"Mercedes Lackey - Last Herald Mage 2 - Magic's Promise" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lackey Mercedes)

lasted how long? Two months? Three? Certainly not more.:
:You were busy - you had duties-both of you. It was your duties that
parted you.:
:I was,: he replied bitterly, :a fool. More than duties would have parted us
in time. I know exactly what I'm trying to do-when I admit it to myself. I'm
trying to replace 'Lendel. I can't; I can't ever, so why do I even bother to try? A
love like that happens once in a lifetime, and I'm not doing myself or my would
- be partners any favor by trying to recreate it. I know it, and once the first
glow wears off, they know it. And it isn't fair to them.:
Silence from Yfandes. There really wasn't much she could say. He was
left to contemplate the inside of his own thoughts, as faint sounds of distant
people and a bit of birdsong drifted in his window.
Damn it, I'm feeling sorry for myself again. Heralds are all lonely; it isn't
just me. WeтАЩre different; made different by our Gifts, made even more so by
the Companions, then driven even farther away from ordinary people by this
fanatic devotion to duty of ours. Herald-Mages are one step lonelier than that.
He couldn't help himself; the next thought came automatically, despite his
resolution not to fall into a morass of self - pity. Then there's me. Between the
level of my Gift and my sexual preferences--
He buried his face in his free hand. Gods. I am a fool. I have 'Fandes. She
loves me in a way no one else ever will or ever did, except 'Lendel. That ought
to be enough. It really ought-if I wasn't so damned selfish.
She interrupted his thoughts. :Van, you almost need a friend more than a
lover. A different kind of friend than me; one that can touch you. You need to
be touched, you humans -: Her mind-voice trailed off, grew dim, in the way
that meant she was losing her battle to fatigue and had fallen asleep again.
тАЬYou humans.тАЭ That phrase said it all. That was the telling difference, he
realized suddenly. The telling lack.
Yfandes was not human-and she never felt exactly the way a human
would. There was always the touch of the | тАЬotherтАЭ about her, and the strange
feeling he got, some - times, that she was hiding something, some secret that
she could only share with another Companion. It was not a comfortable
feeling. He was just as glad she wasn't awake to pick it up from him.
He dragged himself up out of the depths of his chair to rummage paper
and a pen and inkpot out of his desk. He slouched back down into the
cushions and chewed thoughtfully on the end of the pen, trying to compose
something that wouldn't set Withen off.
To Lord Withen Ashkevron of Forst Reach from Herald-Mage Vanyel
Ashkevron.
So far, so good.
Dear Father: I'm sorry I've had to put off spending any length of time at
home - but duty must always come before anything else, and my duty as a
Herald is to the orders of my King.
He licked his lips, wondering if that was a bit excessively priggish.
Probably not. And I don't think I'll say anything about how visits of less than a
day keep Mother from having vapors at me. He reached for the goblet again,
and another swallow of wine, before continuing.
As for Meke, I'll do my best with him, Father. You must remember though,
that although I am a Herald I am also his brother - he may be no more inclined
to listen to me than he does to you. With regard to your news about Baires