"Kerr,.Katharine.-.Westlands.04.-.A.Time.Of.Justice" - читать интересную книгу автора (Dragon Stories)

'Somewhat to do with this murderess you're tracking down?'
'Just that, but I'll beg his grace to keep the matter to himself. We've found a hint that the lady might be to the west of here. May I consult with his grace on a point of the laws?'
'Of course.'
'What if our murderess has taken shelter with a high-ranking lady who's determined to protect her at any cost? This lady might persuade her husband to refuse to surrender his guest. After all, his honour would be at stake.'
Tudvulc stroked his grizzled moustache while he thought.
'A cursed wasp's nest,' he spat out at last. 'If she's out of Coryc of Caenmetyn's boundary of jurisdiction, he'd have to persuade the local gwerbret that taking the lady was worth a war with one of his vassals. That would be a very difficult thing to persuade any man to do.'
'So I thought. And Coryc would never be allowed to ride down with his own men and wage the war.'
'Would he even want to? This woman sounds like a hell-fiend, truly, and an impious little bitch, but is punishing her worth an outright war, especially with another gwerbret, say, if that gwerbret took up his vassal's cause? He might send to the King's justice, of course, but that'll take years to sort out in the court.’
'Just so. I'd hate to see her get out of this without so much as an angry word. Well, we'll have to persuade this lord that the lady isn't worth his and his wife's protection.’
'If she's a witch, that might be hard to do,’ Tudvulc said, grinning. 'She might ensorcel him, eh? Hah! The nonsense these women believe. I'm cursed glad there's none of that going on in my dun.’
It took all of Rhodry's will to stay silent.
'Well, good luck, lad,’ Tudvulc went on. 'You're going to need it, eh? Now listen, Rhodry, don't be such a stiff-necked bastard from now on. I'm willing to shelter you, and you know cursed well Blaen of Cwm Peel would take you in. No need to wander the roads like a wretched beggar. Come to me or Blaen, get yourself a position with one of us. I can always call you my equerry or suchlike. Always need another good man around, eh?'
'His grace is most generous. But I've poured myself this cup of shame, and I'll drink it down.'
'Don't be a dolt, man! Doesn't matter to me if your brother takes umbrage at me sheltering you. I don't have any alliances with Rhys, won't need one, either. Eldidd's a blasted long way away. You think it over once you've caught this foaming bitch.'
'My thanks, Your Grace, for your generosity to a shamed man. I'll think about your offer.'
Rhodry rose and bowed, then fled to the ward. He was tempted, seriously tempted, by Tudvulc's generosity, but he knew that taking it would cause political problems touching the High King himself. Rhodry's brother Rhys, Gwerbret Aberwyn, hated him so bitterly that no doubt he'd find a way to challenge any lord, no matter how powerful, who took his younger brother in. The challenge would be the king's affair to settle, at great cost to his highness. Exile or not, silver dagger or not, Rhodry considered himself the King's vassal still, and one who had sworn a sacred oath to put his liege's needs above his own. With a toss of his head he shrugged the temptation off and strode back to their chamber, where he found Jill waiting.
‘That's that, my love. We'll be on the road on the morrow. No doubt you'll be glad of it, too. This must have been tedious for you, sitting about with the womenfolk.'
'It wasn't. I like them all, truly, and you can't blame them for worrying about the right match. I tell you, Rhoddo, I'm more determined to hunt Mallona out than ever. I still pity her, but she's like a fox among chickens. What if one of these ladies stood in her way?'
'Well, it wouldn't be pretty, would it? We'll do our best to make sure the lovely Lady Mallona gets a long neck from the gwerbret. Here, did you arrange to get in touch with the lasses once they reach Belgwerger?'
'I did, and they assure me they'll find some way for me to meet Davylla at least, if not her guest. It should work out well.'
Although Belgwerger was a decent size, with close to eight thousand people, its lord's dun looked definitely shabby compared to the iron-supported splendour of Lughcarn, and the town itself had none of the feel of a place where money flows like a river. Rhodry and Jill found a quite decent tavern where the innkeep wasn't too proud to take a
silver dagger's coin. There they spent an edgy pair of days, trying to keep out of sight while watching what might be happening in the town. Several times they saw Lord Elyc riding out of the dun with his warband, but never did they see any of his womenfolk.
Finally, as they were lounging near the east gate of the city on a late afternoon, the travelling party from Lughcarn rode in: the three lasses on their palfreys, a serving woman for a chaperon, a couple of pages, a small cart of clothes and travelling gear, a pair of servants, and fifteen men of the warband, all looking profoundly bored with their duty as they brought up the rear.
'No wonder it took them so blasted long to get here,’ Rhodry muttered. Travelling with a wretched cart!'
'Just so,’ Jill said. 'Here, I'm going to make sure they see me.'
On the streets the crowd was hurrying out of the way, stepping into doorways and alleys as the procession made its slow way along. Jill worked through the crowd until she was at the edge of the street, then bowed as the lasses passed her. All three of them giggled and waved, and the serving woman allowed herself a small smile in her direction. Once they were past, Jill came back and caught Rhodry's arm.
'Well and good, my love. If I don't hear from them soon, I'll go up to the palace and bribe a servant to take them a message.'
Sevinna was surprised to find Lady Davylla young, with a pretty round face and a thick head of chestnut hair. At the dinner to celebrate their arrival, her ladyship kept the talk light, amusing her guests with talk of various weddings and other social events in her husband's demesne, as well as chatter about her young daughter. Only once did the talk turn to her mysterious new dependant.
'I take it Lady Taurra must still feel ill,' Babryan said. 'Since she's not dining with us.'
Davylla shot a small smile in Elyc's direction and changed the subject.
After the meal they retired to Davylla's hall, a pleasant round room, though sparsely furnished compared to the women's quarters in Lughcarn. The serving women lit candles in the wall sconces, then retired when Davylla gave them leave to go. The girls sat down on cushions round the lady's chair.
'Now you've got to promise not to breathe a word of this to anyone,' Davylla said. 'But Lady Taurra's not truly ill. The poor woman, how she's suffered! Her husband suspected her of having a lover, you see, so he turned her out of his house and sent her back to her kin. All they did was mock her for her shame, and she simply couldn't bear it, so I offered to give her refuge.'
'How simply appalling for her,’ Babryan said. 'She didn't really have the lover, did she?'
'She didn't. Poor Taurra thinks that he was simply tired of her and took a chance to put her aside.'
The girls all shuddered.
'Taurra must have had an awful time on the roads,’ Wbridda said. 'Or did her brother give her an escort?'
'He didn't, the beast!' Davylla said. 'He was trying to force her into a Moon Temple, but she's got a different goddess to serve, so she just rode out on her own. It took her days to get here, the poor dear, and oh, it was so dangerous for her to be doing that.'
'Oh now here, Davylla dearest, I survived,’ said a soft voice.
Sevmna twisted round and saw a tall graceful woman just coming in the door. Since she was a cast-off woman, she had her hair down and caught back in a simple clasp like a lass, even though she looked old enough to be the mother of a grown child. The hair was raven-dark, touched with grey at the temples, and her eyes were a deep cornflower blue, the mark of Eldidd blood somewhere in her clan. She made Davylla a curtsey, then sat down on a cushion by Sevinna.
'Well, doubtless our goddess was looking out for you,’ Davylla said. 'But still, who knows what could have happened to you, wandering around like a common pedlar?'
Taurra smiled, and there was something odd about that smile, as if she knew some private joke that would be unpleasant to hear. As she looked the girls over, Sevinna's unease deepened at the hard assessment in those dark blue eyes. Oh here now! she told herself, doubtless she's just bitter about what happened to her.
'I trust you lasses honour our Lady Davylla highly,’ Taurra said. 'She's the most wonderful woman alive to take in a wretch like me.'
'Not a wretch at all,’ Davylla snapped. 'I shan't listen to that, Taurra. It's your beastly husband who's the wretch, and that's that.'
'Lord Gwell is no longer my husband, and I suppose I should count myself fortunate.’
Taurra began to ask the three girls polite questions about themselves, as if she were turning the conversation away from her painful past. Sevinna supposed that such was the reason, anyway, because she seemed not in the least interested in their answers. As the evening wore on, Sevinna wondered if she really liked this woman. She was annoyed with herself for not liking her; after all, she'd suffered terribly and deserved pity, but there was something about the stiff way that Taurra held her head, something about the slow way she answered questions, something about the way her eyes would narrow as she looked at someone else, that made Sevinna feel like a cat faced with a dog.
'Baba?' Sevinna said. 'You should tell Lady Davylla about our friend.'
'So I should,' Babryan said. 'My lady, the oddest thing happened just last week. A silver dagger came to our dun, and here it turned out to be Rhodry Maelwaedd, Lovyan's son.'
'By the Goddess herself!' Davylla gasped. 'Now, fancy that!'
'And he had a lass with him. She ran away from her family and everything to ride with Rhodry.'
'Indeed?' Davylla allowed herself a grin. 'I see that Rhodry hasn't changed much. I met him several times at court, you know. Oh honestly, the way he had of looking a lass over!'