"Mercedes Lackey and Roberta Gellis - Ill Met by Moonlight" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lackey Mercedes)

himself had been abroad on a trading mission when the Turks had overrun Hungary. In the disaster, his
entire family had been killed. Their Hungarian lands had been confiscated, but there was no way for the
Turks to lay hands upon the wide-spread trading empire his family had controlled. After some years of
rootless wandering, Lord Denno Siencyn Adjoran had come to rest in England, a country he had found
so much to his taste that he had made it his home.

Denoriel smiled and shook his head. "It is all very long ago now and not very painful, although sometimes
I still grieve for my little brother Imre—he who gave me the iron cross. Or, perhaps the grief is really for
my Harry—" he bowed to Katherine Champernowne "—beg pardon, I mean the late Duke of
Richmond. But we were very close. I gave him the cross when—"

"An iron cross, plain black iron on an iron chain?" Mistress Champernowne asked eagerly.

"Yes, that is it." He nodded. "It is of no real material value though it meant a great deal to me. Because he
was so like my little brother, I gave him the cross to protect him, and I suppose when Harry . . . when
Harry was lost, the cross was lost also—"

"No, no, it wasn't." Mistress Champernowne smiled with genuine pleasure at being able to help someone.
"Lady Elizabeth has it. She is absurdly attached to the thing and wears it constantly. But I am sure she
would return it to you if you told her—"

He managed to look shocked, pleased, and embarrassed at the same time. "No! Grace of God, no! I am
utterly delighted to learn that the cross was not lost, but I am very eager to have Lady Elizabeth keep it
and continue to wear it. Harry was devoted to her. It will be—will be as if some part of him is still
watching over her."

"It is very plain and not very suitable to a highborn lady's dress," Mistress Champernowne said, clearly
somewhat disappointed at not having a reason to wrest Elizabeth's unsuitable adornment from her.

"I am sure the duke of Richmond gave it to her because he believed she might need it. That cross was
said to have been made from the nails of the True Cross or part of the blade of the lance that pierced
Christ's side—" He shrugged. "—but I do not know that any of that is true. It was also said to be
invested with holy protective spells. Imre gave it to me to keep me safe on what he believed was a
dangerous voyage. Holy Mother help me! Perhaps if I had not taken it—I did not believe in it, you see; I
took it only to cheer him because he feared for me." He allowed his expression to cloud, and his eyes to
darken with feigned pain. "But mayhap—if I had not taken it, I would have drowned on that stupid
voyage and he would have lived!"

"Denno!" Aleneil said sharply. "You could not know. Do not begin again to distress yourself over what
was beyond your control. Your father sent you on that voyage; you did not ask to go. In fact, if I
remember aright, you argued bitterly to stay in Hungary."

"Yes, I did." Denoriel cast a quick glance in Mistress Champernowne's direction and was satisfied with
what he saw. The lady was highly impressed, and highly intrigued too. He found a rueful smile. "There
was this young lady of whom my father did not approve." He sighed.

"That is a very sad tale," Mistress Champernowne said, sighing too. "But you now believe that the cross
is a powerful relic? That it has protective powers?"

"I believe it, yes, but you know the old saw that God helps those who first help themselves. I believe the