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

could not keep himself from thinking of them.
One afternoon, he found himself alone by the SeersТ dark pool. In the kitchen,
Sepwin was cleaning the breakfast dishes, and outside, the lady Helaine was
watching for the arrival of her next supplicant; neither of them needed him. The
cave was very quiet, as quiet as the darkest part of the night. For a time Cray
trailed his fingers in the water, watching the ripples break up the reflection
of his face. Here was an ordiнnary mirror, he thought, offering no enigmas, just
uncluttered reality. Only for a Seer could it be more, not for him. He wiped his
hand on his tunic and rose, stretching, thinking he would join Sepwin and dry a
dish or two. But his path took him past the chamber of the mirror, and he could
not help seeing the velvet curtain through its doorway. He paused then, alone,
staring at that curtain. He paused, and at last he took up a pair of torches to
hang beside the mirror, and he looked.
The image had changed.
The child had grown. She was taller, slimmer, less babyish, and her hair that
had been a short, dark tangle now fell past her shoulders in two smooth braids.
Her face was clean, and her dress was of finer stuff. Only the gray and
shapeless toy clutched in her hand had not changed. Behind her, the lozenge was
gone, leaving the wall featureless and cloudy white.
УFeldar!Ф he shouted.
Sepwin came at a run, wiping his hands on his apron. УIs something wrong?Ф Then
he saw that Cray was at the curtain.
УSheТs different,Ф Cray told him. УOlder.Ф
УWell, she would be, after five years.Ф
Cray frowned at the image. УWho is she, Feldar? And where?Ф
УAh,Ф murmured Sepwin. УSo it isnТt nonsense anymore.Ф But when he laid his
hands on CrayТs head, he found no more answers than before.
УThis is so strange,Ф Cray said. УI feel almost as though IТm looking at some
ancient tapestry, seeing a scene that was real sometime, for someone, but not
for me. Feldar, I donТt understand why the mirror is showing me this person from
nowhere!Ф
Sepwin studied his friendТs profile for a time, and then he said, УI think you
donТt understand because you donТt wish to.Ф And he left Cray looking, still
looking, into the mirror.
Every year after that, Cray went to the mirror at least once. In a series of
still and silent portraits, he watched the child grow, watched her face and
limbs lose their baby fat and become slender, even angular, watched her carry
the same stuffed animal year after year. And all through that time Sepwin could
not feel a hint of where she might be, nor could Cray guess, from any background
in the vision. She seemed to live in a place filled with light, yet it was
neither sunlight nor torchlight but some whiter radiance, almost blue-white. And
when that cloudy wall was not behind her, then there was no background at all,
just pale, feaнtureless haze.
УShe must serve a sorcerer,Ф Cray said one time. УOnly a sorcererТs walls could
hide her from you so completely.Ф
Sepwin shook his head. УMy bond with you is too strong for that. I would know at
least where those walls lay. But I have been thinking ... Ф He hesiнtated.
УPerhaps ... she is a demon.Ф
Cray looked at him sharply.
УDemons are beyond me,Ф Sepwin said. УA Seer can only deal with things of the