes, and proud – well, we all knew how proud he could be. But he was not born evil. Morjin made him so. Morjin is a stealer of souls, and I will do all that is in my power to make him pay for his crimes.’

      So saying, King Hadaru finally rose from his throne. He stepped over to a tall, young knight with a noble face, whose long nose was like a pillar holding up his finely-boned brow. He extended the Lightstone to him and said, ‘Sar Jarlath, will you guard this with your life? Will you swear to slay all enemies who would steal this cup from its rightful master?’

      Asaru turned to look at me just then, and so did Maram and Lord Raasharu. Their faces seethed with anger and pride. As Guardian of the Lightstone, it was upon me to ask of Sar Jarlath the very questions that King Hadaru was now putting to him. But I did not gainsay him. I stood in silence watching the little miracle that unfolded before me.

      And so King Hadaru continued, ‘Will you agree to ride forth under Lord Valashu’s command, and yet never forget that you are a knight of Ishka and carry with you the honor of your king and countrymen?’

      Sar Jarlath gave his assent, and we watched with gladness as King Hadaru pressed the Lightstone into his hands. So it went with other knights, King Hadaru walking about the room and choosing out the finest of the men who followed him. Now, it seemed, they would follow me. When all twenty had been selected, they joined the hundred Guardians near the ring of honor. Then Sivar of Godhra gave over the charge of the Lightstone to Sar Jarlath, who would be its next bearer on the road to Nar and Tria.

      After that, King Hadaru called for a feast. We all ate much meat and drank much beer. King Hadaru regaled us with accounts of valor of the twenty new Guardians whom he had chosen. Years seemed to fall away from his worn, old face. It was the first time I had seen him happy. I gave thanks yet again that it had been my fate to find the Lightstone. For a great king had touched the golden cup, and it had touched him.

      When it came time for bed, Asaru took me aside and said to me, ‘You gambled greatly in bringing the Lightstone here, little brother.’

      ‘Yes – but all the other gambles seemed worse.’

      ‘But how did you СКАЧАТЬ