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

тАЬIt will not be easy, my lord.тАЭ

тАЬSo I suspect. Still.тАЭ

Regneniel arched its neck, swanlike, raising its head to the level of EverandтАЩs knees. тАЬThis sorcerer
knows when demons are loosed by their masterтАЩs deaths, and also when new ones are born. He is
always ready, it seems, with rings to conjure them and set them free. You could not be quick enough to
snatch them from him, my lord, not even with my help. Therefore, if you wish another slave, you must
prevent him from practicing his art.тАЭ

Everand stared down at. the beak that poised, mo-tionless, before him. тАЬPrevent? You mean ... kill
him?тАЭ

тАЬThat would be the surest way.тАЭ

Everand looked up to the jagged battlements of his citadel, to the ruined towers and the crumbled walls.
He shook his head. тАЬIn a contest with another sor-cerer,IтАЩd be the one more likely to die.тАЭ He lowered
his gaze to the demon once more. тАЬTell me, slaveтАФwhy has no other demon-conjurer killed him already?
Surely his work does harm to all of them. Or is he so very powerful that they dare not try?тАЭ

тАЬMy lord, they cannot touch him. They donтАЩt know who he is.тАЭ

EverandтАЩs eyebrows showed his disbelief. тАЬHow is that possible? They have only to ask their slaves for
his name.тАЭ

тАЬMy lord, his identity is the great secret of the demon worlds. Those he has freed never reveal it to those
still enslaved. All I know of him is that he exists, and he is a man.тАЭ

тАЬNo more than that?тАЭ
The beaked head wagged in a very human fashion. тАЬNo, my lord.тАЭ

EverandтАЩs lips tightened for a moment. тАЬNot easy,тАЭ he whispered. тАЬNot easy.тАЭ His hands curled into fists
at his sides. тАЬHear me, my icy slave. This is my commandтАФthat if ever you should encounter the
slight-est hint of his identity, you will inform me immediately. I hope that is clear, Regneniel.тАЭ

тАЬQuite clear, my lord. I am not the first demon to be given those instructions.тАЭ

тАЬNo, I wouldnтАЩt think so.тАЭ He looked down to the bare ground of the courtyard. Here, and for a narrow
space about the castle walls, Regneniel had frozen the earth with its icy breath, frozen grass and shrubs
and trees, frozen even unsprouted seeds to death. Regneniel was a destroyer; its breath on the walls
would make stone fracture and mortar crumble until even the wretched ruins that now stood fell to dust.
The only structure such a demon could build would be of ice, a frigid dwelling whose master would be
forced to live in furs summer and winter alike. Everand needed Fire demons to make him a proper castle,
to fulfill all his deepest desires. He glanced sidelong at the spark that had bloomed to his bidding. With a
nod, he snuffed it and stood in the darkness, a greater darkness growing in his heart. Three lifetimes of
study had yielded so little! He raised his eyes to the castleтАЩs single standing tower, its outline barely visible
against the starry sky. He lifted a hand toward it, and pale St. ElmoтАЩs fire leaped from its crenelations,
slid down to the lower battlements, and flickered across the ruined walls till the whole perimeter of the
citadel was crowned with simmering light.