"Huff, Tanya - Wizard 1 - Child Of The Grove 1.1 Txt" - читать интересную книгу автора (Huff Tanya)

Rael entered his father's chamber slowly, his heart so heavy it sat like a lump of coal in his chest. This would be good-bye, he knew it. It took a moment to penetrate his grief, but instead of his father lying wasted on the bed he saw the king being dressed in royal purple. Even the crown, massive and ugly, stood close at hand.
He grabbed Glinna's arm and dragged her out of the milling crowd of servants.
"What's going on? Is he better?"
"No. If anything, he's worse. " The surgeon's tone made it quite clear that she took the king's condition as a personal affront. "But he insists on speaking to the people. "
"Why?"
"The people say they won't have you as king. "

CHILD OF THE GROVE 81
"I don't care what the people say. " "He does. "
Rael studied his father standing supported between two burly footmen as a valet pushed his feet into boots. Raen's skin was gray and his eyes had sunk deep in indigo shadows. The column of his throat stood out in a bas relief of ridges and hollows. "Will he survive it?" "No. "
"And you're just letting him die?!" "Yes. " She held up a hand and stopped Rael's next words. "Before you say anything, consider this: he is still the man he was. Would you have that man die in bed?"
Rael released her arm and shook his head. His father might have no fear of Lord Death, but he would refuse to meet the Mother-creator's true son lying helpless in bed.
"I thought not. Now, go to him. He needs you. " Dressed, the king reached for the crown, but his hands shook so they couldn't grasp it. Rael's hands covered his. Together they lifted it from the table.
"A crown, " said Raen as it settled on his brow, "is
a heavy burden. " He grinned a death's head grin as
he struggled to straighten his neck under the weight.
"There's more than a little truth in these old cliches. "
"Yes, Father. "
"I'm going to see that this burden goes to you. Perhaps I'm doing you no favor. " He sighed. "A king has no conscience, my son, he gives it to the people. " "I will remember, Father. "
Raen snorted. "They're not likely to let you forget. "
Attendants moved the king to a litter and carried him through the halls of the palace, Rael keeping pace alongside. Although they tried, it was not always possible to keep the litter even and once, when it jerked on a stair, Raen bit back a pained cry. Choking back a cry of his own, Rael reached out a hand and his father's wasted fingers closed gratefully around it.

82 Tanya Huff
Belkar, in the formal, ornate robes of a Duke of Ardhan, stood by the Great Door.
"My liege. " He knelt and kissed the shadow of a hand stretched out to him.
"Just help me off this thing, " Raen snapped. Friendship could weaken him now as easily as pain and he still had much to do. "I'm not dead yet!"
The king had not stood unassisted since he had been carried off the battlefield for the second time, but when he was on his feet he shook off the supporting hands of his son and his friend.
"This I must do alone, " he said through gritted teeth. "Let it begin, Belkar. "
Belkar shook his head at the prince's pleading look, a look that said as loudly as if Rael had spoken, You can't let him do it alone!, and gave the signal. Trumpets called and the great doors swung open.
The People's Square was full and overflowing with the entire population of King's City and, as commanded, all six dukes. They represented only a small percentage of the population of Ardhan, but they would spread the news and by the end of the week, the whole country would know. And then the people would judge.
Raen did not call up deep reserves of hidden strength so that he walked proudly, shoulders back and head erect to the edge of the dais-he had no reserves to call. He tottered that twenty feet, sweat running and lips snarling against the pain. One foot went in front of the other by strength of will alone.
The people saw what it cost him and began to cheer. First those near the dais and then the noise moved back through the crowd until the walls shook with it and Raen felt it through the stones under his feet. He stopped and raised his hands for silence, but the crowd refused to quiet until he swayed and collapsed.
"Father!"
Rael, Belkar, and the king's attendants rushed for-ward, all expecting the worst, but the king still clutched at life.

CHILD OF THE GROVE 83
"Get me on the litter, " he rasped, "and raise it so I can see and be seen. I must say what I have come to
say. "
"Father, it isn't important, I... "
"This isn't just for you. I will not have my country torn by civil war!"
With gentle hands, Rael lifted his father and laid him carefully on the litter. Some of the crowd hissed at this show of his strength-wasted or not, the king was a large man still-but Rael didn't care. His only thought was for the man he loved who lay dying.
Two of the attendants hoisted one end of the litter to their shoulders. Raen stared out at the Square from the dark hollows his eyes had become.
"I am still your king!" he cried in a voice surprisingly strong.
The people cheered.
"This, " he continued, taking Rael's hand, "is my son. "
Only a few cheered. Most muttered sullenly and one, a weaver, apparently the chosen spokesman, twisted his cap in his hands and called out: "We don't doubt you are his father, Sire, but we have concerns about his mother. "
"You know who his mother is. "
The weaver squirmed and reddened but he persisted. "And that's the problem, Sire. He isn't human and who's to say with you gone that he won't turn on us. You can't trust the Elder Races, they've never had what you'd call good will toward man. If he should take after his mother... "
'If you knew his mother, " Belkar's voice rang out over the muttering that signified agreement with the weaver's words, "you wouldn't... "
His last words vanished under the noise that rose from the far side of the Square. There was no need to strain to see the cause of the commotion, for Milthra's silver head shone like a star amongst suddenly drab browns and reds and yellows.