"Furey,.Maggie.-.Artifacts.of.Power.4.-.Dhiammara" - читать интересную книгу автора (Furey Maggie)

gaping windows with their drifts of shattered crystal, the sense of desolation and
abandonmentЧthese sights were painful beyond all bearing. How will I ever build it up again? she
thought desperately. Where should 1 even start?
"WeЧyour Mortal friendsЧwould be more than happy to
Dhiammarz 9
assist you, my Lady, if help you need. It's a daunting task to be faced alone."
The Mage swung round with a gasp. Had the wretched man been reading her mind? "I need no help from
Mortals," she snarled. How dared he suggest that she was not capable of rebuilding her own home?
Vannor bowed low, but said nothing. Eilin let the silence stretch out between them until it became
a gaping chasm. The Mortal waited until the suspense stretched put to breaking point, but she
proudly refused to acknowledge him further.
Eventually Vannor spoke, his voice very gentle, just as though her previous angry words had never
been uttered. "Lady, there's food and fire and companionship on the other shore. Will you not
cross your bridge and join us?"
Eilin could not meet his eyes. It had been bad enough to hear the kindness in his voice; if she
saw the sympathy and concern that she knew would be written on his face, the brittle citadel of
pride she had constructed around herself would shatter into shards. She could not countenance the
idea of breaking down into tears in front of this wretched man.
"I need no charity from your kind," she snapped at Vannor, biting off each word with savage
emphasis. "A plague on your food and fires and company! You have no business here, and I want you
all gone by noon tomorrow or you must face the consequences." She turned, at last, to glare at
him. "This Vale is my place, Mortal. Mine1."
Vannor, clearly unimpressed by her threat, looked at her long and appraisingly. "As you wish," he
said at last. "No one would dispute your right to this place, Lady. But if we can ever assist you
. . ." He stopped himself, and shook his head. "No," he muttered softly, as if to himself. "You
wouldn't, would you? In your stupid, stiff-necked pride you could never bring yourself to ask for,
or accept, Mortal helpЧnot supposing you were to perish here, of hunger and cold and loneliness."
At his words, her anger boiled over at last. Eilin flew at him like a harpy, shrieking curses at
the top of her voice. It was a relief to have a target for the rage that had been building within
her. Vannor faced her, un intimidated, with steady calmness andЧyes, there it was, the pity that
she had so dreaded to see, clearly written in his face. It stopped her dead. Suddenly the Mage
realized what a spectacle she must be making of herselfЧa distraught, disheveled harridan,
pathetic and ridiculous in the tattered remnants of her pride.
10 Ma gg i e F u r e y
Her curses spluttered into silence, and she closed her mouth abruptly.
Vannor inclined his head respectfully. "Lady," he told her, "Aurian taught me everything I need to
know about both the stubborn Magefolk pride and the stormy Magefolk temperЧ but it didn't make me
love, or respect her, any less."
Unexpectedly, Eilin found her mouth twisting in a wry smile. "Your friendship with my daughter has
given you a rare insight into our character," she admitted.
Vannor grinned back at her. "Indeed," he agreed, "but Aurian taught me far more about the good
side of the Magefolk character than the bad. Courage, loyalty, a rare honesty ..."
His words were interrupted as the air above him was split asunder by the belling of hounds, the
clamor of horns, and the wild, triumphant hunting cries of the Phaerie, who came hurtling out of
the sky like thunderbolts, bearing with them the ghastly trophies of their hunt. The Forest Lord
had returned to the Valley.
Though Panic .and Sangra had been arguing with him for some time now, Yazour refused to be
browbeaten, intimidated, or persuaded into changing his mind. He was determined to head back to
the Southern Lands, in search of his friend and mentor Eliizar, and admit to the older man then he
had made a mistake. He should never have come north with the MagefolkЧthis was not his land, and