"L. Warren Douglas - The Veil of Years 3 - Isle Beyond Time" - читать интересную книгу автора (Douglas L Warren)

"You will. But he must not see you. I brought you here to refresh your memory, not to make sheep's
eyes with him. Come. We'll land on the parapet of the inner courtyard."

Puzzled and disappointed, Pierrette acquiesced. They glided down on silent wings, onto the painted tiles.
Below, a fountain bubbled and splashed, its ripples blurring the shapes on the pool's bottomтАФsleek
dolphins and sinuous octopi portrayed in obsidian, jasper, and cobalt glass.

She had glimpsed a crowd in the outer court, colorfully dressed merchants, plain farmers, and
white-robed temple acolytes all kneeling, their foreheads against the smooth cobbled pavement. Before
them stood a man with the head of a great horned bull. Its eyes were rubies set in ivory, the horns leafed
in gold, and from its nostrils gushed the smoke of sweet incense. Minos-tauros. The Bull of Minos, the
high priest.

Now the taurine man emerged in the smaller, more intimate courtyard, letting the bronze door swing shut
behind him. He tossed his white robe aside with a relieved sigh, and lifted the hollow horned head from
his shoulders.

Minho. His hair was glossy black, oiled and curled in the Cretan style of an ancient age. He was clad
only in a black kilt, cut longer in back than in front. When he stretched, athlete's muscles rippled beneath
bronzed skin. He eased himself onto a heap of cushions set beside the splashing water, his forehead
beaded with sweat from the heat inside the bull's-head mask. He wiped droplets from his raptorial nose,
and let tired eyelids droop over dark, warm, penetrating eyes.

Pierrette's seagull heart altered its rhythm. An anxious rustle ofMa 's feathers warned her not to reveal
herself.
 "Come," said the goddess. She leaped into the air and coasted away from the wall, so the sound of
flapping wings would not disturb the king's slumber.
***

Pierrette opened deep blue, altogether-human eyes, and saw the cool shadows of beech branches
reflected in the sacred pool.

"Will you remember everything you have seen?" asked the goddess, again a crone in worn, frayed wool.

"How could I forget?"

"People remember what they think serves them, and forget the rest. You must remember, because your
task is to find that place, and that man."

"I can find him anytime. We've just been there."

"That was a vision. Here you are fleshтАФhuman, not an ephemeral gull. You must go there not on magical
wings, but on your own feet. You must find the Theran king, and then . . ."

"I don't know how to reach the Fortunate Isles, except through the Otherworld, where we are now.
Where we always meet."

"You may seek them however you wishтАФbut when you set foot on Minho's soil, it must be in the real
world, and you in the flesh. That is your task. Find the Isles and their king, and then . . ."