"Isabo Kelly - Destiny's Seduction" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kelly Isabo)

Owen leaned over and touched her forehead with a gentle kiss. "Everything will be all right, love. We've
spent long months preparing this spell. The others are fully committed to it. And they're the most powerful
magicians in the empire. What could go wrong?"

"Oh, Owen, all kinds of things could go wrong. You're expecting that all one hundred and ninety-nine of
them will follow through with it. And you...you'll be most vulnerable."

"Being chosen to take up the task of Guardian is a great honor. You've been my apprentice and my
heart's treasure for long enough to know that I couldn't shun this honor."

"I know," she sighed, feeling the first sting of tears behind her tired eyes. "I'm so very proud of you. But I
can't let go of this feeling that something isn't right."

"You're worried about him, aren't you?"

Catarin's lip curled in an involuntary snarl. "Yes. Gavin is selfish and power-hungry. He's the only blood
mage among the one ninety-nine--"

"We have taken that into consideration, love."

"Owen, he's a blood mage because he craves power. More than any other, he covets the power and
influence that comes of being a strong sorcerer. Yet now we must believe he'll sacrifice his physical
existence to the completion of the spell?"

"That's precisely the reason he'll go through with it," he said, squeezing her waist to emphasize his point.
"Because he craves power. And the power he'll have will be beyond even his wildest dreams."

"But he won't be able to control that power." Catarin threw the silk sheet from her body and rolled away
from Owen, out of bed. She stood, naked, hands on hips, with the early morning light an aureole at her
back. "You will control the power. You will be the one focusing and using the strength of this thing you'll
create. What good will that power be to Gavin if he can't use it?"

Owen slowly rose from the bed and approached her, but when he would have folded her into his arms,
she spun away. Her knee-length blonde hair whipped around in an angry cloud. "Don't try to console or
patronize me, Owen. I may not be as powerful as you and the others, but I understand the seductive
nature of magic, the temptations of wielding power unimaginable. It's why the emperor agreed to
this...this experiment. For the power he'll bring to the wars, for the power he thinks he'll hold over the
conquered countries."

She paced to the wardrobe, stiff with helplessness and frustration. "I know. I know what the emperor
doesn't realize. That the Guardian, you, will be the real power." With her back still to him she murmured,
"I trust you, your ethics, implicitly with this power, my love. I know you won't abuse it. But I do not trust
the others."
 The feel of his large warm hands on her shoulders made her shudder. Her irritation fled and she leaned
back against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her, hugging her tightly and rubbing his cheek against
the top of her head.

"I'm sorry," she whispered after a quiet moment. "I didn't mean to trouble you with my fears today. I
love you so much, Owen."