"Katherine Kurtz - Adept 01 - The Adept" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kurtz Katherine)

showed a sharply-cut and freshly-painted device of a Maltese cross surrounded by seven stars - not the
phoenix rising from the flames, as he had seen in Adam's house. The motto underneath the crest read, Morte
nunquam reget - "Death shall have no dominion."
Peregrine blinked - slowly - but the image did not dissolve away when he opened his eyes. More confident
now, and catching a little of the satisfaction that he could actually keep the thing in focus, he opened his
sketchbook and began rapidly to drawтАж.
After a few minutes, Adam came to look on over the artist's shoulder. Under Peregrine's deft, busy hands, the
ruin was transformed on paper into a stout tower-house, half fortress, half manor. The dormer windows
sported heavy wooden shutters, and there were shot-holes in the flanking stair turrets to allow for protective
fire across the main block of the building. Short parapet walks along the sides of the two overhanging garret
chambers commanded a guarded view of the ground below.
For the next hour, Peregrine continued to draw, pausing only now and again to sharpen his pencil before
moving into a new position, to catch a different perspective. By the time he finally handed the notebook to
Adam, standing up to stretch, he had completed no fewer than a dozen comprehensive drawings.
Adam looked them over, marvelling at the wealth of detail running throughout. The restoration of the crest was
particularly interesting, for it depicted a much earlier version of the Sinclair device, harking back to the time
when the name had been Saint Clair, and the Templar connection had been quite unmistakable - a variation
known to Adam, though not expected here, and certainly nothing that Peregrine Lovat could be expected to
know. Given the accuracy of this heraldic detail, far beyond the scope of coincidence, there was little doubt in
Adam's mind that Peregrine had reproduced an accurate record of the structural features of the house, inside
and out.
The plan of the ground floor showed two vaulted storage chambers behind an entry hall, with the kitchen
housed in the northeast tower. The great hall occupied the center of the building on the first level above the
ground, with auxiliary family rooms opening off into the towers at either corner. The space on the next level up
was divided into two bed-chambers, a strong room, and a solarium. The rooms on the garret level gave
access to the parapet walks, where household guards would have kept watch in times of trouble. It was a
plan fairly typical for castles of this era, but many of the interior details could not have been deduced merely
from looking at the ruined remains, and certainly not in the short time Peregrine had spent drawing them.
"Peregrine, these are truly excellent," Adam said, looking up. "May I show them to the surveyor when he
calls round this afternoon?"
The young artist had plopped down on the bottom-most step in front of the port, with his booted feet stretched
out in front of him. He was looking slightly weary, but there was no longer any strain in his face. At Adam's
question, he looked up and chanced a tentative smile.
"If you really think they'll be useful - certainly."
"If he's any good at his job," Adam replied, "I think 'useful' will be a gross understatement. How do you feel?"
Peregrine considered. "That's very odd," he said. "I'm tired, but you know, I feel quite relaxed - as though I'd
got something bothersome out of my system."
"And your vision?"
"It's gone back to normal," said Peregrine. He added with a half-laugh, "I think your experiment worked." He
sounded almost elated.
Adam gave him a knowing nod. In the last hour, they had passed the point of no return.
"I believe it did," he replied. "How soon do you think you might be ready to start looking at people again?"
Peregrine's eyes widened, but this time there was none of the fear that would have accompanied
contemplation of the question, but hours before.
"Do you really think I could?" he asked.
"Why not?" Adam replied. "Was this frightening for you, once you actually got into it?"
"No."
"Well, then." Adam smiled. "People are the next step. It's the step you're going to have to take, if you really
mean to see this through."
Peregrine drew a deep breath and let it out with a determined sigh.