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

"It's going to have to be done, " the king said shortly. "We have no choice. Melac's moving very fast; he wants those iron mines in Riven badly and has had plans to invade us for years. Though he's a fool if he thinks he's in charge, not that madman he has for a counselor. " He looked down at the map and shook his head. "Still, madman or not, he's a brilliant leader. I've never heard of anyone getting an army into the field so quickly. " Teeth gleamed for an instant in the lamplight. "If I didn't know all the wizards were dead.... "
The wizards had destroyed themselves before there was an Ardhan or a king to rule it. Their dying convulsions had reshaped the face of the world.
"Father! You don't think... ?"
"Don't be ridiculous, boy. I was joking. " Raen leaned back in his chair and looked fondly at his son. His expression hardened. "You're not wearing your sword. "
Rael's hand jerked to his belt and he flushed.
"I saw Mother today, to tell her I wouldn't be back to the Grove for some time. You know how steel upsets her. "

CHILD OF THE GROVE 21
"Well, your guards were armed, I hope?" Rael looked at the cold hearth, the hunting tapestry on the wall, the great canopied bed, everywhere but at his father.
"You took no guards. " The king's voice was sharper than Rael's missing sword.
"The guards won't go into the Grove. " "The guards will go where I tell them. " And then he thought of Milthra's reaction to heavily armed men tearing up her peace and reconsidered. Gods, he missed her. "Well, they can wait with your horse at the edge of the forest, then. They needn't go into the Grove. "
An uncomfortable silence fell as both considered another who would not go into the Grove.
"You'll take them with you next time, " Raen said finally. "I don't want a dead son. "
Rael turned the brilliant green of his eyes on the king. "Who would want to kill me, Father?"
"Balls of Chaos, boy, how should I know?" Raen looked away from the Lady's eyes. "Melac's men. Madmen. You're prince and heir, my only son. When you ride from now on, you ride with guards. " King's command, not father's. "I don't care where you're going. I will not lose you. "
"Yes, sir. " Suddenly, Rael made a decision. He was tired, he decided, of bouncing from the pain of one parent to the pain of the other and tired too of pretending he didn't see that pain because they both so obviously tried to keep it from him. He took his courage in both hands and asked what he'd never dared ask before. "Father? Why don't you go to the Grove?"
Raen stared at the map without seeing it. He remembered ivory and silver and green, green eyes and strong smooth limbs wrapped around him. He remembered a love so deep he could drown in it.
"How did your mother look when you left her this afternoon?" he asked hoarsely.
Rael thought about his last sight of the hamadryad as she merged back into her tree.

22 Tanya Huff
"As always, beautiful; but worried and sad, "
"And her age?"
"Her age?" He remembered how he'd wanted to protect her. "She seemed very young. "
"Now look at me. "
"Sir?"
"LOOK AT ME!" Raen stood so suddenly that his chair overturned. His hands clenched to fists and his voice rose to a roar. "Once my hair was as thick and black as yours. You'll notice that what I have left, and there isn't much, is gray. There was a day I could defeat any man in Ardhan with my bare hands, but no longer. I used to be able to follow the flight of a hawk in the sun. Now I'm lucky if I can see the damned bird at all! I grew this beard to hide the lines of age!" He paused, drew a shuddering breath and his voice fell until it was almost a whisper. "Your mother hasn't changed, but I am growing old. She must not sec me like this. "
Rael was on his feet as well, staring at his father in astonishment. "You're not old!"
The king's smile was not reflected in his eyes. "Fifty-two years weigh heavily on a man, and your mother is ageless. " He raised a hand to stop the next protest. "I appreciate your denials, lad, but I know what I see. "
Unfortunately, there was nothing to deny. His father was a mortal man and his mother stood outside of time.
"Mother loves you. It wouldn't matter to her. "
"It would matter to me. Let her love me as I was. "
Rael ached with the pain in his father's voice that was a twin to the pain in his mother's.
"Father... "
"No, Rael. " Raen put his hands on his son's shoulders but avoided the leaf-green glow of his eyes. "There is nothing you can do. Go to bed. We have a busy time ahead of us. "
"Yes, sir. "

CHILD OF THE GROVE 23
Is he too old for me to hold? Raen wondered, looking for his child and seeing only a young man.
Am I too old to be held? Rael asked the dignity of his seventeen years.
No.
It comforted them both greatly.
If I can only get him to the Grove, Rael thought as he left his father's room. If I can only get him to the Grove, everything will be all right.

Two
"Out of bed, milord. The Duke of Belkar and some of his men rode in last night and your father wants to see you in the small petition room. "
Rael buried his head under the pillow as the middle-aged man who had been his servant/companion since before he could remember, pulled back the heavy curtains and let in the weak early morning light. "Oh, go away, Ivan, it's barely dawn. "
"It's an hour past. " Strong hands dragged the blankets away with the familiarity of long service. "Get up or you won't have time for a wash and bite before you see the king. "
There was time for the wash but not the bite and Rael's stomach complained bitterly as he slipped into the room where the daily business of the kingdom was most often conducted. Raen looked up at the sound, pushed the remnants of his own breakfast across the table, and turned his attention back to the document he studied. More than a little embarrassed, Rael took a chunk of bread and slid into the only vacant chair. The Duke of Belkar smiled at him and the other man, who by his armor could only be one of Belkar's two captains, raised an edge of his lip in what have been either a greeting or a grimace.
Finally the king scrawled his signature at the bottom of the document, set his seal in wax, and gave the paper to the Messenger standing patiently at his elbow. Then he looked up at his son.