"Douglass, Sara - Axis Trilogy 3 - Starman V.9" - читать интересную книгу автора (Douglass Sara)

Forget the ancient war,
For if Plough, Wing and Horn can't find
The bridge to understanding,
Then will Gorgrael earn his name
And bring Destruction hither.
StarMan, listen, heed me well,
Your power will destroy you
If you should wield it in the fray 'Ere these prophecies are met:
The Sentinels will walk abroad
'Til power corrupt their hearts;
A child will turn her head and cry
Revealing ancient arts;
A wife will hold in joy at night
The slayer of her husband;
Age-old souls, long in cribs,
Will sing o'er mortal land;
The remade dead, fat with child
Will birth abomination;
A darker power will prove to be
The father of salvation.
Then waters will release bright eyes To form the Rainbow Scepter.
StarMan, listen, for I know
That you can wield the scepter To bring Gorgrael to his knees And break the ice asunder.
But even with the power in hand Your pathway is not sure: A Traitor from within your camp
Will seek and plot to harm you;
Let not your Lover's pain distract For this will mean your death;
Destroyer's might lies in his hate Yet you must never follow;
Forgiveness is the thing assured
To save Tencendor's soul.


The Day of Power
It was a long day, the day Axis tried to kill Azhure, then married her. It was a day filled with power, and thus power found it easy to wrap and manipulate lives. The power of the Enchantress - untested and, for the moment, uncontrolled -had dominated the morning. Now, as the Enchantress smiled and kissed her new husband, it lay quiescent, waiting.
But as the gate that had imprisoned Azhure's power and identity had shattered that day, so had other gates shattered, and so other powers had moved - and not all of them welcomed by the Prophecy.
As the Enchantress leaned back from her husband, accepting the warmth and love of her friends and family about her, so power walked the land of Tencendor. It would be a long day.
Axis pulled the Enchantress' ring from a small secret pocket in his breeches. He held it up so that all in the room could see it, then he slid the ring onto the heart finger of Azhure's left hand. It fit perfectly, made only for this woman, and for this finger.
"Welcome into the House of the Stars to stand by my side, Enchantress. May we walk together forever."
"Forever?" the GateKeeper said. "You and the Enchantress? For ever? As you wish, StarMan, as you wish."
She laughed, then, from one of the bowls on the table before her she lifted out two balls and studied them.
"Foreve^" she muttered, and placed them with the group of seven sparkling balls at the front of her table. The Greater. "Nine. Complete. The Circle is complete*. At last... at last!"
She fell silent, deep in thought. Her fingers trembled. Already he had one child, and more to follow. And then...the other.
She held a hand over one of the bowls again, dipped it in sharply, and brought out four more balls. She dropped them into the pile of softly glowing golden balls which represented those who did not have to go through her Gate. The Lesser.
"Yet one morel" A spasm of pain crossed her face. Her hand lifted slowly, shaking, then she snarled and snatched a dull black ball from the pile of those who refused to go through her Gate.
She hissed, for the GateKeeper loathed releasing a soul without exacting fair price. "Does that satisfy your promise, WolfStar? Does it?"
She dropped it with the other four on the pile of the Lesser.
"Enough," she said in relief. "It is done. Enough."
Faraday tightened the girth on the donkey and checked the saddlebags and panniers. She did not carry much with her: the bowl of enchanted wood that the silver pelt had given her so long ago; the green gown that the Mother had presented to her; some extra blankets; a pair of sturdy boots should the weather break; and a few spare clothes.
It was not -much for a widowed Queen, thought Faraday, fighting to keep her emotions under control. Where the retainers? The gilded carriage and the caparisoned horses? The company of two white donkeys was paltry considering what she had done for Axis and for Tencendor - and what she would yet do.
Carriages and horses? What did she need with those? All she needed, all she wanted, was the love of a man who did not love her.
She thought about Azhure and Caelum, envying the woman yet sharing her joy in her son. Well, she thought, no matter. I am mother to forty-two thousand souls. Surely their birthing will give me pain and joy enough.