"Mercedes Lackey - Owl Mage 2 - Owlsight" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lackey Mercedes)

Fellowship woman were deep in conversation. Keisha shrugged her shoulders and sighed, wondering if it
was going to be worth the trouble to try to pry Shandi away. If so, she had the choice of looking very
rude and bossy and actually getting the job done quickly, or spending far more time than she wanted to
and looking polite and courteous. If there had only been Shandi to consider, there would just be a few
sharp words and it would be done with . . . but she really didnтАЩt want to look boorish in front of a
member of the Fellowship.
It was a short internal debate. ThereтАЩs no point. If she finished her chores, IтАЩve got no call to
tell her how to spend her free time. And if she hasnтАЩt, she can take the consequences herself.
ShandiтАЩs one fault was that she tended to тАЬforgetтАЭ things she had to do when she disliked them. When
they were younger, it had been KeishaтАЩs task to supervise her and see to it that the тАЬforgottenтАЭ chores
were done - because if Shandi didnтАЩt do them, Keisha would have to pitch in later. MumтАЩs idea of a
proper form of incentive for me to be an ogre. But I donтАЩt have time to spare to pitch in now. IтАЩm
not her keeper, no matter what Mum thinks, and ShandiтАЩs sixteen and old enough to take the
consequences by herself.
She ambled slowly up the street, enjoying the novel sensation of having people around her who
were not in discomfort or pain - who were, in fact, entirely contented. Lately, it had become
uncomfortable for her to be near people in any sort of distress, as if she shared their feelings. . . . SheтАЩd
fancied once or twice that it was the sort of Empathy power that she heard told of in stories, but
dismissed the thought quickly. Things like that didnтАЩt happen to ordinary people from little towns like
ErroldтАЩs Grove, and her Gift was an extraordinary enough fluke.
It wouldnтАЩt be too long until Spring Equinox Faire, and the booths of those who sold their goods
to the far-ranging traders were stuffed full, while the booths of those who depended on those same
traders to bring them goods from outside were getting mighty empty. The dye-sellers, the folk who
bought up a great deal of the Hawkbrother trade goods, and the Fellowship would all send most of their
stock with the traders when the Faire was over.
The blacksmith needs metals, the baker needs spices and sugar, the girls are craving glass
beads, laces, and ribbons, I need things I canтАЩt get here -
Healer Gil Jarad would be just as happy if she didnтАЩt have to rely on those medicines, though.
That was one subject on which they didnтАЩt, and probably would never, agree. He couldnтАЩt tell her how to
use her Gift - more importantly, he had no way to oversee her and tell her what she was doing right or
wrong, the way he could with medicines and the knife. How was she supposed to use this so-called Gift
effectively, or even safely?
I suppose it would be quite useful if I could make head or tail out of those texts, she thought
glumly, as she neared the Fellowship booth and Shandi. ItтАЩs almost as if they were written in a code
that is perfectly understandable to everyone but me!
And I am feeling far too sorry for myself! Determined not to spoil what was a perfectly fine
spring day, Keisha decided to stop thinking, and simply enjoy.
Alight breeze brought a hint of incense from the Temple, which joined harmoniously with the fresh
flowers some of the stallkeepers used as decoration. The sunshine warmed her with the promise of a fine
spring to come. The annual village-wide spring cleaning had taken place only a few days earlier in
preparation for the Spring Faire, and as a consequence, the entire village was as charming as a highborn
childтАЩs toy. Streets had been swept of all the winter accumulation of junk and debris, houses and fences
were newly whitewashed, market booths all neatly mended. What a perfect scene this would be for a
painter or a tapestry maker to reproduce, she thought, just as she came even with Shandi. This is how
the highborn think all our villages look, all the time. Still, she shouldnтАЩt be so cynical. It really is
pretty - the red shutters, the pale gold of the thatched roofs, the rainbow colors of the flowers
everywhere, the handsome white horse posing right at the end of the street -
- white horse ? There were no white horses in ErroldтАЩs Grove!
Keisha shook her head and looked again, but the vision didnтАЩt go away; instead, it drew nearer.
There was a blue-eyed white horse decked out in blue-and-silver riding gear at the end of the street