"Mercedes Lackey - Heralds of Valdemar 3 - Arrow's Fall" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lackey Mercedes)

She was ill-prepared for the new world of the Heralds and their Collegium that
she had been thrust into. But the one thing she did have experience in was the
handling and schooling of children, for she had been the teacher to her
Holding's younger members from the time she was nine.

She managed to salvage the BratтАФand succeeded well enough that Elspeth was
Chosen herself just before Talia was sent out on her internship assignment.

During that assignment she and Kris, the Herald picked to be her mentor,
discovered something frightening and potentially fatalтАФnot only to themselves,
but to anyone who happened to be around Talia. Due to the chaos just after her
initial training in her Gift, she had never been properly trained. And her
Gift was EmpathyтАФboth receptive and protectiveтАФstrong enough to use as a
weapon. It wasn't until it had run completely wild that she and Kris were able
to retrain her so that her control became a matter of will instead of
instinct.

She still had moments of misgiving about the ethics of her Gift.

She also had moments of misgiving on another subject altogether; another
Herald. Dirk was Kris' best friend and partnerтАФand Talia, after being with him
only a handful of times, none intimate, was attracted to him to the point of
obsession. There was a precedent for such preoccupation; very rarely, Heralds
formed a bond with one another as deep and enduring as the Herald-Companion
bond. Such a tie was referred to as a "lifebond." Kris was certain that this
was what Talia was suffering from. Talia wasn't so sure.

This was just one minor complication for an internship that included battle,
plague, intrigue, wildly spreading rumors about her, and a Gift that was a
danger to herself and others.

At last the year-and-a-hatf was over, and she was on her way home.

14

Mercedes Lackey

HomeтАФto an uncertain relationship, a touchy adolescent Heir, all the intrigues
of the CourtтАФand possibly, an enemy; Lord Orthallen, who just happened to be
Kris' uncle.

One

Vie could be brother and sister, Kris thought, glancing over at his fellow
Herald. Maybe twinsтАФ

Talia sat Rolan with careless easeтАФan ease brought about by the fact that
they'd spent most of their waking hours in the saddle during her internship up
north. Kris' seat was just as casual, and for the same reason. After all this
time they could easily have eaten, sleptтАФyes, and possibly even made love a-