"Katherine Kerr - Deverry 02 - Darkspell" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kerr Katherine)

тАШThe name is a secret.тАЩ

тАШIt is a mystery.тАЩ

тАШIt is a riddle.тАЩ

тАШAnd yet,тАЩ Ardda said after the answers, тАШit is a riddle easy to solve. What is the name of the
Goddess?тАЩ

тАШEpona.тАЩ

тАШSirona.тАЩ

тАШAranrhodda.тАЩ

тАШAnd,тАЩ this said in unison, тАШall the rest.тАЩ

тАШYou have spoken true.тАЩ Ardda turned to Gweniver. тАШHere then is the answer to the riddle. All
goddesses are one goddess. She goes by all names and no names, for She is One.тАЩ
 Gweniver began to tremble in a fierce joy.

тАШNo matter what men or women call her, She is One,тАЩ Ardda went on. тАШThere is but one
priestesshood that serves Her. She is like the pure light of the sun when it strikes the rain-filled sky and
turns to a rainbow, many colors, but all One at the source.тАЩ

тАШLong have I thought so,тАЩ Gweniver whispered. тАШNow I know.тАЩ

Again the high priestess clapped out the nine knocks, then turned to the witnesses.

тАШThere is a question of how Gweniver, no longer lady but now priestess, shall serve the Goddess. Let
her kneel in petition at the altar.тАЩ

Gweniver knelt in front of the sword. In the mirror she could see herself, a shadowy figure in the
flickering light, but she barely recognized her face, the cropped hair, the mouth set grim, the eyes glowing
with lust for vengeance. Help me, oh Lady of the Heavens, she prayed, I want blood and revenge, not
tears and mourning.

тАШLook in the mirror,тАЩ Ardda whispered. тАШBeg Her to come to you.тАЩ

Gweniver spread her hands on the altar and took up her watch. At first, she saw nothing but her face
and the temple behind her. Then Ardda began to chant a high wailing song in the old tongue. It seemed
that the oil lamps flickered in time to the long sprung rhythms as the chant rose and fell, winding through
the temple like a cold north wind. In the mirror, the light changed, dimmed, became a darkness, a
trembling dark as cold as a starless sky. The chant sobbed on, wailing through ancient words. Gweniver
felt the hair prickling on the back of her neck as in that mirror-darkness appeared the stars, the wheel
and dance of the endless sky. Among them formed the image of Another.

She towered through the stars, and her face was grim, blood-besotted as she shook her head and
spread a vast mane of black hair over the sky. Gweniver could hardly breathe as the dark eyes looked
her way. This was the Goddess of the Dark Time, Whose own heart is pierced with swords and Who