"Elizabeth Moon - Deed of Paksenarrion 02 - Divided Allegiance" - читать интересную книгу автора (Moon Elizabeth)

DIVIDED ALLEGIANCE
This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.
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Copyright (C) 1988 by Elizabeth Moon
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form.
A Baen Books Original
Baen Publishing Enterprises 5020 Henry Hudson Parkway Riverdale,NY 10471
ISBN: 0-671-69786-2 Cover art by Kevin Davies
First Printing, October 1988 Second Printing, September 1989 Third Printing, July 1990
Printed in the United States of America
Distributed by Simon & Schuster 1230 Avenue of the Ameneas New York. NY 10020
Prologue
Long ago, before the elder folk were driven from the lands south of the Hakkenarsk, the elves who dwelt in those heights had found a valley more lovely than any other. The shape of its rock and the clarity of its water brought joy to all who saw it. There for a time the elves lived, and built as they rarely build, while the greatest among them sang to the taig of that place, and wakened it to its own power. Over long years they shaped it, singing one song of beauty after another, and the taig responded, willing itself to flourish as the elves suggested. Very dear was this valley to all who could sense the taigin, both elder and younger folk, and it was known as the elfane taig, the holy place and living banner of the elves and their powers.
Then troubles came: the tales are lost that tell who brought them, or how those who fled sought refuge far away. Even to the elfane taig the evil came, and the elves fled, driven out by a power they could not resist for all their songs. The taig remained, crippled in its resistance to that evil by corruption placed at its heart, no longer truly elfane but banast, or wounded. Most of its great strength was spent in containing that corruption. The taig could not attack the embodied evil without loosing the
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worse danger, the periapt which would leave it permanently defiled.
Few travelers went that way at first, for its hazards were well known. The elves, when they were asked, warned all. No dwarf would venture so near the Ladysforest, and humans, for the most part, preferred the easier pass at Valdaire, or the shorter one over Dwarfwatch. So for long years the contending powers in the valley had only each other to feed on. A stray ore here, a wolfpack there—these nourished the conflict ill. And of the travelers that passed, not all were apt for use. Some, when the visions came, woke quickly and fled, leaving packs and animals behind. Others, greedy for treasure, stormed into the ruins without sense, and fell to the first of the traps and creatures, ending as servants of evil, or its food.
But ages passed, and time dulled human memories, and ever the contending powers sought lives and souls to serve them, to war in their long and bitter strife. As elven influence waned hi Lyonya, the nearest settled land, few asked elves for advice; fewer still obeyed. Bold explorers, half brigand, wandered the northern slopes. From time to time an entire band disappeared below the valley's ruins, to live in the eternal light of the old halls, and fight for whichever power could enchant each separate soul. There they died, for none came alive from the banast taig. So the treasure accumulated, over the years: most of it the weaponry and armor of wandering mercenaries or brigands, but also odd bits of magical equipment, scholars scrolls— whatever a lost traveler might be carrying.
Then two more travelers entered the valley.
Chapter One
When all Siniava's troops had been marched away under guard, most of the Phelani assumed they'd be going back to Valdaire—even, perhaps, to the north again. Some were already making plans for spending their share of the loot. Others looked forward to time to rest and recover from wounds. They were more than a little surprised, then, to be marched south, along the Immer, in company with Alured's men, the Halverics, and several cohorts of the Duke of Fall's army. These last looked fresh as new paint, hardly having fought at all, except to turn Siniava away from Fallo.
"I don't understand it," muttered Ken to Paks as they marched. "I thought we were through—Siniava's dead. What more?"
Paks shook her head. "Maybe the Duke has a contract."
"Contract! Tir's bones, it'll take us the rest of the season just to get back to Valdaire. Why do we need a contract?"
"Have you ever seen the sea?" asked Seli.
"No—why?"
"Well, that's reason enough to go south. I've seen it— you'll be impressed."
"What is it like?" asked Paks.
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"I don't think anyone can tell you. You have to see it. I've heard the cliffs are tower here, at the Immer's mouth, than at Confaer, where I was. But even so—"
As they marched south beyond the forest, the river beside them widened. They passed through a few small towns and villages. Alured stationed some of his troops in each of these. Word trickled down from the captains that Alured was claiming the title of Duke of Immer. This meant nothing to Paks or the younger soldiers, but Stammel knew that the title had been extinct for several hundred years, since the fell of the old kingdom of Aare across the sea.
"I'm surprised that the Duke of Fall and the other nobles are accepting it," he said one night.
"That was the price of his help this year," said Vossik. All the sergeants were gathered around one fire for an hour or so. "I heard talk in Fallo's cohorts about it. If the Fallo, Andressat, and Cilwan would uphold his claim—and our Duke, of course—then he'd turn on Siniava."
"But why would they, even so?"
"It's an odd story," said Vossik, obviously ready to tell it.
"Go on, Voss, don't make us beg," growled StammeL
"Well, it's only what I heard, after all: I don't know whether those Fallo troops know the truth, or if they're telling it, but here it is. It seems that Alured used to be a pirate on the Immerhoft—"
"We knew that—"
"Yes, but that's the beginning. He'd captured another ship, and was about to throw the prisoners over, the way pirates do—"
"Into the water?" asked Paks.
Someone laughed. Vossik turned to her. "Pirates don't want a mess on their ships—so they usually do throw prisoners overboard—"
"But don't they swim or wade to shore?" asked ^Natzlin.
"They can't. It's too for, and the water is deep."
"I can swim a long way—" said Barra.
"Not that far. Tir's gut, Barra, you haven't seen the sea yet. It could be a day's march from shore, the ship, when they toss someone out." Vossik took a long swallow of sib
DIVIDED ALLEGIANCE 5
and went on. "Anyway, one of the prisoners was a mage—or said he was. He started calling to Alured, telling him he should be a prince by rights."
"I'd have thought Alured wouldn't listen to prisoners' yells," said Stammel. "He doesn't look the type.
"No," agreed Vossik. "He doesn't. But it seems he'd had some sort of tale from his father—about being born of good blood, or whatever. So he had the man brought to him, and the mage told him a long tale about his ancestors. How he was really heir to a vast kingdom, and was wasting his time as a pirate."