"Mercedes Lackey - Brightly Burning" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lackey Mercedes)

first class of the day.
Without the distraction of knowing that the Sixth Form was waiting for him at lunch, he got
through the work for the first four classes in half the time it usually took him. He got out of bed a time or
two to feed his fire and take care of necessary things. He was very pleased that this house had indoor
facilities; it was the one improvement over the home in Alderscroft. It was still early afternoon when he
finished, and heartened by his progress, he tackled the next four subjects. By the time Kelsie appeared
with his supper, he was able to put his last book aside with a feeling that he had accomplished something.
тАЬBringing your supper early, or Cook says youтАЩre like to be forgot in the bustle,тАЭ the maid told
him brightly. She whisked off, and Lan got up to stretch and light his candles, replacing the stubs in his
candlesticks.
Once again, the increasing traffic sounds outside and the smells and noise of cooking told him that
suppertime for the family was nearing. He took a third dose of the medicine, and went back to bed, this
time with the euphoria of having spent a peaceful and productive day added to the euphoria of the
medicine.
Last night he had slept dreamlessly; this night was the same. Given that he fought the Sixth
Formers virtually every night in his dreams, this, too, was a welcome relief.
His second day as a тАЬpatientтАЭ was similar to the first, although a different servant brought him
meals, but his third night was different. His headache was almost gone, so he hadnтАЩt bothered to take the
medicine.
 In the middle of the night, he woke, unable to move, feeling that there was something, some
heavy weight, sitting on his chest and smothering him, and something else standing at the foot of his bed,
watching him with amusement. He didnтАЩt so much think as feel-and his feeling of helpless anger made him
label the presence at his feet as his worst enemy.
Tyron!
Terror and rage drove out any coherent thought, filling LanтАЩs mind with an explosion of white
heat. He tried to scream, but nothing came out; tried to flail at the unseen weight, but couldnтАЩt move so
much as a finger.
Then, suddenly, the fire in his fireplace flared up with a roar.
The room lit up, as if the noon sun shone at midnight; a flare of heat washed over him, snapping
the paralysis holding him.
The weight left his chest; he sat bolt upright as the flames died down to mere flickers and coals
again. He took a shocked breath-and the headache knocked him flat on his back, spasming in pain and
near-blindness.
For a very long time he couldnтАЩt even move, and hardly dared breathe. Where a moment before,
his entire universe had been terror and rage, now it was filled with pain. A solid bar of agony ran between
his temples and, from the base of his neck to his eyes, his head throbbed.
Finally, between one breath and another, it ebbed just enough that he could grope his hand to the
bedside table. He didnтАЩt trust himself enough to reach for the spoon; he pulled the cork from the bottle
and took a full mouthful, gagging down the thick, bittersweet liquid and putting the bottle back on the
table before the pain washed over him again.
Then, after what felt like a hundred, thousand years, came oblivion.
When he woke again in mid-morning, it was the pain that woke him, but this time it was more like
the level of headache that had sent him home from school. He reached for the bottle and took a
measured half-dose, which relieved enough of the anguish that he could eat, drink, and take care of
himself. Then he took a second half-dose, and retreated into slumber.
He missed lunch altogether, and evidently even sleeping he had looked as miserable as he felt, for
when he woke at last, one of the scruffy little kitchen boys was sitting on a stool at his bedside.
When he opened his eyes and started to sit up, the boy leaped to his feet and ran off down the
hall and the stairs. It was Nelda who brought up his supper tray herself, as he slowly levered himself up
into a sitting position.