"Mary Stewart - The Arthurian Saga 03 - The Last Enchantment" - читать интересную книгу автора (Stewart Mary)

"Sorry? For what? Kings have to start somewhere. Has he had any rest yet himself?"

"Not a hope. But he's got rid of the crowd at last, and they cleared the royal rooms while we were up at
the shrine. He's there now."

"Attended?"

"Only Bedwyr."

That, I knew, meant, besides his friend Bedwyr, a small host of chamberers and servants, and possibly,
even, a few people still waiting in the antechambers.

"Then ask him to excuse me for a few minutes. I'll be there as soon as I've dressed. Will you send Lleu
to me, please?"

But this he would not have. The servant was sent with the message, and then, as naturally as he had
done in the past when he was a boy, Ralf helped me himself. He took the bedgown from me and folded
it, and gently, with care for my stiff limbs, eased me into a day-robe, then knelt to put my sandals on and
fasten them.

"Did the day go well?" I asked him.

"Very well. No shadow on it."

"Lotof Lothian?"

He glanced up, grimly amused. "Kept his place. The affair of the chapel has left its brand on him...as it
has on all of us." The last phrase was muttered, as if to himself, as he bent his head to buckle the second
sandal.

"On me, too, Ralf," I said. "I am not immune from the god's fire, either. As you see. How is Arthur?"

"Still on his own high and burning cloud." This time the amusement held affection. He got to his feet. "All
the same, I think he's already looking ahead for storms. Now, your girdle. Is this the one?"

"It will do. Thank you. Storms? So soon? I suppose so." I took the girdle from him and knotted it. "Do
you intend to stay with him, Ralf, and help him weather them, or do you count your duty done?" Ralf had
spent the last nine years in Galava of Rheged, the remote corner of the country where Arthur had lived,
unknown, as the ward of Count Ector. He had married a northern girl, and had a young family.

"To tell you the truth I've not thought about that yet," he said. "Too much has happened, all too quickly."
He laughed. "One thing, if I stay with him, I can see that I'll look back with longing on the peaceful days
when I had nothing to do but ride guard on those young dev — that is, on Bedwyr and the King! And
you? You will hardly stay here as the hermit of the Green Chapel now? Will you come out of your
fastness, and go with him?"

"I must. I have promised. Besides, it is my place. Not yours, though, unless you wish it. Between us, we
made him King, and that is the end of the first part of the story. You have a choice now. But you'll have
plenty of time to make it." He opened the door for me, and stood aside to let me pass him. I paused.