"Stephen Lawhead - Pendragon Cycle 05 - Grail" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lawhead Stephen)

who broke faith with Arthur. The punishment is shared by all. That is the
High King's command.'
When the stalwart priest had conveyed my meaning, Mercia answered. 'I
quarrel not with Arthur's judgment. But I would offer a - ah, an
understanding,' he said, speaking through Hergest.
'Yes?' asked Bedwyr warily. 'What is this understanding?'
'Allow us to settle unclaimed lands,' suggested Mercia through his priest.
'Let stay who will, but tell them we will not possess inhabited British
holdings.'
This was unforeseen. 'And let Britons and Vandali live together in the
same realm?' I asked.
'If any care to stay,' Hergest answered. 'The Vandal would share the land
with any willing to share the land with them.'
'Is he earnest?' Bedwyr inquired, pulling on his chin.
'Indeed.' Hergest assured us adamantly. 'He has spoken to the other
chieftains, and they all agree. They would rather settle the wilderness than
displace the innocent.' He paused. 'May I explain?'
'If you can.'
'It is this way,' said Hergest. 'Arthur's generosity is more than they
expected and it has shamed them. The people of Vandalia are a proud
race, and resourceful. Because need is great, they will accept the land
Arthur has decreed for them, but their pride recoils from causing hardship
to the kinsmen of those who have befriended them.'
I shook my head in amazement. 'Hardship? Blessed Jesu, only a few days
ago these bloodlusting barbarians were plundering and burning these same
British settlements!'
'That,' Mercia spat, 'was Amilcar's doing.' Obviously, there was little love
between the defeated Vandal king and his minions.
'And is Mercia so very different?' Bedwyr asked harshly, pressing the
matter, I think, to see what sort of man the new king might be.
Without hesitation, the priest replied. 'Mercia regrets the plundering and
burning that Amilcar inflicted on this land. It was war. Such things
happen. But now that Mercia is lord of the Vandali, Hussae, and Rogatti,
he has pledged friendship with Arthur. This friendship he values greatly,
and would increase its worth by extending it to the Britons holding the
lands wherein the Vandal tribes must settle.'
I was amazed. The suggestion showed both benevolence and shrewdness.
The cunning I might have expected, but the compassion in the barbarian's
suggestion took me by surprise. I looked at Bedwyr, who looked at me,
rubbing the back of his neck.
Hergest saw our hesitation. 'Mercia does not ask that you trust him - only
that you try him.'
'It is not a matter of trust,' Bedwyr said slowly. 'The summer is far
advanced; there is no time to raise crops before winter comes. You will
require dwellings, and cattle pens, and everything else. Where will you get
them, if not from the Britons?'
When the priest had explained Bedwyr's words to him, the young chieftain
smiled. 'We are not without skill in such matters,' he replied through
Hergest. 'Besides, the wise ones among us say that this winter shall be like
those of our homeland in the southern sea. It will do us no harm.'