"Kay, Guy Gavriel - Fionavar Tapestry 2 - The Wandering Fire v.9.0" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kay Guy Gavriel)

THE WANDERING FIRE
Guy Gavriel Kay

[24 oct 01\a151scanned for #bookz]
[19 nov 01\a151proofed by nadie, released as v1]

PART I\a151The Warrior

Chapter 1

Winter was coming. Last nightТs snow hadnТt melted and the bare trees were laced with it. Toronto woke that morning to see itself cloaked and made over in white, and it was only November.
Cutting across Nathan Philips Square in front of the twin curves of the City Hall, Dave Martyniuk walked as carefully as he could and wished heТd worn boots. As he maneuvered toward the restaurant entrance on the far side, he saw with some surprise that the other three were already waiting.
УDave,Ф said sharp-eyed Kevin Laine. УA new suit! When did this happen?Ф
УHi, everyone,Ф Dave said. УI got it last week. CanТt wear the same corduroy jackets all year, can I?Ф
УA deep truth,Ф said Kevin, grinning. He was wearing jeans and a sheepskin jacket. And boots. Having finished the obligatory apprenticeship with a law firm that Dave had just begun, Kevin was now immersed in the equally tedious if less formal six-month Bar Admission course. УIf that is a three-piece suit,Ф he added, Уmy image of you is going to be irrevocably shattered.Ф
Wordlessly, Dave unbuttoned his overcoat to reveal the shattering navy vest beneath.
УAngels and ministers of grace defend us!Ф Kevin exclaimed, crossing himself with the wrong hand while making the sign against evil with the other. Paul Schafer laughed. УActually,Ф Kevin said, Уit looks very nice. Why didnТt you buy it in your size?Ф
УOh, Kev, give him a break!Ф Kim Ford said. УIt is nice, Dave, and it fits perfectly. KevinТs feeling scruffy and jealous.Ф
УI am not,Ф Kevin protested. УI am simply giving my buddy a hard time. If I canТt tease Dave, who can I tease?Ф
УItТs okay,Ф said Dave. УIТm tough, I can take it.Ф But what he was remembering in that moment was the face of Kevin Laine the spring before, in a room in the Park Plaza Hotel. The face, and the flat, harshly mastered voice in which heТd spoken, looking down at the wreckage of a woman on the floor:
УTo this I will make reply although he be a god and it mean my death.Ф
You gave some latitude, Dave was thinking, to someone whoТd sworn an oath like that, even if his style was more than occasionally jarring. You gave latitude because what Kevin had done that evening was give voice, and not for the only time, to the mute rage in oneТs own heart.
УAll right,Ф said Kim Ford softly, and Dave knew that she was responding to his thought and not his flippant words. Which would have been unsettling, were she not who she was, with her white hair, the green bracelet on her wrist, and the red ring on her finger that had blazed to bring them home. УLetТs go in,Ф Kim said. УWeТve things to talk about.Ф
Paul Schafer, the Twiceborn, had already turned to lead them through the door.

How many shadings, Kevin was thinking, are there to helplessness? He remembered the feeling from the year before, watching Paul twist inward on himself in the months after Rachel Kincaid had died. A bad time, that was. But Paul had come out of it, had gone so far in three nights on the Summer Tree in Fionavar that he was beyond understanding in the most important ways. He was healed, though, and Kevin held to that as a gift from Fionavar, some recompense for what had been done to Jennifer by the god named Rakoth Maugrim, the Unraveller. Though recompense was hardly the word; there was no true compensation to be found in this or any other world, only the hope of retribution, a flame so faint, despite what he had sworn, it scarcely burned. What were any of them against a god? Even Kim, with her Sight, even Paul, even Dave, who had changed among the Dalrei on the Plain and had found a horn in Pendaran Wood.
And who was he, Kevin Laine, to swear an oath of revenge? It all seemed so pathetic, so ridiculous, especially here, eating fillet of sole in the Mackenzie King Dining Room, amid the clink of cutlery and the lunchtime talk of lawyers and civil servants.
УWell?Ф said Paul, in a tone that made their setting instantly irrelevant. He was looking at Kim. УHave you seen anything?Ф
УStop that,Ф she said. УStop pushing. If anything happens IТll tell you. Do you want it in writing?Ф
УEasy, Kim,Ф Kevin said. УYou have to understand how ignorant we feel. YouТre our only link.Ф
УWell, IТm not linked to anything now, and thatТs all there is to it. ThereТs a place I have to find and I canТt control my dreaming. ItТs in this world, thatТs all I know, and I canТt go anywhere or do anything until I find it. Do you think IТm enjoying this any more than you three are?Ф
УCanТt you send us back?Ф Dave asked, unwisely.
УI am not a goddamned subway system!Ф Kim snapped. УI got us out because the Baelrath was somehow unleashed. I canТt do it on command.Ф
УWhich means weТre stuck here,Ф Kevin said.
УUnless Loren comes for us,Ф Dave amended.
Paul was shaking his head. УHe wonТt.Ф
УWhy?Ф Dave asked.
УLorenТs playing hands-off, I think. He set things in motion, but heТs leaving it up to us, now, and some of the others.Ф
Kim was nodding. УHe put a thread in the loom,Ф she murmured, Уbut he wonТt weave this tapestry.Ф She and Paul exchanged a glance.
УBut why?Ф Dave persisted. Kevin could hear the big manТs frustration. УHe needs us\a151or at least Kim and Paul. Why wonТt he come for us?Ф
УBecause of Jennifer,Ф said Paul quietly. After a moment he went on. УHe thinks weТve suffered enough. He wonТt impose any more.Ф
Kevin cleared his throat. УAs I understand it, though, whatever happens in Fionavar is going to be reflected here and in the other worlds too, wherever they are. IsnТt that true?Ф
УIt is,Ф said Kim calmly. УIt is true. Not immediately, perhaps, but if Rakoth takes dominion in Fionavar he takes dominion everywhere. There is only one Tapestry.Ф
УEven so,Ф said Paul, Уwe have to do it on our own. Loren wonТt demand it. If the four of us want to go back, weТll have to find a way ourselves.Ф
УThe four of us?Ф Kevin said. So much helplessness. He looked at Kim.
There were tears in her eyes. УI donТt know,Ф she whispered. УI just donТt know. She wonТt see the three of you. She never goes out of the house. She talks to me about work and the weather, and the news, and sheТs, she\a151Ф
УSheТs going ahead with it,Ф Paul Schafer said.
Kimberly nodded.
Golden, she had been, Kevin remembered, from inside the sorrow.
УAll right,Ф said Paul. УItТs my turn now.Ф