"Katherine Kurtz - Kelson 3 - The Quest for Saint Camber" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kurtz Katherine)

"Sixte."
The second black cube lit to match Quinte's.
"Septime ... Octave," Conall continued, activating the remaining two
black cubes in rapid succession. "Is that all there is to it?"
"Hardly," Tiercel replied, though he was grinning ear-to-ear and shaking
his head slightly as if in disbelief. "They want balancing next. Watch how I
combine the elements-first, Prime to Quinte, with the intent to bring the
pairs of opposites into harmony."
He closed his eyes for just an instant, re-collecting his focus, then
picked up the white Prime and brought it down on its black counterpart,
speaking the word of power as the two touched with a faint flash and bonded.
"Primus!"
When he withdrew his hand, an oblong, silvery rectoid stood where two
cubes had been. Conall gaped.
"No questions yet," Tiercel said, reaching for Seconde. "Just pay
attention. Some magical systems equate the ward components with the Elemental
Lords and their Watchtowers, or the Archangels of the Quarters. Some prefer
the symbolism of the pillars. All are valid conventions. Watch again, now,
while I do Secundus, and then I'll let you have a go at Tertius and Quartus."
He quirked a pleased grin at the prince. "God, I'm glad you're grown! Teaching
this to children can sometimes be so tedious-but I think you're going to get
it right the first time."
"Do you do that often?" Conall asked. "Teach children, I mean?"
"Often enough. Be still, now."
Tiercel brought Seconde above Sixte, paused to draw a deep breath, then
gently brought the white cube down on the black as he spoke its balance
mnemonic.
"Secundus! Now you do the other two," he added, as he drew his hand away
from a second silvery rectoid.
Conall complied without hesitation or difficulty, looking up expectantly
as he drew his hand away from Quartus.
"Now what?"
"Now comes the tricky part, because there's some very specific
visualization involved," Tiercel said. "May I borrow your signet for a
moment?"
 The ring, richly engraved gold on Conall's left little finger, bore the
Haldane arms as differenced for a second son's eldest son: Nigel's bordured
and crescent-charged Haldane lion overlaid with a label of three points.
Conall removed it without discussion, setting it, at Tiercel's direction, in
the central space Tiercel made by moving the four towers a handspan farther
apart.
"Now, just watch, this first time," Tiercel said, poising a forefinger
above the tower that was Primus. "I want you to observe the effect before
you're involved with it."
As Conall sat back a little with a nod, Tiercel drew another deep
breath, his tawny eyes going hooded, and pointed to the four towers in quick
succession as he spoke their names.
"Primus, Secundus, Tertius, et Quartus-fiat lux!"
Conall gasped as misty light flared up in a shallow dome over the
towers, enclosing the ring, but he immediately leaned closer for a better