"Jennifer Fallon - Second Sons 02 - Eye of the Labyrinth" - читать интересную книгу автора (Fallon Jennifer)

supposedly raped a Shadowdancer, killed Johan Thorn and then fled Avacas a wanted man. She could
not imagine what had driven him to do such terrible things. Antonov had written to her after it happened,
positively gloating as he described the events that had forced Dirk to flee.

What did you do to him, Anton? What evil did you infect my son with that he would turn from the
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intelligent, thoughtful boy I loved into a murderer and rapist in a few short months? She had thought about
trying to get a message to Dirk, but she had no idea where to find him. Even if she did, the risk was too
great. Dirk would come home one day, she was certain. Morna ran her eyes over the crowds that lined
the streets, half-hoping to see him. She had delayed the funeral for as long as she could, in the hopes that
word would reach Dirk, wherever he was. He would not be able to appear openly, she knew, but surely
he would not miss this day. Dirk had loved Wallin like a father. For most of his life, he was the only father
Dirk had known. Dear, patient, understanding, forgiving Wallin. It was Wallin who had tried to comfort
her when she learned about what happened in Avacas. It was Wallin who reminded her that things were
not always as they seemed. And now he was gone, struck down by the very thing that made him what he
was—his heart. One minute he was sitting at the High Table, sharing a joke with Rees; the next he could
not breathe. He had died in her arms on the floor of the Great Hall of Elcast Keep, and taken a part of
her with him when he left. Morna Provin had not merely lost a husband. Wallin’s death meant she no
longer enjoyed the protection he provided. She had lived these past twenty years because Wallin had
begged for her life, and now he was no longer here to shield her. She glanced over her shoulder as the
funeral procession wound down the steep road toward the town. Tovin Rill walked behind them with his
youngest son, Lanon. His expression was grave. The Senetian governor had done nothing but express his
sympathy so far, but Morna knew she was living on borrowed time. Her fate was inevitable and, in some
ways, she thought, not undeserved. If she felt anything, it was a deep sense of disappointment, mostly in
herself. She had promised to do so much. But in the end I was no better than you, Johan, she admitted
silently. For all my noise about freeing Dhevyn, about carrying on the fight, what did I end up doing?
Exactly what you did, my love. I hunkered down somewhere safe and let the world pass me by, fooling
myself into believing that I was just waiting for the right time, the right circumstances, before I acted.

Even worse, I gave birth to the son you never knew you had, and then raised him so well, he killed
you...

The procession reachedElcastTown, wending its way through streets lined with mourners. Wallin had
been a good man, a good duke, and his people genuinely grieved his passing. Some of them threw petals
on the carriage as they passed; a few smiled those uncomfortable smiles Morna had come to loathe. She
kept her eyes fixed on the back of the carriage. It was easier not to look them in the eye.

When they reached the harbor, the procession came to a halt and the Guard of Honor stepped forward.
They lifted Wallin’s body from the carriage and bore it down to the water to the mournful beat of a lone
drummer. The guard placed Wallin’s body on the floating bier that was anchored near the beach. Rees
stepped forward, accepting a flaming torch from the Sundancer Brahm Halyn, who waited by the bier.
Her son waded into the shallows, hesitated for a moment as he said a silent farewell to his father, and
then touched the flame to the pyre. The wood had been drenched with oil so it caught immediately. Rees
waited, to make certain the flames had taken hold, and then, with the help of two of the guard, pushed
the bier out into the water. The silence would have been complete, but for the monotonous drumbeat, the
distant squawking of gulls and the crackle and hiss of the flames as they consumed Wallin’s body. Morna