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

yet could not act. They had been lovers, and she remained,
in girl-form, the nicest and prettiest girl he knew, and he
was not turned off by the knowledge that she was in fact a
unicorn. But their relationship had changed when he met
the Lady Blue. He found himself not constitutionally
geared to have more than one lover at a time in a given
frame. The irony was that he did not have the Lady Blue
as lover or anything else, though he wanted everything else.
If companionship, loyalty, and yes, sex sufficed, Neysa was

his resource.

And there it was. His aspirations had made a dimen-
sional expansion. He was not certain that he could ever
have all of what he wanted, yet he had to proceed as if it
were possible. And he had to explain this to Neysa without

hurting her feelings.

"What we had before was good," he said. "But now I

must look forward to a female of mine own kind, ]ust as
thou must look forward to the breeding and foal that only
a male of thine own kind can give thee. Our friendship
endures, for it is greater than this; it has merely changed its
nature. Had we any continuing sexual claim on each other,
it would complicate my friendship to thy foal, when it
comes, or thine to my baby, if ever it comes."

Neysa looked startled. It was almost as if her human
ears perked forward. She had not thought of this aspect.
To her, friendship had been merely a complete trusting
and giving, uncomplicated by interacting relationships of
others. Stile hoped she was able to understand and accept

the new reality.

Then she leaned forward to kiss him again, locating him

with uncanny accuracyЧor was his spell weakening?Чand

Blue Adept 19

as their lips touched, she shifted back to equine form. Stile
found himself kissing the unicorn. He threw his arms
about her neck and yanked at her lustrous black mane,
laughing.

Then he mounted, hugged her again, and rode on. It was