"Eisenstein,.Phyllis.-.Elementals.2.-.1988.-.Crystal.Palace" - читать интересную книгу автора (Eisenstein Phyllis)

want him to look into the Mirror of HeartТs Desire, so long he ignored it; but
once his friend could pass the velvet drapery without glancing at it
meaningfully, CrayТs interest began to revive. He found the mirror invading his
dreams, where once again he saw the metal fog settling on the web-covered wooden
frame, the Air demon polishing that curving surface, and the glitter that
resulted, the empty glitter. In his deepest slumber, the mirror seemed to call
to him, and often he awoke then, to toss fitfully and wonder if he should
answer.
In eight years, hundreds of men and women had looked into the mirror. Nearly all
of them reported seeing something. Why, Cray thought, should he be one of the
few denied a vision? What quality did he lack that the mirror withheld its boon?
Eight years.
It was long enough.
On his next visit to the cave, he waited until Sepwin and the lady Helaine were
busy preparing a meal, and on the pretext of fetching flowers for the table, he
slipped away from them.
The mirror chamber was large and high-ceilinged, and the black velvet curtain
appeared to lie flush against its farther wall. Only when the drapery was drawn
aside did the alcove that lay behind become visible, a shallow space where the
Mirror of HeartТs Desire hung between two empty brass sconces. Cray took a pair
of torches from the roomТs entrance and set them in the sconces, and their light
made the mirror glitter as in his dreams.
In the curtain, at about the height of CrayТs eyes, was a slit as wide as his
hand and two fingers high. That was the precise place from which supplicants
always looked at the mirror, from which they sawЧwhat? Cray let the curtain drop
between himself and that glittering surface, and he looked, wondering.
For a moment, the torches dazzled his eyes. Then he focused on the mirror, and
saw the image, clear and sharp as a reflection in a still pond. But it was not a
reflection. No.
Mirror of HeartТs Desire, he thought, what have you given me?
The still and silent likeness of a six-year-old child.
Chapter 3
When he tore his eyes away from the mirror at last, he found Sepwin standing
beside him, a silent question on his face. Cray nodded slowly. УI saw
something.Ф And then he shook his head. УBut it seems a very peculiar heartТs
desire.Ф
Sepwin frowned. УPerhaps if you could describe it to me ... ?Ф
УIt was a child.Ф He turned back to the slit, and the image had not changed. УA
little girl, perhaps six years old, rather pretty, though her face is dirty.
Dark hair, very large eyes. Plainly dressed. A peasant child, IТd guess.Ф
УKeep looking,Ф said Sepwin, touching the back of CrayТs neck with the flat of
one hand. УFill your mind with her image.Ф
УWhat are you doing?Ф
УTrying to feel her through you, to locate her.Ф
УThereТs no need for that.Ф
УOf course there is. You must go to her.Ф
Cray turned to stare at his friend. УGo to her? Why?Ф
УSheТs in the mirror; isnТt that a good enough reason?Ф
УFeldar, donТt talk nonsense. SheТs just a child, a baby.Ф
УEven so. If you go to her, you will surely find out why the mirror shows her to