"Anthony, Piers - Adept - 06 - Unicorn Point" - читать интересную книгу автора (Anthony Piers)

Stile

Stile took the Lady Blue in his arms. "Thou dost know what
we are about," he said.

The Lady was fifty years old now, and her face was lined,
but she remained beautiful to him. Her hair still fell to her
waist, fair but seeming tinted with blue because of her blue
gown and slippers. She stood slightly taller than he, because
of his diminutive stature; it had never been an issue between
them.

After a pause, she murmured, "I know, my love."
"I will return in a few days," he continued gravely. "Thou
shallst have company."
"True." But there was a tear on her cheek.
He kissed her, then went outside the castle. There was
Neysa, her head turning white, her socks falling down about
her hooves but her hide glossy black between, and her mus-
cles still firm. She remained a fine figure of a unicorn; as her
kind put it, her hom retained its point. Stile mounted her
bareback, and she trotted across the drawbridge over the moat.

Neysa paused without being asked, so that Stile could turn
and wave to the castle. A blue kerchief waved back from the

2 | Piers Anthony

window. Stile felt a pang, because all three of them knew
that much more was afoot than this simple excursion.

Then Neysa turned away, and trotted from the Blue De-
mesnes. They were on their way.

"We have time," Stile remarked, reverting to the dialect
of his origin, as he tended to do when alone with her. "Let's
take the scenic route."

Neysa played an affirmative note on her horn, and bore
west. Stile, reminded by the sound, which resembled that of
a harmonica, brought out his own harmonica and began to
play. In a moment Neysa joined in, and they played a duet,
as they had in the old days when both were young. The music
was pretty, and there was an enhancement around them, be-
cause music summoned Stile's magic. He seldom used it these
days, because a given spell could be invoked only once, and
he preferred not to waste any. Magic, even for an Adept, was
often the last resort. But it was all right to summon die am-
bience without drawing on it.