Ironcrown Moon: Part Two of the Boreal Moon Tale. Julian May

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СКАЧАТЬ this procedure, either. Why shouldn’t I know what Ullanoth does to me and to the child in my womb? I hate the notion of her casting a spell on us! I hate her, God forgive me, though I truly know not why.’

      Her vehemence startled Conrig. He was fairly certain that she was unaware of the longstanding liaison between him and the sorceress, and the queen’s temperament was ordinarily so coolly dutiful and tranquil that she seemed as incapable of jealousy as she was of sexual passion. In contrast to his mercurial first wife Maudrayne Northkeep, whom Conrig had adored until he came to believe that she could not give him children, Risalla Mallburn kept close custody of her emotions. It had never occurred to him to ask if she loved him; he deemed it sufficient that she was gently mannered, reasonably attractive, intelligent, fertile, and a princess royal of Cathra’s traditional antagonist, the vassal nation of Didion.

      ‘The Conjure-Queen will do nothing to outrage your dignity,’ Conrig reassured her. ‘She will only look at the child in a special way, without even touching you.’

      ‘I still hate being in her power. Helpless.’

      ‘Perhaps it’s your Didionite heritage that makes you uneasy. You have a natural distrust of magic, due to your people’s hostility to the sorcerers of neighboring Moss. And it’s only natural that you should still resent Ullanoth’s rôle in Didion’s…submission to the Sovereignty.’

      ‘Our defeat!’ Risalla sighed and her eyes slowly closed again. ‘To say nothing of the shame that most of our warriors died not in honest battle, but as the prey of bloodsucking tiny monsters, commanded by your good friend, the Conjure-Queen. All Didion knows that she invoked the Beaconfolk as well as the spunkies to ensure your victory. And so do many of your own nobles, here in Cathra. They believe you are in league with the Lights.’

      ‘Madam, you don’t know what you’re saying.’ He tried to speak calmly – for, after all, she was hardly conscious and Gossy had assured him that she would remember none of this tomorrow. Yet he had no doubt that Risalla spoke now from deep conviction, freed by the alchymical potion from the constraint of prudence that usually governed her tongue. It was no surprise to Conrig that the barbarous Didionites should believe him to be in thrall to Beaconfolk magic. But if it were true that his own people gave serious credence to the notion…

      ‘Who among the Cathran nobility has spoken so perfidiously?’ he asked her. But she only turned away and seemed to sleep.

      There came a sound of hesitant knocking. The king rose from beside his wife’s couch and opened the door. The corridor was empty except for his elder brother Stergos, the Royal Alchymist, attired in splendid crimson vestments in honor of the festival. Although he was five years Conrig’s senior, he appeared to be much younger, with a clean-shaven round face and curly blond hair that always seemed slightly disordered. Tonight he was obviously ill at ease and his brow was dewed with perspiration.

      Stergos whispered, ‘All’s well with Her Grace?’

      Conrig nodded and the alchymist came quickly into the apartment, closing and locking the door behind him. ‘I bespoke Ullanoth in Royal Fenguard castle not ten minutes ago. She can ascertain nothing through her ordinary scrying, but if the unborn possesses talent, she will be able to Send to it as she does to you and me. First, let me make certain that your lady sleeps.’ With great care, Stergos lifted one of the queen’s eyelids. The iris with its dilated pupil had rolled upward. ‘Good. Now we must distance ourselves from Risalla if the experiment is to work. Let’s go into the queen’s sitting room.’

      They passed through Conrig’s great bedchamber and Risalla’s adjacent one into the spacious solar where the queen and her ladies were accustomed to sew, read, and break their fast. ‘We should be at least twenty ells away from her,’ Stergos said, ‘so our own talent is incapable of giving substance to the Sending.’

      ‘What then?’

      ‘I am to bespeak the Conjure-Queen that all is in readiness,’ said his brother, perching on one of the chairs near the cold fireplace. The king took the other one. ‘She will attempt the Sending, while we pray she does not succeed. If Ullanoth walks through that door, it means that the babe’s talent permitted her to materialize beside Risalla.’

      ‘And I’m futtered once again,’ Conrig murmured bitterly. ‘Damn it, Gossy! If I could but convince the Lords of the South to do away with the impediment, then I’d be safe and so would my sons…What a king young Bramlow would make! Bold as a hawk and sharp as a varg sword! You should have seen the little rogue get the better of that bloody pet monkey this evening.’ He described the scene in the royal nursery, and Stergos had to smile in spite of his nervousness.

      ‘I punished the lad harshly,’ Conrig admitted. ‘A week’s confinement on bread and milk. He must learn self-discipline if we ever hope to have the talent restriction lifted. The Lords of the South will never yield if they envision a wizard with overt powers sitting one day on the throne.’

      Stergos ventured, ‘Shall I windspeak the Conjure-Queen now?’

      ‘Wait just a moment.’ The king casually covered his mouth with his hand. ‘I must ask your advice on another matter before we converse with Ulla’s Sending. She almost never uses the Loophole to eavesdrop now because of her considerable pain-debt, and if we guard ourselves from scrier’s lip-reading our speech should be secure from her.’

      ‘What is it, Con?’ Stergos had drawn the hood of his crimson cloak over his head so that his face was concealed.

      ‘I had disquieting news from Parlian Beorbrook tonight at the feast. You know he’s just come down from an inspection of our Wold Road outposts in western Didion.’

      ‘Don’t tell me Prince Somarus is up to his old tricks!’

      ‘No. As far as the earl marshal can tell, the bastard’s laying low for the moment somewhere in the Lady Lakes region. Beorbrook’s news concerns something far more serious: a rumor that Maudrayne may be alive, hiding somewhere in Tarn. A traveler from Donorvale said that the rumor has spread like wildfire over the past two weeks among the fishermen’s taverns of the north-western shore, and thence to the low dives of the Tarnian capital.’

      The hooded figure of the alchymist had given a great start as the king spoke his first wife’s name. ‘Saint Zeth preserve us – it’s not possible that Maude lives! The conjoined minds of the Brotherhood searched the entire island, virtually inch by inch, and failed to scry any trace of the Princess Dowager. Even Ullanoth’s Subtle Loophole detected nothing – and the sigil supposedly can oversee anyone, anywhere in the world.’

      ‘So the Conjure-Queen says. But her close scrutiny took place four years ago, shortly after Maude was thought to have drowned. At the time, Ulla admitted that her search might have been thwarted by Red Ansel Pikan. The magical capabilities of the Grand Shaman of Tarn are unknown to her. He might have been able to block the action of the Great Stone. The painful search effort so debilitated Ullanoth that she was forced to avoid using Loophole for many months. Since then, as far as I know, she has made no further attempt to look for Maude.’

      ‘What are we to do, Con?’ Stergos’s voice was taut with shock. He and the king had found and read Maudrayne’s secret diary after her presumed death. In it, she had revealed not only that she had conceived Conrig’s child, but also her knowledge of her husband’s arcane taint. ‘If the princess lives and has birthed a son not possessed of talent, you are undone! She knows your secret and could divulge it at any time, with Ansel to testify to the truth of it. Even if your twin sons by Risalla are accepted as normal, the law says that Maudrayne’s boy must inherit your crown if you are deposed.’

      ‘If СКАЧАТЬ