"Mercedes Lackey & Rosemary Edghill - Beyond World' s End" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lackey Mercedes)

"By a knight of ghosts and shadows
I summoned am to tourney
Ten leagues beyond the wide world's end
Methinks it is no journey."

--;Tom O' Bedlam (traditional)

"Are you sure you really want to do this?" Beth asked Eric for roughly the five hundredth time in
the past month.
As a long-time stranger to big cities, it was hard for Eric to believe that
there was anywhere in New York City where she could have been heard without
shouting, but this strange little tree-shaded court was somehow as quiet as a desert canyon miles
outside of Los Angeles--;and just about as hot. It was September, but there was no hint of fall in
the air, and the leaves on the slender maples growing in their squares of earth allocated in the
sidewalk were still green. Today was one of the shimmering-hot days that persisted well into


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October here, and the stone of the buildings surrounding them seemed to hold and reflect back
every degree of heat. The buildings also shut most of the traffic noise out, making a private
oasis in the heart of the city. Beth and Kory--;and their motorcycles-cum-elvensteeds--;were the
only creatures on the street besides Eric.
Eric looked up at the old apartment building that was going to be his home for the next year or
so, and nodded.
"I'm sure," he replied firmly. "Things couldn't go on the way they have
been--;and none of us wanted them to." Then he grinned. "Besides, you aren't going to be that far
away by Underhill standards. And I'm a fully functional Bard now, remember? I can come visit you
any time I want to--;or any time you guys are getting stir-crazy."
Beth looked as if she might want to argue that point for a moment; then, instead of saying
anything, she just sighed.
"You certainly aren't the same Eric Banyon anymore," she admitted. "You not only have feck, but
you know what machine to buy your clues from," she said, grinning proudly.
"And I brought my own roll of quarters to put in the machine," Eric shot back, grinning.
Earlier this morning, the three of them had packed up the last of their stuff from the friend's
place they'd been crashing at between Faire weekends. The Sterling Forest RenFaire ran every year
from July to September at a site about an hour north of New York City. There was even a Nexus
there, Elfhame Everforest, the only one on the East Coast, tucked away in the State Park that
surrounded the Fairesite.
The three of them had been working the Faire together, just like old times. Only this time it was
a farewell performance, and they'd all known it. It had added a certain sweetness to the music.
But all good things must come to an end.
He put down his two bags to hug her. "No worries, pretty lady. I'll be fine. The kids at Juilliard
are already calling me `old man,' and taking bets on who's going to win the confrontations between
me and the administration. Odds are in my favor, by the way." Classes started on Monday, but he'd
already been up to the school several times, for Registration and Orientation. It hadn't changed
much in all the years he'd been away--;schools had a lot in common with Underhill in that respect.
Beth traded places with Kory, who was not at all ashamed to bestow as hearty a hug on Eric as Beth
had. "You do know the way Underhill, if you need to come," Korendil appealed. There was an