The Shining Ones. David Eddings

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СКАЧАТЬ about at least.’

      ‘Are you sure, Ulath? Those peasants around the bonfire were convinced that the big fellow in the ancient armor was Incetes too, you know.’

      ‘All the evidence points to it, Sparhawk. Everything we’ve seen this time is just like it was last time, and it was the Troll-Gods then, wasn’t it?’

      ‘I’m not even positive about that any more.’

      ‘Well, something had to have enough authority over the Trolls to make them migrate from Thalesia to the north coast of Atan.’

      ‘Just how smart do you have to be in order to be a Troll? I’m not saying that it was something as crude as the hoax Rebal foisted off on those peasants, but …’ Sparhawk left it hanging.

      ‘That would be a fairly complex hoax, dear one,’ Sephrenia murmured.

      ‘But not quite impossible, little mother. I’ll drop the whole line of thought if you’ll just tell me that what I’m suggesting is impossible.’

      ‘Don’t throw it away just yet,’ she said, her face troubled.

      ‘Aphrael,’ Sparhawk said, ‘will this gold box keep our friend out there from being able to locate Bhelliom?’

      She nodded. ‘The gold shields it. He can’t hear it or feel it, so he can’t just move toward the sound or the sense of it.’

      ‘And if I put Ehlana’s ring in there as well? Would the box shield that too?’

      ‘Yes, but your own ring’s still out in the open where he can feel its location.’

      ‘One thing at a time.’ He touched his ring to the lid of the box. ‘Open,’ he said.

      The latch clicked, and the lid raised slightly.

      Sparhawk removed Ehlana’s ring from his finger and put it inside the box. ‘You look after it for a while,’ he told the Bhelliom.

      ‘Please don’t do that, Sparhawk,’ Vanion told him with a pained look.

      ‘Do what?’

      ‘Talk to it like that. You make it sound like a real being.’

      ‘Sorry, Vanion. It helps a little if I think of it that way. Bhelliom definitely has its own personality.’ He closed the lid and felt the latch click.

      ‘Ah – Flute?’ Khalad said a bit tentatively.

      ‘Yes?’

      ‘Is it the box that keeps Bhelliom hidden? Or is it the fact that the box is made out of gold?’

      ‘It’s the gold, Khalad. There’s something about gold that muffles Bhelliom and hides it.’

      ‘And it works on Queen Ehlana’s ring as well?’

      She nodded. ‘I can’t hear or feel a thing.’ She stretched her open palm out toward the box Sparhawk was holding. ‘Nothing at all,’ she confirmed. ‘I can feel his ring, though.’

      ‘Put a golden glove on him,’ Kalten shrugged.

      ‘How much money did you bring along, Sir Kalten?’ Khalad asked. ‘Gold’s expensive, you know.’ He squinted at Sparhawk’s ring. ‘I don’t have to cover his whole hand,’ he said, ‘just the ring itself.’

      ‘I’ll have to be able to get at it in a hurry, Khalad,’ Sparhawk cautioned.

      ‘Let me work on it. Does anyone have a gold florin? That would be about the right size.’

      They all opened their purses.

      Kalten looked around hopefully, then sighed. He reached into his purse. ‘You owe me a gold florin, Sparhawk,’ he said, handing the coin to Khalad.

      ‘I’m in your debt, Kalten,’ Sparhawk smiled.

      ‘You certainly are – one gold florin’s worth. Shall we move on? It’s starting to get chilly out here.’

      The wind had come up, gusty at first, but blowing steadily stronger. They followed the trail on down the slope until they were riding along the upper edge of a long, sandy beach with the wind screaming and tearing at them and the salt spray stinging their faces.

      ‘This is more than just a gale!’ Ulath shouted over the screaming wind. ‘I think we’ve got a hurricane brewing!’

      ‘Isn’t it too early for hurricanes?’ Kalten shouted.

      ‘It is in Eosia,’ Ulath shouted back.

      The shrieking of the wind grew louder, and they rode with their cloaks pulled tightly about them.

      ‘We’d better get in out of this,’ Vanion yelled. ‘There’s a ruined farmstead just ahead.’ He squinted through the driving spray. ‘It’s got stone walls, so it should give us some kind of shelter from the wind.’

      They pushed their horses into a gallop and reached the ruin in a few minutes. The moldering buildings were half buried in weeds, and the windows of the unroofed structures seemed to stare down from the walls like blind eyes. The house had completely tumbled in, so Sparhawk and the others dismounted in the yard and led their nervous horses into what had evidently been the barn. The floor was littered with the rotting remains of the roof, and there were bird-droppings in the corners.

      ‘How long does a hurricane usually last?’ Vanion asked.

      ‘A day or two,’ Ulath shrugged. Three at the most.’

      ‘I wouldn’t make any wagers on this one,’ Bevier said. ‘It came up just a little too quickly to suit me, and it’s forced us to take shelter. We’re pinned down in these ruins, you know.’

      ‘He’s right,’ Berit agreed. ‘Don’t we almost have to assume that somebody’s raised this storm to delay us?’

      Kalten gave him a flat, unfriendly stare, a fair indication that he had not yet shaken off his suspicions about the young man and Queen Ehlana’s maid.

      ‘I don’t think it’s going to be much of a problem,’ Ulath said. ‘As soon as we get back on board that ship, we’ll be able to outrun the hurricane.’

      Aphrael was shaking her head.

      ‘What’s wrong?’ he asked her.

      ‘That ship wasn’t built to ride out a hurricane. As a matter of fact, I’ve already sent it back to where it came from.’

      ‘Without even telling us?’ Vanion objected.

      ‘My decision, Vanion. The ship’s no good to us in this kind of weather, so there was no point in putting the crew in danger.’

      ‘It seemed well made to me,’ Ulath objected. ‘The builders must have taken high winds into account when they designed her.’

      She СКАЧАТЬ