"Sorcerer's Son" - читать интересную книгу автора (Phyllis Eisenstein)

тАЬHow do spiderwebs satisfy your needs?тАЭ

тАЬIn many ways. You shall see one of them shortly. Come, sit down; you must be

exhausted from that walk.тАЭ

тАЬSomewhat exhausted,тАЭ he said.

The center of the room was occupied by a wide bed with thick velvet coverlet and mounds of cushions. Delivev seated Gildrum and herself upon it, and all around them the webs formed gossamer curtains. She pointed out one of the spiders, a tiny black creature sitting in the center of a web. At a gesture from its mistress, it scurried down a strand to spin a patch in a large open section of the net.

тАЬBreezes sometimes break the silk,тАЭ said Delivev, тАЬor a bird or a snake will wander in here.тАЭ

тАЬWhy donтАЩt you close off the room, then, and seal the window?тАЭ

тАЬHow would insects enter if I did that? My spiders have to eat, Mellor.тАЭ She pressed him back against the cushions. тАЬRelax now, and watch that web.тАЭ She pointed to a fairly symmetrical segment of the drapery, eight strands radiating from a central point, joined by a myriad of closely spaced concentric rings. She stretched her hand out toward it, fingers splayed, palm parallel to the flat of the web, though many feet from it. Her hand moved slowly in a circular pattern, as if wiping a vertical surface with an invisible cloth.

The center of the web became hazy, the strands blurring together into a uniform gray sheen, and upon that sheen dim shapes began to coalesce. As from a great distance, voices sounded in the web-draped room, then words, indistinct at first but growing clearer, as if the speakers approached. The dun shapes turned into men, and their lips moved to match their voices. Gildrum and Delivev viewed a scene in the main hall of some castle as they would see through a window into the courtyard of Castle Spinweb.

тАЬPay no attention to their conversation,тАЭ said Delivev. тАЬThose two never discuss anything interesting. But there in the backтАФтАЭ One slim finger pointed to the left side of the scene. тАЬThere is the troubadour who is spending this season at the Castle of Three Towers. He will sing soon; it is almost time for dinner there.тАЭ

тАЬHow are we seeing him?тАЭ asked Gildrum.

тАЬThere is a spiderweb on the wall beside the fireplace. The scullery maid cleans it off occasionally, but the spider keeps spinning afresh. It is a very industrious spider. The troubadour doesnтАЩt know that it hides in his pack every time he travels to a new castle.тАЭ

тАЬWe are seeing this through that spiderweb?тАЭ

тАЬYes. And hearing, too. Ah, listen now; he is really quite a good singer.тАЭ She leaned back on the cushions beside him and closed her eyes for the music. тАЬYou see,тАЭ she said between songs, тАЬI am not so isolated as you thought.тАЭ

тАЬCan you see anywhere in the world?тАЭ

тАЬOh, there are limits. I must know where to look, I must be interested in looking there. I know of many places that I could look, but I wouldnтАЩt want to bother. There must be spiders, of course. I will never see the kitchens of certain very cleanly cooks because they donтАЩt give spiders a chance to spin more than a strand or two before they kill them.

My curiosity is not piqued by such kitchens. And then there are the homes of other sorcerersтАФwe respect each othersтАЩ privacy, although I could look in on them if I wished to be rude.тАЬ

тАЬI canтАЩt imagine you being rude, my lady.тАЭ

тАЬSsh. He sings again.тАЭ He sang of love, as he had before, most plaintively. тАЬI will weave a tapestry for that song someday,тАЭ she murmured. тАЬI see it as red and gold and brownтАФ

autumn colors.тАЭ

тАЬAnd send it to him?тАЭ

тАЬSend it? Why should I? What would he do with it, a troubadour? Carry it on his shoulder from castle to castle?тАЭ

тАЬGive it to someone, I suppose, to display for him. To insure that his memory outlives him.тАЭ

тАЬI shall remember him after he is dead. I donтАЩt care beyond that.тАЭ She propped herself up on one elbow. тАЬThere are others, some better even than he.тАЭ

тАЬYou have spiders traveling with them, too?тАЭ