"Raymond E. Feist - Empire Saga 1 - Daughter Of The Empire" - читать интересную книгу автора (Feist Raymond E)

rushed forward with lanterns, Mara thought she caught a hint of approval on the warrior's scarred face.
 Mara's meeting with Keyoke extended deep into the night. The stars glinted like ice. Kelewan's moon
showed a notched, copper-gold profile at the zenith by the time the old warrior gathered up the helmet
that rested by his knee. 'My Lady, your plan is dangerously bold. But, as a man does not expect
aggression from the gazen, it may work.'

'It must work!' Mara straightened in the darkness. 'Else our pride will be much diminished. Asking
security in exchange for marriage gains no honour, but only rewards those who plotted treachery against
us. Our house would no longer be a major player in the Game of the Council, and the spirits of my
ancestors would be unsettled. No, on this I think my father would say, "Safe is not always best."'

Keyoke buckled his helm with the care he might have used preparing for battle. 'As my Lady wills.
But I don't envy the task of explaining what you propose to Nacoya.' He bowed, rose, and strode to the
outer screen.

He slipped the catch and stepped out. Moonlight drenched the flower beds in gilt. Silhouetted against
their brightness, the Force Commander's shoulders seemed straighter, his carriage the slightest bit less
strained. With relief, Mara perceived that Keyoke welcomed a warrior's solution to Acoma troubles. He
had agreed to risk her plan rather than see her bind the family through marriage to the mercy of a stronger
house. She unlinked sweating fingers, afraid and exhilarated at the same time.

'I'll marry on my terms, or not at all,' she murmured to the night. Then she lay back on her cushions.
Sleep came reluctantly. Memories of Lano tangled with thoughts of young, boastful sons of great houses,
one of whom she must eventually choose as suitor.



Morning dawned hot. With a dry wind blowing from the south, moisture from the rainy season
remained only in sheltered hollows, and the herders drove needra to pasture amid ochre clouds of dust.
Mara broke her fast in the inner courtyard garden, beneath the generous shade of the trees. The trickle of
water from an ornamental fountain soothed her where she sat, dressed in a high-collared robe of saffron.
She seemed even younger than her seventeen years, her eyes too bright and her face shadowed with
sleeplessness. Yet her voice, when she summoned Nacoya, was crisp with authority.

The old nurse arrived grouchy, as was usual for her in the morning. Mara's summons had reached her
while dressing, for her hair was hastily bound back, and her lips pressed thin with annoyance. She bowed
briskly and said, 'As my mistress wishes?'

The Lady of the Acoma gestured permission to sit. Nacoya declined; her knees pained her, and the
hour was too early to argue with a headstrong girl whose stubbornness might lead the honour of her
ancestors to ruin.

Mara smiled sweetly at her former nurse. 'Nacoya, I have reconsidered your advice and seen wisdom
in marriage to thwart our enemies' plots. I ask that you prepare me a list of suitors whom you consider
eligible, for I shall need guidance to choose a proper mate. Go now. I shall speak with you on the matter
in due time.'

Nacoya blinked, obviously startled by this change of heart. Then her eyes narrowed. Surely such
compliance masked some other intent, yet Tsurani ethics forbade a servant the right to question.
Suspicious in the extreme, but unable to evade her dimissal, the old nurse bowed. 'Your will, mistress,