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

Taurra nodded with the first sincere smile Sevinna had seen out of her all day.
'! don't think it's poisoned at all,' Jill said. 'I think she was just playing with me, daring me to say one word there in front of the others. Or it may not have been Mallona at all. Maybe she just took a dislike to me. I mean, I'm this common-born dirty lass, sitting among the fine ladies. Maybe I was imagining the whole bit about poisoned fruit.'
'Maybe, but I doubt it. She certainly matches the description of Mallona we've got.'
They were up in the chamber of their inn, kneeling on the floor and examining the slice, which lay in a patch of sunlight. 'But even if it's not her,' Jill went on. 'She's a strange woman, anyway. Rhoddo, I know you hate it when I talk about dweomer and stuff, but I could feel danger in that room. It came pouring off her like a stink.'
Rhodry looked up, angry, but he said nothing.
'What it is, is she's desperate,' Jill went on. 'You know, when I was little, Da and I were staying in a dun where he had a hire, and one of the lord's dogs got stepped on by a horse. It crushed his paw, and when the kennelman went to help the poor creature, the dog bit him, ever so badly, too. It went all septic, and the kennelman lost his hand over it. I've never forgotten that, it was so awful.'
'And Mallona reminds you of the dog?'
'She does. Oh, I know what you're going to say - she's not a poor helpless animal but a murderess. You're right, and that makes her even more dangerous.'
‘I’m glad to see you realize it.'
'But we've got to be sure it's her. What we need is a witness. How far are we from Dwaen?'
'Three days' ride. Why?'
'I want you to go fetch him. He's a justice-minded man, and I'll wager he'll come back with you. Look, we've got to have a noble-born witness. Davylla won't have to believe a silver dagger or a servant or rider or suchlike, but she'll have to believe a tieryn. He'll be riding on the matter of Coryc of Caenmetyn's justice, and so her husband will have to take him in.’
"That makes sense, truly. You know, our innkeep has an extra horse here in the stables. I could use some of that coin Dwaen gave us and buy him for an extra mount. Although, wait! What if the lady slips away while we're gone?'
'Where would she go? She'll never find a hole this comfortable again. Besides, that's why I'll be staying here.'
'What? Are you daft? I don't want to bring Dwaen to Belgwerger to find you dead.'
'I'm going to be careful, don't trouble your heart about that. But she's right there with Davylla and the gwerbret's daughters. For all I know, she might poison one of them for the fun of it.'
'Ah horseshit, she wouldn't dare! You're not staying alone. I won't even hear of it.'
'Rhodry, my beloved.' Jill smiled and caught his hand between both of hers. 'You know I won't if you really say so, but be sensible.'
While Rhodry haggled with the innkeep for the extra horse, Jill took the apple slice and went down to the stable, where she found the innkeep's son, a skinny lad, all adam's apple and big nose.
‘Tell me somewhat.' Jill held up a couple of coppers. 'How do you trap rats in your stable? Do you use those little wicker cage things?'
'We do, and then I drown them when I've got them. Why? There's not a rat in your chamber, is there? I'll get a trap up right away if there is.'
'That's not it. Here, can you keep a secret? I've got a rival for my man, you see, and she gave me a present of some honeyed fruit, but I don't feel like eating it without having someone else taste it first. Can I bait one of your traps with the slice?'
'Why not? If it's poisoned, then that's one less rat I have to drown.'
Jill handed him the coppers, then followed him into the stable. Near bags of oats were the traps, disguised under wisps of hay and baited with cheese rind. Jill substituted the apple for the cheese and marked the trap by tying a wisp of hay around one of the withes.
When Rhodry left, he took his extra mount, so that he could make better speed by changing his weight from horse to horse. Even so, it would take him a long hard ride to reach Dwaen and the return journey would be even longer with the tieryn and his men along. Jill walked down to the gates and waved him off, then returned to the inn with the cold chill of a dweomer-warn ing down her back.
Despite the warning, the night passed with no trouble. At dawn, the lad brought fill the rat-trap. Inside there was a big grey rat, squirming and biting at the withes, baring its long front teeth and scowling with little red eyes at its captors.
'He ate the whole bit, but he's alive and nasty.’
‘So he is. Here's another copper, and my thanks.' The lad hurried off to drown his prey in a water bucket. So, Jill thought, either the bitch was toying with me, or I'm dead-wrong and it's not Mallona. Yet despite her lack of evidence, she'd never been so sure of anything in her life, that a poisoner and murderess was living on Lady Davylla's charity. In the rising light the pale towers of the dun gleamed over the roofs of the town, impregnable and strong - except to a traitor within.
Every night, the girls and Lady Davylla gathered in the women's hall, where Lady Taurra taught them strange lore - the virtues of different plants, the chants for different spells, the correct colours and metals to choose for talismans. Although Sevinna enjoyed learning about the various love charms and potions, at times they touched on things she found — not frightening, exactly - but unsavoury. To curse a rival for your man's affections, for instance, you were to catch a rat, keep it in a cage for three days while calling it by the rival's name, then bury it alive while chanting the proper spells, and all at midnight in a lonely place. Sevinna had no love for stable rats, but still, it seemed a cruel thing to do to a beast. Much to her surprise, Wbridda and Babryan shared none of her scruples.
'Oh honestly, Sevvi,' Babryan said. ‘I’d never really do such a thing, and I'll wager Lady Taurra wouldn't, either.'
'It's just fun to hear about it,' Wbridda put in. 'Well, not fun, exactly, but you know. Like ghosts. When the bard sings about someone walking through the great hall with his head in his hand, it's splendid, but if you truly saw it? Oooh, how nasty!'
Almost as if she had picked up Sevinna's doubts, Lady Taurra went out of her way to be friendly to her. Often she would insist Sevinna walk with her in the garden or come to her chamber alone to see some special thing. Taurra had a way of catching one's gaze with hers and holding it while she smiled. Her eyes seemed to hint at secrets and of power, as if she had looked upon strange things and might someday share them. After a few of these looks, Sevinna came to wonder if she were misjudging the lady. After all, she had every right to be bitter and hard after the way her husband had treated her.
No matter how thrilling all this talk of lore might be, Lady Davylla never forgot that the real purpose of this visit lay in showing Sevinna off to possible husbands. Davylla had a young cousin, Comyn, who held an honorary rank of tieryn because of his position in royal court. She was planning on putting him forward as a candidate.
'It's not that he's so handsome, dearest, rather a man's man type, you know, but he's in a very good situation with the King's Guard and can keep a wife well.'
'What does my uncle think of him?'
'Now I don't believe they've met. I shall have to remedy that.'
'You know, Davylla dearest,' Taurra broke in. There's a little ritual we could do to help Sevinna choose. Sometimes a lass can even see her future husband's face in a mirror if the Goddess is gracious enough to show her. It's just the full moon now, so we could do it.'
'Oh, how very exciting! Let's!'
‘There's one obstacle, though,' Taurra went on. 'We really should leave the dun and go to some wild place, and at night.'
'Oh, well, don't forget. My husband's off with one of his allies on that matter of justice. We'll be able to slip out easily enough.'
All that afternoon, while the others prepared the necessary implements for the rite, Sevinna was wondering if she could possibly get out of it, perhaps by feigning a headache. Her reluctance must have shown, because Taurra took her aside at one point to reassure her.
'Now really. Don't tell me you're afraid of our Lady of the Cauldron.'
'Not afraid,’ Sevinna lied blandly. 'But one must be properly respectful, mustn't one? I don't want to take the Goddess's favours too lightly.'
'Nicely spoken. You know, Sevinna dearest, I think you might have true calling for the Old Lore. Your cousins are such lovely lasses, and so earnest, but ij takes someone very special indeed to serve the Goddess properly. Don't tell them I said this, mind, but someday you could have ever so much more power than they ever will.’
It was very flattering, especially when Lady Taurra was smiling so gently and her eyes were so intense, as if she were looking deep into Sevinna's soul.
'My lady is very kind,' Sevinna said.
Taurra gave her a little pat on the arm and went on staring into her eyes. Suddenly Sevinna found it hard to look away.
'We're going to be such friends.' Taurra's voice turned as soft and as penetrating as oil. 'I simply know it, such friends. Aren't we, dear? Tell me you'll be my friend,'
'Of course I'll be your friend.’
Taurra gave her one last pat on the arm, then left the chamber. Sevinna sat down on her bed and felt her head throb in earnest. When she tried to remember what Taurra had said, she found it gone from her mind.