"Phyllis Eisenstein - Elementals 02 - The Crystal Palace" - читать интересную книгу автора (Eisenstein Phyllis)

Sepwin opened the other eye and focused them both on Cray. тАЬYou donтАЩt know your own mind. You
amass knowledge, but it doesnтАЩt please you. You feel a lack.тАЭ

Cray covered SepwinтАЩs hand with his own, trying to soothe the stiffness he felt there. тАЬDo you speak as
a friend, or as a Seer?тАЭ

тАЬBoth. I see it in your face, and I see it in your heart. The mirror is for you, Cray. You must look into it
and find your heartтАЩs desire.тАЭ

Cray shook his head. тАЬNot I. I know what I wantтАФto hone my skills and be the best sorcerer that I can.
If I do feel some lack, it is that so much knowledge still remains beyond me.тАЭ

тАЬNo. Something else. Something more important than sorcery.тАЭ

CrayтАЩs hand tightened on SepwinтАЩs. тАЬWhere is your pool, Seer? Where is the source of your power that
you can see so deep inside me? We have no water here for you to run your fingers through.тАЭ

тАЬI donтАЩt need it to read you, Cray. I know you almost as I know myself, and as I am content, I know
that you are not, no matter what you say.тАЭ

Cray looked up at the tree, whose dappled shade spread over them. Then he shrugged. тАЬPerhaps you
are right, Feldar.тАЭ He reached out to snap a leaf off the lowest bough. тАЬYou see this? I made it, this thing
of green and gold. I practice a new form of sorcery here, and with every attempt, I find some small
im-provement in myself.тАЭ He tossed the leaf aside. тАЬNo, I am not content, my dear friend. But I do find
some pleasure in expanding my knowledge. And that, I think, is as much of my heartтАЩs desire as I will
ever have. Come, look here.тАЭ
 As Sepwin eased into a sitting position, Cray stood to pull a branch close and show him the new growth
upon it. From the size of a pearl, the bud had devel-oped till it was as large as a manтАЩs fist. It had the
form of a tightly closed daffodil, petals squashed snugly into the bell of the trumpet. What showed above
its calyx was burnished gold.

тАЬWill you call Mother?тАЭ Cray said to Gildrum. тАЬToday is as good as any for what I wish to show.тАЭ

Gildrum smiled, and then his human shape melted into fire and soared up to DelivevтАЩs tower workroom.
In a few moments he returned to the garden, human once more, with her on his arm.

тАЬGood morning, Feldar,тАЭ she said. тАЬItтАЩs good to see you again.тАЭ And to Cray: тАЬYou wished to show me
something, my son?тАЭ

He touched the unopened blossom. тАЬThis is for you, Mother, if it turns out as I hope.тАЭ With his two
hands spread, he traced an invisible sphere about the bloom, concentrating all his power, all his
knowledge in that small space. Between his palms, the petals twitched once, twice, as if some creature
were trapped within them, trying to escape. Then, they unfurled with a sound like the thinnest metal foil
crinkling, and the flower showed itself to be a daffodil of polished yellow gold, a delicate, ruff-encircled
trumpet as large as a wine goblet.

тАЬOh, how lovely,тАЭ said Delivev. тАЬSee how it shines in the sunlight. Will it close at night, Cray, like the
other flowers?тАЭ