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

the obvious choice would beLot or Cador. Well, it cannot beLot , I think you will agree there: For all his
oath of fealty, there in the chapel, I won't trust him yet, and certainly not within reach of Colgrim."

"I agree. You'll send Cador, then? You can surely have no more doubts of him?"

Cador, Duke of Cornwall, was indeed the obvious choice. He was a man in the prime of his strength, a
seasoned fighter, and loyal. I had once mistakenly thought him Arthur's enemy, and indeed he had had
cause to be; but Cador was a man of sense, judicious and far-sighted, who could see beyond his hatred
of Uther to the larger vision of a Britain united against the Saxon Terror. So he had supported Arthur.
And Arthur, up there in the Perilous Chapel, had declared Cador and his sons the heirs to the kingdom.

So Arthur said merely: "How could I?" and scowled for a moment longer at the stilus. Then he dropped
it on the table, and straightened. "The thing is, with my own leadership so new — " He looked up then,
and saw me smiling. The frown vanished, to be replaced by a look I knew: eager, impetuous, the look of
a boy, but behind it a man's will that would burn its way through any opposition. His eyes danced. "Yes,
you're right, as usual. I'm going myself."

"And Cador with you?"

"No. I think I must go without him. After what happened, my father's death, and then the — " he
hesitated — "then what happened up in the chapel yonder...if there is to be more fighting, I must be there
myself, to lead the armies, and be seen to finish the work we started."

He paused, as if still expecting question or protest, but I made none.

"I thought you would try to prevent me."

"No. Why? I agree with you. You have to prove yourself to be above luck."

"That's it exactly." He thought for a moment. "It's hard to put it into words, but ever since you brought
me to Luguvallium and presented me to the King, it has seemed — not like a dream exactly, but as if
something were using me, using all of us..."

"Yes. A strong wind blowing, and carrying us all with it."

"And now the wind has died down," he said, soberly, "and we are left to live Life by our own strength
only. As if — well, as if it had all been magic and miracles, and now they had gone. Have you noticed,
Merlin, that not one man has spoken of what happened up yonder in the shrine? Already it's as if it had
happened well in the past, in some song or story."

"One can see why. The magic was real, and too strong for many of those who witnessed it, but it has
burned down into the memories of all who saw it, and into the memory of the folk who made the songs
and legends. Well, that is for the future. But we are here now, and with the work still to do. And one
thing is certain; only you can do it. So you must go ahead and do it in your own way."

The young face relaxed. His hands flattened on the table as he leaned his weight on them. For the first
time it could be seen that he was very tired, and that it was a kind of relief to let the weariness sweep
over him, and with it the need for sleep.

"I should have known you would understand. So you see why I must go myself, without Cador. He