"Mercedes Lackey - Mage Storms 1 - Storm Warning" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lackey Mercedes)

that? Firesong had told him it was because of the magic, but if the Star-Eyed had
chosen, She could have given him back his native coloring. For a little time, at least.
He sat down on the pallet; it was covered with a blanket of ShinтАЩaтАЩin weaving - a
gift from a Herald, whoтАЩd bought it while on her far-away rounds - and it still smelled
faintly of horse, wood smoke, and dried grasses. The scent was enough, if he closed
his eyes, to make him believe he was home again.
If the Star-Eyed could remake my body, couldnтАЩt She have taken away the magic,
too!
Magic. For a long time, heтАЩd wanted to be a mage. Now he wished She had taken
his magic away, but there was always a reason why She did or did not do something.
He stared at the canvas walls, glowing in the late afternoon sun coming through
the windows, and chewed his lower lip.
If She left me with magic, it is because She wants me to use it for some reason
that only She knows. Firesong keeps saying itтАЩs my duty to do this, to Her as well as
to myself. He felt a flash of hot resentment at that. HadnтАЩt he risked everything to
defeat Falconsbane - not just the pain and death of his body, but the destruction of
his soul and his self? WasnтАЩt that enough? How much more was he going to have to
do?
Then he flushed with shame and a little apprehension, for he was not the only one
to have risked all on a single toss of the dice. What of those who had dared penetrate
to AncarтАЩs own land to rid the world of Ancar, Hulda, and Falconsbane? If Elspeth
had been captured, she would have been taken by Ancar for his own private tortures
and pleasures. Ancar had hated the princess with a passion that amounted to
obsession and, given the depravities that Falconsbane had overheard the servants
whispering about, Elspeth would have endured worse than anything AnтАЩdesha had
faced.
Then there was Darkwind. Falconsbane hated Darkwind kтАЩSheyna more than any
human on the face of the world, and only a little less than the gryphons. If Darkwind
had been captured, his fate would have been similar to the one Elspeth would have
suffered. And as for Nyara -
NyaraтАЩs disposition would have depended on whether or not King Ancar had
recognized her as FalconsbaneтАЩs daughter. If he had, he would have known she
represented yet another way to control the Dark Adept, and she might have been
kept carefully to that end. But if not - if Ancar had given her back to her father -
She would have been wise to kill herself before that happened. In her case, it
would not have been hate that motivated atrocity, but the rage engendered by having
a тАЬpossessionтАЭ revolt and turn traitor. Motivation aside, the result would have been
the same.
As for Skif and Firesong, the former would have been recognized as one of the
hated Heralds and killed out of hand; the latter? Who knew? Certainly Falconsbane
and Ancar would have been pleased to get their hands on an Adept, and given
enough time, anyone could be broken and used, even an Adept of the quality of
Firesong.
No, he was not the only person who had risked everything to bring Falconsbane
down, so he might as well stop feeling sorry for himself. Still, it hurt.
That was precisely what Firesong would likely tell him, if Firesong had been there,
instead of teaching young Herald-Mages the very basics of their Gift.
Firesong. . . . Once again, a wave of mingled embarrassment and desire traveled
outward in an uncomfortable flush of heat. Somehow Firesong had gone from
comforter to lover, and AnтАЩdesha was not quite certain how the transition had come