"Kate Forsyth - Eileanan 05 - The Skull Of The World" - читать интересную книгу автора (Forsyth Kate)

"It is beautiful. I wish that I could wear it proudly, saying to the world that I was your woman. But I
cannot." She pressed it back into his palm, smoothing back the silky black hair that hung down his
shoulders.

"Then I shall wear it!" Nila said. "So you shall know I am true."

"They will try and take it from you," Fand said in alarm. "It is provocative, wearing a black pearl like that!
They will think you have ambitions for the throne. Remember how your brother Haji was murdered. If
they do not challenge you in court, they will give you loreli fish to eat and you will die in agony like Haji
did. Or you will find sea-urchins in your bed like they say your father's elder brother did, or a sand
scorpion. Far better that you should offer the pearl to your father as a gift, though even that will be seen
as seeking favor. You should throw the pearl back into the sea, give it as an offering to Jor that we may
have fair weather for the swim back to the winter seas." She gave a little shudder, and Nila knew she
dreaded that long, exhausting swim when everyone else plunged and dived through the waves as
powerfully as the sea-stirks.

The prince looked down at the black pearl, weighing it in his hand. For a moment he was tempted to do
as she said and throw it back into the sleepy blue sea, but then he shook his head. "No," he said with
determination. "Jor himself led me to the pearl. I would never have found it had a tiger shark not tried to
have me for its supper. I was driven into that grotto, I was meant to find the black pearl. If you will not
wear it as a symbol of our love, I shallтАФand you shall know you are the queen of my heart."

She disregarded his sweeping declaration, clinging to his arm and begging him not to be a fool. All her
arguments only made him more determined. "I shall have a care, Fand, I swear to you. Besides, can you
not see into their hearts? You will warn me if they have evil designs."

Fand looked about her swiftly, and made a shushing noise. "Do you want the Priestesses of Jor to know
what I can do?" she hissed. "Nila, the summer seas have gone to your head like sea-squill wine! I would
rather be a slave than an acolyte of the priestesses. You must be more careful!"

Nila's expression sobered and he caught her to him. "I'm sorry," he whispered into her messy brown hair.
"You are right. I should be more careful. Come, let us get back to the pod before they start looking for
us and notice we are gone together."

Fand straightened her belt of seaweed and shells, and combed back her hair with her fingers. "I shall
walk back and you can swim in from the other direction," she said. "Nila, please, will you not give the sea
back the pearl? I can see only troubled waters ahead for us."

His lipless mouth set in a straight, hard line and he shook his head determinedly. "No, Jor himself led me
to the pearl. I shall not scorn his gift."

"Nila, you know I sometimes have the curse of future-seeing. I say again I see only storms and tidal
waves ahead" for us."

He laughed and swept his webbed hand out toward the sea, lying blue and still under a cloudless sun.
"Well, I see only calm waters, my love. You know I was born with the caul over my head and they say
that means I can never drown. Bring on the storms, I say!"