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

little bit of slang. Yes, of course because I'm shay'a'chern, why else would
people look at me sideways?тАЭ
тАЬBecause you scare the hell out of them,тАЭ Tantras replied, his smile fading.
тАЬBecause you are as powerful as you are; because you're so quiet and so
solitary, and they never know what you're thinking. Havens, these days half
the Heralds don't even know you're shaych; it's the Mage-Gift that makes
them look at you sideways. Not that anybody around here cares about your
bedmates a quarter as much as you seem to think. They're a lot more worried
that-oh-a bird will crap on you and you'll level the Palace.тАЭ
тАЬMe?тАЭ Vanyel stared at him in disbelief.
тАЬYou. You've spent most of the last four or five years in combat zones. We
know your reflexes are hypersensitive. Hellfire, that's why I came in here to
wake you up instead of sending a page. We know what you can do. Van,
nobody I've ever heard of was able to take the place of five Herald-Mages by
himself! And the very idea of one person having that much power at his beck
and call scares most people witless!тАЭ
Vanyel was caught without a reply; he stared at Tantras with the towel
hanging limply from his hands.
тАЬI'm telling you the plain truth, Van. I wish you'd stop wincing away from
people with no cause. It's not your sexual preferences that scare them, it's
you. Level the Palace, hell-they know you could level Haven if you wanted to-тАЭ
Vanyel came out of his trance of astonishment. тАЬWhat do they think I am?тАЭ
he scoffed, picking up his filthy shirt.
тАЬThey don't know; they haven't the Mage-Gift and most of them weren't
trained around Herald-Mages. They hear stories, and they think of the Mage
Wars-and they remember that once, before there was a Valdemar, there was
a thriving land to the far south of us. Now the Dhorisha Plains are there-a very
large, circular crater. No cities, no sign there ever was anything, not even two
stones left standing. Nothing but grass and nomads. Van, leave that stuff; I'll
pick up after you.тАЭ
тАЬBut-тАЭ Vanyel began to object.
тАЬLook, if you can spend most of a year substituting for five of us, then one
of us can pick up after you once in a while.тАЭ Tantras took the wet towels away
from him, cutting off his objections before he could make them. тАЬHonestly,
Van.тАЭ
тАЬIf you insist.тАЭ He wanted to touch Tantras' mind to see if he really meant
what he said. It seemed a fantastical notion.
But Tran had not invited, and a Herald did not intrude uninvited into
another's mind, not unless there was an overriding need to do so.
тАЬIs ... that how you feel?тАЭ he asked in a whisper.
тАЬI'm not afraid of you, but let me tell you, I wouldn't have your powers for
any reward. I'm glad I'm just a Herald and not a Herald-Mage, and I don't
know how you survive it. So just let me spoil you a little, all right?тАЭ
Vanyel managed a weak smile, troubled by several things-including that
тАЬjust a HeraldтАЭ business. That implied a division between Heralds and Herald-
Mages that made him very uneasy. тАЬAll right, old friend. Spoil me. I'm just tired
enough to let you.тАЭ
The fog of weariness came between him and and the corridor, and he was
finding it all he could do to put one foot in front of the other. Lady, bless you
for Tantras. There aren't many even among the Heralds I trained with that will