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

тАЬThey laugh at my sorcery,тАЭ he said in a low, tight voice. тАЬThey call it ... pitiful.тАЭ He looked down at the
demon, a pale ghost at his feet. тАЬYou are all I have, Regneniel. Now between us we must find another
way to gain power.тАЭ

The demon lowered its head to the ground. тАЬI donтАЩt know what to tell you, my lord,тАЭ it murmured. тАЬI am
only an Ice demon.тАЭ

Everand rubbed the diamond with the palm of his ringless hand. тАЬAll the knowledge of the human realm,
and more, can be found in the demon worlds. You and I shall pick over that knowledge, and we shall
find a way, Regneniel. They shall eat their laughter, my icy slave; they shall choke on it. Andhe ... тАЭ His
voice dropped to a harsh whisper. тАЬThis secret, nameless sorcerer. For what he has done to me ... he
shall die. Somehow. Someday.тАЭ

At his feet, Regneniel said, тАЬYou command me, my lord, and I obey.тАЭ

* * *

By nature, Cray was as curious as he was stubborn. As long as Sepwin seemed to want him to look into
the Mirror of HeartтАЩs Desire, so long he ignored it; but once his friend could pass the velvet drapery
without glancing at it meaningfully, CrayтАЩs interest began to revive. He found the mirror invading his
dreams, where once again he saw the metal fog settling on the web-covered wooden frame, the Air
demon polishing that curving surface, and the glitter that resulted, the empty glitter. In his deepest
slumber, the mirror seemed to call to him, and often he awoke then, to toss fitfully and wonder if he
should answer.

In eight years, hundreds of men and women had looked into the mirror. Nearly all of them reported
seeingsomething. Why, Cray thought, should he be one of the few denied a vision? What quality did he
lack that the mirror withheld its boon?

Eight years.
It was long enough.

On his next visit to the cave, he waited until Sepwin and the lady Helaine were busy preparing a meal,
and on the pretext of fetching flowers for the table, he slipped away from them.

The mirror chamber was large and high-ceilinged, and the black velvet curtain appeared to lie flush
against its farther wall. Only when the drapery was drawn aside did the alcove that lay behind become
visible, a shallow space where the Mirror of HeartтАЩs Desire hung between two empty brass sconces.
Cray took a pair of torches from the roomтАЩs entrance and set them in the sconces, and their light made
the mirror glitter as in his dreams.

In the curtain, at about the height of CrayтАЩs eyes, was a slit as wide as his hand and two fingers high.
That was the precise place from which supplicants always looked at the mirror, from which they
sawтАФwhat? Cray let the curtain drop between himself and that glittering surface, and he looked,
wondering.

For a moment, the torches dazzled his eyes. Then he focused on the mirror, and saw the image, clear
and sharp as a reflection in a still pond. But it was not a reflection. No.

Mirror of HeartтАЩs Desire,he thought,what have you given me?