Conqueror’s Moon: Part One of the Boreal Moon Tale. Julian May

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СКАЧАТЬ his plans, but I hope I can use alternate means. The most powerful sigils are activated only through atrocious suffering, and their conjuring puts the user deep in debt to the Lights.’

      He felt the familiar thrill of dread at her mention of the awful Beaconfolk. ‘Lady, must you invoke those dire creatures? Is there no other manner of sorcery that will serve our purposes?’

      ‘None so effective. I call upon the Coldlight Army as rarely as possible, since they’re notorious for twisting petitions and conjurations to unwelcome outcomes. But we must find out what Honigalus and Somarus intend. They are the real power behind Achardus’s throne and they have powerful friends on the Continent. It would do you small good to triumph in the north while disaster strikes the southern underbelly of your unborn Sovereignty.’

      ‘No,’ Conrig admitted reluctantly. Most of the Cathran navy was at sea, enforcing the blockade against Didion, and the capital city of Cala on the south coast would be vulnerable to a lightning assault from mainland ports.

      He was silent, considering other things that her words had brought to mind. Then: ‘Advise me, if you please. None of these council attendees, not even Duke Tanaby or the earl marshal himself, knows that the Edict of Sovereignity was as much your idea as mine. Would you have me tell them?’

      A patronizing laugh. ‘I’m not the one who covets the ancient glory of Emperor Bazekoy, my prince. Warriors mistrust sorcery, and for good reason. It’s best that they know nothing of our earlier … strategic consultations, for that might taint the sanctity of your great vision and weaken your authority. You must certainly tell your council of war how I intend to assist the invasion, and my reasons for doing so. But keep the rest secure in your own heart. The unification of High Blenholme is your own dream, after all, and none but you can fulfill it.’

      He felt sweat start out on his brow, not from doubt of his own abilities to persuade and command the others, but in a belated flush of apprehension at where this alliance with her might eventually lead.

      ‘They will ask — my godfather and the earl marshal, at any rate — how you and I came to this marvelous friendship. Lady, what am I to tell them? They know we could never have met face to face. And even though we have made some use of my brother’s arcane talent—’

      ‘He has always been our go-between! You must convince the others of it. And see that Vra-Stergos is also convinced.’

      ‘I’m sure my brother has suspected that I possess the talent, that you and I bespoke each other through magical means long before your Sendings appeared to Gossy and me together at the hunting lodge. He’s a timid soul, and he no doubt put the notion out of mind for fear of what the consequences would be. Nevertheless, my brother won’t tell an outright lie about my talent, even to protect me. It would violate his vows to God and Saint Zeth.’

      ‘Then you must ensure that he does not officiously strive to tell the truth,’ she snapped, ‘while you say what you must to the duke and the earl marshal, and charge your own conscience. And if the new-hatched Doctor Arcanorum will not let be, then you must silence him.’

      ‘He’s my older brother!’ the prince exclaimed in horror. ‘I love him!’

      ‘He is a man born with the talent, whose voice carries on the wind and whose mind solidifies the Sending. And by that token he is ineligible for your precious throne of Blencathra. As are you, Conrig Prince Heritor, if your vaunted truth be told.’

      ‘But I didn’t know!’ His whisper was desperate. ‘Not until—’ ‘Until I came,’ she said, unaware of the real state of things and knowing nothing of Snudge. ‘And I showed you how the audacious dream of your youth might be fulfilled. You listened well to my secret counsel and your scheme prevailed. The Edict of Sovereignty was proclaimed. That its fulfillment was cruelly bungled by imbeciles was only a temporary setback. With my aid you shall set all to rights. And in the end who will care that you possess a small portion of the talent, or that a few necessary falsehoods were told in your great endeavor’s fulfilling?’

      He could think of no way to counter what she had said. Gossy would understand. He must understand …

      ‘Very well. Leave me, then, lady. Be assured I’ll do what is best.’

      Again she touched his cheek, smiling, then vanished. The scent of vEtiver remained, sweet and woodsy.

      Prey to unspeakable thoughts concerning his beloved brother, he crept back to the balustrade and looked down blindly on the hall for a few minutes more, until Tanaby Vanguard announced to the nobles at the high table that it was time to go to the solar and begin their conclave.

       TWO

      They entered in an untidy crowd, the Virago and seven other great barons, three viscounts, three counts, and Parlian Beorbrook, the kingdom’s chief military officer, all of them caring nothing for the niceties of precedence as was the way of easygoing northerners. Last came the host of the clandestine gathering, who slammed the tall double doors firmly behind him and shot its twin bolts into place.

      ‘His Grace will join us in a moment,’ Tanaby Vanguard said, nodding towards another closed door that gave onto the inner chamber. He wore a simple houserobe of russet velvet, a thin man with finely drawn, unreadable features whose nose jutted like an axe-blade. Chestnut hair thickly streaked with grey fell to his shoulders. Unlike most of the other men, he was clean-shaven.

      Beorbrook spotted the table of drinks by the window and strode to it purposefully, hauling his dented old silver cup out of his belt-wallet. ‘Is that a Snapevale Stillery flagon that I spy?’

      ‘Leave be for a moment, Parli,’ said Tanaby, ‘until the Prince Heritor arrives.’

      ‘How sober do we have to be for this bloody mystery confab anyhow?’ the earl marshal muttered. He was a hale man in early middle age, broad rather than tall, with muscular legs grown bandy from horseback riding, and enormous gnarled hands. Blue eyes cold as an Ice Moon sky were sunk deep beneath shaggy black brows. His beard was also black, although his hair had gone snow-white. He wore a doublet of dark blue leather, intricately worked, having stiff sleeve-wings that emphasized his extraordinary shoulders. His chain of office was conspicuously absent.

      ‘You must decide the need for a clear head yourself,’ Tanaby told his longtime friend. ‘As for blood, there may be quantities of it in the offing if we here decide so.’

      The marshal gave a grunt and some of the others exchanged wary glances or small grim smiles. Except for Vanguard, none of those present were intimates of the prince. They knew only that he favored some sort of retaliatory strike against Didion, and as Lord Constable of the Realm had the power to lead one even if the Privy Council balked — provided that the king himself did not expressly forbid it. Tanaby’s carefully worded messages bringing these northern nobles to a secret meeting had sparked battle-fever in some and skepticism in others, but all had agreed to listen to the prince and decide whether or not to support him in the undertaking.

      A fire burned in the broad greystone hearth, before which were sixteen common stools, arranged in a semicircle. In the middle was a single collapsible field-chair fashioned of carved walnut and faded brocade, fronted by a small table. All of the usual furnishings of the solar, save for the sideboard with the liquor, had been removed.

      ‘I realize we aren’t here for a cozy chat, my lord duke,’ drawled Lady Zeandrise, eyeing the comfortless seats. She still had spurs СКАЧАТЬ