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

тАЬThatтАЩs a simple matter. My old master gave me a horseтАЩs form so he could roam the world in disguise.
As a talking and untiring horse, I am at your service.тАЭ

Sepwin shook his head. тАЬI wouldnтАЩt want to keep you in the human realm so long. The journey is a long
one.тАЭ

Elrelet chuckled softly. тАЬI donтАЩt mind the human realm, as long as IтАЩm visiting it of my own free will.тАЭ For
the meal, the demon had assumed a vaguely man-like shape, with torso and limbs of puffy white and a
blob of a head with a large mouth but no eyes, nose or ears. Now it settled to the ground, all four limbs
straight beneath it, the torso arching. The insubstantial-looking cloud solidified, smoothed out, became
sleek and graceful. The horse that had been Elrelet tossed its white-maned head, and a pale leather
saddle took form from the powerful muscles of its back.

Sepwin stood and bowed awkwardly to Delivev. тАЬPerhaps youтАЩll give me some provisions for the trip,
my lady ... ?тАЭ

Her smile was puzzled. тАЬYouтАЩre not going this very moment, are you, Feldar?тАЭ

He glanced sidelong at Cray. тАЬI donтАЩt know. Per-haps youтАЩre all weary of me ... and my foibles.тАЭ

Demon and human alike, they turned to Cray at that, waiting for him to pass judgment on his friend. For
just a moment, his lips made a thin, exasperated line; then he shook his head and rose to clap Sepwin on
the back. тАЬOf course youтАЩll stay. Do you think I brought you all this way to have you leave in less than a
day?тАЭ

Sepwin hesitated, looking into CrayтАЩs face, and then his mouth curved into a slow smile. тАЬIt does seem
an inefficient use of time.тАЭ
 тАЬOf course it is. Elrelet can take you home a week hence as easily as now. ThereтАЩs a game of chance
IтАЩve been wanting to try with you, one I observed in the webs some time ago, very popular in the south,
and I was wondering if your powers as a Seer might have some effect on the outcome ... тАЭ

Sepwin stayed the week, and in that time he did not speak of the mirror again.

* * *

The fame of the Mirror of HeartтАЩs Desire spread far during the next few years. Kings and commoners
came to look into it. The young, the old, the wandering, the people wanting to be told what to do with
their lives, where to go, who to serve-all the folk who did not know their own minds came to the mirror.
In it they saw objects, places, people, or they saw themselves in strange surroundings, doing unfamiliar
things. And the Seers stood by, Sepwin and the lady Helaine, to tell them, if they asked, what those
visions meant.

But though he visited the SeersтАЩ cave often in those years, and though he passed the velvet drapery that
hid the mirror a dozen dozen times, Cray did not look, no matter how obliquely Sepwin suggested it.



Chapter 2
Atop the only remaining tower of a ruined castle, a gaunt, pale-bearded man raised his arms in