"Anthony, Piers - Incarnations 04 - Wielding A Red Sword" - читать интересную книгу автора (Anthony Piers)

fully, then did the same for her genital region. Then he
snapped his fingers at her ear, waking her from her trance.

She shuddered, then resumed her breathing. Her eyes
opened. "You do such a good job," she said. "With you,
there's never any smarting, no bad patches. I'm com-
pletely clean." She leaned forward and kissed him. She
put her arms around his neck, set her face into his shoul-
der, and sobbed for a moment. Then she lifted her face.
"Thank you. I am back from the abyss. This, too, is very
fast with you."

Mym nodded. The act, spectacular as it was, was not
accomplished without cost. Pythia risked death, and the
trance that stopped her breathing was halfway to death;

though she had been through it many times, each time she
knew it could be the last, and each successful recovery
was a profound relief. Most others, even in the group,
were not aware of the full nature of the experience she
undertook.

"Should you ever need me, you won't even need to
ask," she said. "You are the best of men, Mym."

Had his heart not already been committed, he would
have taken her up on that. Yet Pythia's acceptance of him
was only a manifestation of the acceptance of the group.
He felt as good as he could remember.

It was the monsoon season, and daily the winds and

showers intensified. The master had a spell to ward off
rain during the actual show, but it was too valuable to
waste during travel, when there was no money to be
reaped. The dragon did not like getting wet, but was too
big to cover, so he was increasingly surly. Mym had a
good way with the animals, so had to be out cajoling the
monster forward, getting soaked himself.

Then one of the wheels on the mermaid's wagon got
mired in mud, and all other hands were committed, so
Mym went to take care of that. He used a pole to lever
it out, but got thoroughly muddied in the process. When
the wagon was finally clear, the others were far ahead.

The mermaid poked her head out of her tank. Naturally
the rain didn't bother her. "Come, ride with me, Mym,"
she called.