LE Modesitt Spellsong 3 Darksong Rising

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"Thank you." Anna nodded, and the chief player eased her mount back toward her
position at the head of the players.
After a moment, the Regent beckoned for Skent to join her. The dark-haired
page nodded to Himar and urged his mount forward. "Yes, Lady Anna?"
"Did you find out anything about Lord Ustal... or Fussen... that would be good
for me to know?"
"Begging your pardon, Lady Anna..." Skent glanced at his mount's mane. 'There
were not many who'd speak at my end of the table, and what they said..."
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"Tell me what you did hear."
"Lord Ustal spends much of his time flying his falcons. The mews is bigger
than some folks' cots."
Anna reflected. The stable had also been clean, well swept, and the horses she
had seen well fed and groomed. "He cares for his animals, then."
"That he does, and the armsmen's quarters are good. My room was there."
"How did the girls behave?" Anna asked. "Were there any serving girls or
others you saw?"
Skent frowned. "Few enough, and most were quiet. They said nothing, and
slipped away as quick as they could."
"Thank you, Skent." Anna definitely didn't like the picture she was getting.
"I tried, my lady."
"In something like this, that's all I can ask."
Skent dropped back to where he had been riding beside Himar, and, at Anna's
gesture, the overcaptain rode forward.
"Can you add anything?"
Himar smiled ironically, the expression lifting his drooping mustache. "He has
spent over a hundred golds on having new blades forged for his personal guard,
and has sent a farrier and the second-in-command of his armsmen to Heinene to
see what beasts the grassland folk will sell."
"Shrewd-they would have to sell with the grass fires," Anna said. "Anything
else?"
"He spars only with the foremost of the armsmen, and can best them all-and he
had one whipped for not striving to his best against him."
"Did they say anything about Falar?"
"Not in so many words." Himar tugged on the right end of his mustache before
continuing. "Lord Ustal has recently hired twoscore of armsmen, yet it appears
that he has but the same number as his sire, and Jirsit heard tell that a
serving girl had consorted with one of the newer armsmen... he thought that
her first consort had been killed in a skirmish, yet... there has been no talk
of brigands or raiders, or of Nesereans. . ." The overcaptain shrugged.
"So... there have been some hidden battles between the brothers?" Anna nodded
slowly.
"That... that is what I heard." With a nod, Himar dropped back.
Anna rode silently for a time.
"You are quiet, my lady," Jecks said.
"Ustal is going to be a problem." The difficulty Anna faced was simple. While
everything she'd seen and heard indicated that Ustal was generally pleasantly
despicable, his actions were within what most Defalkans would have considered
acceptable behavior for a lord-and certainly within the bounds of
acceptability as defined by most members of the Thirty-three.
"Many lords are like Ustal," observed Jecks. "Perhaps wiser in some ways,
perhaps more discreet, but not that different."
"That's why he's a problem." Anna frowned, then glanced at Jecks. "Liende said
that not that many lords could use a glass or scrying pond. . ."
Jecks smiled. "I could not, for I cannot hold a tune, and never had I players
until Liende and the others fled to EIheld."
Anna frowned. So... perhaps many lords knew far less about what occurred than
she had thought. Messengers cost coins, and that meant communications were not
exactly that frequent or speedy in Defalk. "I have to think about this." And a
lot of things.
Jecks nodded slowly, but did not speak as they continued southward.
Sudborte itself was scarcely more than a hamlet, with a single row of stores,
including a single-storied chandlery that could not have been more than five
yards wide and not that much deeper.
A red hound sat on the narrow porch of the chandlery, tied to one of the
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posts.
His eyes followed the horses, but he did not howl or bark. Anna wasn't sure
whether the dog might not have offered the slightest pleading moan, as though
he would have liked to follow the riders. While Anna could sense someone
observing her, no one stepped onto the porch. The single street of Sudborte
remained deserted, at least until well after the Regent's force had passed
through the town itself.
The keep was on the west side of Sudborte, a square structure less than
twenty-
five yards on a side, with rough-quarried, redstone walls six or seven yards
high. There was only one tower, rising another two yards above the parapets of
the walls and set to the right of the single wooden gate. Several outbuildings
of wood, including what appeared to be a stable, had clearly been constructed
later.
A pair of armsmen stood on the parapets above the open gate, but neither had a
weapon at hand as the column rode toward the keep.
"Lady..." Himar cleared his throat.
Anna nodded. "You can take some men and check it out." Himar looked puzzled
for a moment, and Anna almost grinned. Sometimes, Earth colloquialisms did not
translate even though the languages were similar. "Make sure it's safe," she
added, reining up. Jecks and the players reined up as well, while Himar took a
score of armsmen and proceeded.
"At times, my lady, you do trust too much," Jecks murmured quietly.
He was probably right, although she had trusted not so much in Falar's
goodness as her own sorcery. But sorcery isn't always that precise... or your
spells aren't. "That's why I listen to you and Himar." She smiled impishly. "I
did wear that breastplate, you remember, and I did enchant those shields."
"That you did, my lady, and for that all of us are grateful..." A hint of a [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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