"Anthony, Piers - Adept - 02 - Blue Adept" - читать интересную книгу автора (Anthony Piers)

though he had not terminated them.

The Stallion snorted. Clip and Neysa hastily spun about
and retreated to the rim. Stile sprang to the ground before
the Stallion. Stile was now fully solid and visible.

The Stallion shifted to man-form. He was huge and
muscular, though not to Hulk's extent. He had a short
horn in his forehead. "Welcome to the Herd Demesnes, 0
Blue Adept," he said. "To what do I owe the dubious
pleasure of this encounter?"

Blue Adept 13

So the closing of the unicorn circle nullified even the
spells of an Adept! Stile's magic could prevail over a single
unicorn, but not over the full herdЧexcept in special
cases. Of course his two spells were now a day old and
must have weakened with time and use, since no spell was
eternal. Still, the effect was worth noting. Stile was not in
danger from hostile magic here, because the unicorn ring
would also nullify the spells of any enemy Adept. He re-
tained the basic privacy of his mission. "A greeting, Stal-
lion. I come to negotiate."

The man-Stallion put three fingers to his mouth and
blew another chord that still sounded like an accordion.
Two unicorns trotted in, supporting a structure on their
horns. They set it down and retreated. It was a table fash-
ioned of old unicorn horns, with attached seats. It was
surely far more valuable than ivory, for much of the magic
of unicorns was associated with their horns.

The Stallion sat, gesturing Stile to do the same. "What
has an Adept to negotiate with a simple animal like me?"

Stile realized this was not going to be easy. The Herd
Stallion was not partial to him, since Stile had embarrassed
the creature in the course of their first encounter. He
would have to explain carefully. "Thou knowest I was
murdered not long ago."

"Thou hast no need to negotiate for recognition of thy
status or right to thy Demesnes," the Stallion said, sur-
prised. "We honor the way that is. Only this herd and
Kurrelgyre's werewolf pack know thou art not the original
Adept. We accept thee in lieu, since thy magic is equivalent
and thou'rt a being of integrity, as are we. No news of thy
condition has escaped the herd."