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

CHAPTER ONE
Behind his walls of demon-polished bronze, behind his windows so closely shuttered with copper scales that no sunlight penetrated, Smada Rezhyk brooded over a leaf. It was a bit of ivy, small enough to fit within the palm of his hand, and written upon it in letters spun of gray spidersilk was the single word, "No." A snake had deposited the leaf at the gate of Rezhyk's castle, and he needed no signature upon the smooth green surface to tell him who had sent the message.
His footsteps rang against the floorЧstudded boots upon the mirror-bright metalЧas he strode to the workshop, to the brazier that had never cooled since the instant Castle Ringforge had been completed. His band passed above the flames, let go the leaf, which danced briefly in the upwelling heat until the fire caught it, curled it, shriveled it to ash. In the flickering light, the jewels upon his fingers sparkled, the plainer bands gleamed warm; each ring was a demon at his commandЧa demon of fire, a demon to build or destroy at his whim. He tallied them slowly, his only friends in the universe. Then he summoned one, the first and best of them all, faithful companion since his youth; the simplest ring, red gold, was inscribed with that demon's secret name: Gildrum.
From some other part of Ringforge, Gildrum came in human guise, entering by the door as a human would. In appearance, the demon was a fourteen-year-old girl, slight and pretty, with long blond braids. Rezhyk had given her that semblance when they were
both young, and only he had changed with the passage of the years. He kept her near him most of the time and spoke his heart to her. She climbed atop a high stool by the brazier and waited for him to begin the conversation.
He was toying with glassware, with notebooks and pens and ink. He had not yet glanced up at her when he said, "She refused me."
In a high, fluty voice, Gildrum said, "Please accept my sympathy, lord.*'
"She refused me, Gildrum!" He turned to face the demon-girl, lines of anger set around his mouth. "I made her an honorable offer!" "You did, my lord."
"Am I ugly? Are my manners churlish? Is my home unfit for such as she?" "None of that, my lord.**
"What have I done, then? How have I offended her? When? Where?"
uMy lord," said Gildrum, "I do not profess to understand humans completely, but perhaps she is merely disinclined to marry anyone.9'
"You are too soft, my Gildrum." He leaned on a stack of notebooks, forehead braced against his interlaced fingers. "She hates me, I know it. It was a cold reply, brought by a cold creature. She meant to wound me.**
"And ha* succeeded."
"For a moment only! Now I know my enemy. We most take precautions, my Gildrum, to make certain shл never can wound me again."
The demon shrugged. "Never again ask her to marry you.*'
"Not enough! Who knows what evil she fancies I have done her? I must protect myself."
"I would think you are well protected in Ringforge." "How?" He clutched a length of his dark cape in both fists, "I wear woven cloth; she could turn my very clothes against me." "Inside your own castle?"
"Am I never to set foot outside again, then? Must I wear plate armor every time I walk abroad? Or felted garments hung together with bolts and glue? She rules
too much, her hand is everywhere. What can I do, Gildrum?*'
She smiled. "A fire demon could keep you warm enough if your vanity would permit you to walk the world naked, my lord."
"A sorcerer naked as a beggar? Hardly!"
"A beggar would not wear rings of power on all his fingers. People would know your rank."
"Don't try my patience so, Gildrum."
'Then I must think a moment, lord.** Pursing her lips, crossing her arms over her bosom, she looked up at the ceiling. Just visible beneath the hem of her blue gown, her feet swung slow arcs between the legs of the stool, pendulums measuring the time of her thought "My lord," she said at last, "if you are truly concerned about some danger from the lady, then I would advise you to construct a cloth-of-gold shut, a fine mesh garment, supple enough to wear next to your skin. It must be made of virgin ring-metal, and you must draw and weave the strands yourself, without demonic help. Such a combination of your province and hers would be impervious to her spells and to any of your own that she might try to turn against you."
Rezhyk poked the coals in the brazier. "A fine notion, Gildrum, but what is to keep her from discovering that the shirt is being made long before I finish it? I am no weaver, after all; it would be a slow process."
"How will she discover ft? You will do it here in Ringforge."
"How does she discover anything? Every spider is her spy."
"Even here in your own castle?"
"Even my own castle is not proof against vermin. They come and go as they please." He glanced about nervously. "There are none here now, but they might get in at any time.**
"Well, then, you must do something about them. Post a watch of fire demons to burn every spider that approaches the outer wall."
"She will take that as an affront!"
Gildrum sighed. "Worse and worse. Perhaps if you just sent her a vase of flowers and begged her forgiveness ,..?**
Rezhyk paced a slow circle about the brazier. "H only we could arrange for her to take a long sea voyage, or to go into seclusion hi some distant cave for a while. How much time do you think the making of the shirt would require?"
"As yon said, you are no weaver. Perhaps a month. Perhaps two. No more than that, I think, if I show you exactly what to do.** She held up a hand to stop his pacing. "There is a way to weaken her powers for a month or two, my lord.**
"Yes?"
"If she conceived a chfld, the child*s aura would interfere with her own. She would be limited, severely limited."
"Enough... ?**
"Enough that she could hardly speak to a creature beyond her own castle walls."
Rezhyk shook his head. "She would abort the child. She would abort it as soon as she realized it existed. She could not allow that kind of vulnerability."
"A month or two, I said, my lord. Until she noticed the pregnancy. Until she noticed the curtailing of her powers.*'
"She might notice immediately.**
Gildrum spread her hands, palms upward. "I have no other suggestions."
"We would have to work quickly. A month is too long. Could I do it in a week?**
"Working night and day, my lord, working with perfect efficiency, you might possibly do it in a week. At the end, you would be exhausted."
"I have no choice." He opened the drawer where he kept his stock of ring-metal. Gold lay within, and silver, copper, ironЧwooden boxes held chips and chunks of each, surplus from old rings, and a few small ingots. "I have a gold bar, never used. Will that be enough?"
"Yes."
He hefted the bar in one hand. 'This will be a heavy garment."
"You will grow strong wearing it"
He set the mefel on his workbench. "We have only
one problem, my Gildrum.** He glanced up at her. "How to bring about this pregnancy."