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. No, she said. A queen should be to her people as the Ones are to thepack: the greatest strength to guide and preserve through winter.I could notbe a queen.I do not yet have the wisdom.She looked squarely at the king, awaiting his anger, for she knew that hehad offered her a great honor and she had cast it away like a too small fishinto the stream.Tedric, however, was nodding agreement.Queen Elexalooked hesitant, but Firekeeper thought she was pleased.Only Sir Dirkinmaintained a face of wooden impassivity.Feeling as if she was stalking some elusive prey, Firekeeper curled herfingers in Blind Seer s ruff, awaiting developments.King Tedric asked,  Are you certain about this, Firekeeper? Your youngwisdom could be guided by advisors until it grew.I would appoint such andmany others would offer their wisdom unasked.This was Earl Kestrel s vision voiced.Still Firekeeper must shake herhead. I am a wolf.Perhaps two-legged kind take leadership before they canlead, but for a wolf that is folly and such folly is death not just for the wolfbut often for all the pack.Now King Tedric smiled a sour smile. Would that all my nieces andnephews were raised wolves, Firekeeper.All they think of is the honor andthe power, not the responsibility.That is why I must meet this AllisterSeagleam.My father laid the foundation for his birth.I must see the structurethat has risen on that foundation before I reject it entirely.As Firekeeper struggled to follow the king s imagery, she realized that herafternoons in the gardens with Holly had taught her a great deal.Throughthem, she had come to understand the hidden preparation that rested beneathso many human endeavors.It was a different way of living from the season-structured roaming of the pack, yet a valid one for frail humankind.King Tedric continued,  Yet even as I follow this course, I must befaithful to my own responsibilities.Queen Elexa can reign in my absence, buteven with her firmly in charge I cannot leave the relative safety of this castlewithout naming my heir. Who? Firekeeper asked, wondering which of the many will finallybecome the One.The old man bared yellow teeth in an expression that reminded her verymuch of a wolf and answered with a question: Can you read, Firekeeper? No. She shrugged. Derian tries, but the black marks on the page won ttalk to me. Or, laughed Queen Elexa, her thin elderly voice heard for the first timein a great while,  you will not speak with them.That is closer to the truth as Ihave heard it from Aurella Wellward.Firekeeper stared at the queen, her eyes round with indignantastonishment. How she speak of me? I have not spoken three words withher! But her daughter is your friend, the queen replied. Every scrap ofinformation about you, my dear, has been gathered and traded, shared andtwisted every which way.You do not think we have left you to go your wayunnoticed, do you?Actually, this was what Firekeeper had believed, for ever since the kinghad granted her freedom of the castle she had felt herself unimpeded but forthe ever-watchful presence of Derian.If anything, outside of the small circleof friends she had been able to cultivate, she had felt herself slighted.QueenElexa s words revealed a spiderweb of human chatter as complex and usefulas birdsong in a spring woodland.Before she had time to contemplate this further, King Tedric wasspeaking: Although you do not read, you seem to understand the idea of readingthat the black marks on the page talk with the voice of the writer. I do. Then this is my intention.Before I leave, I will write the name of myheir on a special document called a will.Two copies shall be made.One willtravel with me.The other will be sealed and locked away, to be opened onlyif I die.If I do not, then I am free to change what is written.If not, I havefulfilled my responsibility. How, Firekeeper asked, tentative before these mysteries,  will theyknow one piece of paper from another? The marks of writing are distinct from person to person, Tedric said.Like scents on a trail, Firekeeper thought.All deer smell like deer, but onedeer smells more like itself than it does like all others. Furthermore, both copies of my will and the boxes into which they shallbe locked will be impressed with my personal seal.No other will be able toforge those marks. I understand, Firekeeper said, having seen similar arrangements on thedocuments that Duchess Kestrel sent to her son. Why not just tell beforeyou go? For two reasons, the king replied. One is that I may decide that AllisterSeagleam is the best person to be king after me.If I publicly designate oneperson as my heir, then renounce him or her for no reason other than I havefound another I think would be better, I may create a feud between factions. But better is better! Not all see this as simply as you do, the king said sadly. And they aremore correct than you are.Rulership of humans takes more than strength andwisdom.Sometimes it takes more uncertain qualities like charisma orpolitical allies. If you say, she agreed. I do.Momentarily, the king looked so stern that Firekeeper had to resist theimpulse to lick the underside of his jaw and beg forgiveness.Then hecontinued: The other reason for not naming my heir openly is that I will create adanger for myself. Why? Once I name my heir, I become a danger to that heir because I couldchange my mind and name another.The heir personally might not fear mychanging my mind, but there would be others who would think it wisest toend my life before I could select a rival [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]