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

тАЬYourdesign?тАЭ Cray chuckled softly. тАЬFeldar, what do you know of spider magic?тАЭ

тАЬMore today than a week ago, I think.тАЭ His expres-sion became more serious. тАЬThree days ago I was
walking in the forest not far from here. And upon this one tree, spun among its branches, there was a
spi-derтАЩs web, just an ordinary one, but quite large. It was early morning, with dew everywhere, on every
leaf, every flower, and droplets of dew outlined the web. And even though it was so early, the sky was
clear and the sun was bright already, and the light made those dewdrops glitter like faceted diamonds.
And as I stood there, admiring the beauty of the web, the notion came to me that there was something
special here. Something very special.тАЭ An unfocused look had come into his eyes, as if instead of seeing
Cray within the magical web in his cave, he was seeing that other web in the forest again. тАЬI stood there
... quite a long while. Directing my skills toward it. I knew it would answer them somehow. All it needed
was ... myself, standing just so, thinking just so ... тАЭ He blinked and shook his head, and he was looking
at Cray once more. тАЬIt was a mirror, Cray, and it showed me myself.тАЭ

тАЬA mirror?тАЭ

тАЬYes. The angle of the light, the shape of the web, and myself standing in just the proper position made it
a mirror. But not like a mirror of polished metal. No. By the chance configuration of branches, by the
chance selection of anchor points by that spider, the web had the shape of a shallow cup with its mouth
toward me. The image of myself hung in the empty air within it, and vanished if I took one step to left or
right. And that image was not of Feldar Sepwin standing in the forest and gawking but of Feldar the Seer
sitting by the pool in this cave, his hand trailing in the water. I saw ... what can I call it? My essence. No,
more than that. My heartтАЩs desire.тАЭ

Cray said, тАЬYourself at home, doing what you usu-ally do, is your heartтАЩs desire?тАЭ
тАЬYes, exactly.тАЭ

тАЬAnd ... what do you want these special spiders to do for you?тАЭ

тАЬTo spin another such web in my cave.тАЭ

Cray frowned, puzzled. тАЬBut since you know your heartтАЩs desire, what future purpose could such a
mir-ror serve?тАЭ

тАЬIt would showanyone his heartтАЩs desire, CrayтАФanyone who stood in the proper place and looked
when the dew was fresh. I thought that here in the cave I could spray a fine mist of water on it whenever
I wanted to use it. IтАЩve made a form for the web, with the anchor points marked, as you can see ... тАЭ He
lifted a kind of openwork basket into view. It was as wide as his outstretched arms and made of thin
wooden hoops joined by struts into a shape that was not conical, not hemispherical, but somewhere in
between. White pigment marked nearly a hundred places upon the wood. As Cray looked at the thing
more closely, he realized that the hoops were actually one continu-ous spiral, deformed by the struts.

тАЬI see,тАЭ he said. тАЬBut I donтАЩt understand why anyone would be interested in looking into this mirror. Or
at any rate, in traveling any great distance to do so. I mean ... donтАЩt most people already know their
heartsтАЩ desires?тАЭ

Sepwin smiled slightly. тАЬI didnтАЩt know. When you met me, I thought all I wanted from life was a full belly
and a warm bed. But I really wantedthis, and I didnтАЩt even know it existed.тАЭ