"Lisle,.Holly.-.Vincalis.The.Agitator1" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lisle Holly)

УWould you walk through it for me one more time? I want you to carry a tester with you and see what happens.Ф
Wraith nodded. Solander handed him a tester, and Wraith walked through the gate. Lights crackled and hummed around him, the tester exploded in his hand with a heat and a force that scared the breath out of him, but as before he remained unscathed. He turned around and stepped back through the gate again.
The boy looked pale. He said, УLetТs go back in the playhouse to talk. IТm not due for lessons for a bit, and none of the juniors will be out in the yard until after midmeal. Once they get out here, the place will be hell, but for at least a while we have it to ourselves.Ф
They both returned to the little house and drew up chairs, and Solander leaned his elbows on the table and said, УIТm the only child of Rone Artis, who is one of the top Dragons in the world, and Torra Field Artis, who is the daughter of one of the great wizards of all time. Qater FieldЧyouТve heard of him?Ф
УNo.Ф
УOf course not.Ф Another exasperated sigh. УNo matter. According to my parentsЧhells-all, according to everyoneЧIТll become a powerful wizard when I grow up, because I already show incredible talent and aptitude, and have remarkable visual-spatial memory, andа.а.а. I donТt even remember all the things they say. But if theyТre right, I have a good chance of ruling Matrin. I can already build minor gates of my own. But I canТt walk through a gate untouched. Neither can my father. If wizards could cross armed gates, the gates would be worthless. You have something special going on with you. And I want to find out what it is, because it has to be important.Ф
Wraith said, УAll I want to do is find food for my friends and go back home. They have to be getting scared by nowЧI couldnТt return there yesterday.Ф
Solander considered that in silence for a long while. УYour parents didnТt look for you when you werenТt there?Ф
УMy parents donТt know who I am.Ф
SolanderТs face went blank. УI donТt understandЧbut youТll have plenty of time to tell me. If your parents donТt know who you are, they wonТt miss you, right? So just stay here. You can live in my house.Ф
УI canТt. If I donТt go back, my friends will starve to death.Ф
УWell, are their parents as terrible as yours?Ф
Wraith considered that for a moment. УMy parents arenТt terrible. TheyТre justа.а.а. Sleeping.Ф
УDoesnТt matter. Are your friendsТ parents like yours? They must be, or theyТd see to it that all of you had food.Ф
УTheyТre all the same.Ф
УFine. Then bring your friends with you. More than a thousand family members and friends live in our winterhouse here, and about twice that many staff. I wonТt have any trouble moving you and your friends in and creating a story for you. How many friends do you have?Ф
УTwo. Jess and Smoke.Ф
УThatТs no problem. WeТll just pretend youТre distant relatives from somewhere, here on the career exchange program. No one ever checks the paperwork on that very carefully.Ф Solander shrugged.
Wraith, whose hard life had taught him that the time to be most suspicious was when anything looked too good, asked, УWhy would you have us come here? Why offer rooms or food to people you donТt know?Ф
УI could use some friends. My cousins are creeps or dullards, and if you can walk through gates, you can do things they could never do. Your friends will have a good place to live, and you can take classes with me, and I can figure out why gates donТt work on you. IТm going to specialize in magical research,Ф he added. УYouТd make a perfect case study.Ф
Wraith stared through the door of the little house up to the big house, and tried to imagine walking through those grand front doors as if he belonged there. He tried to imagine never going back to the hollow, chilling silence of the Warrens. All of his life so far had been a dareЧa strange, lonely challenge. This next step made an odd sort of sense to him. HeТd been leaving the Warrens a little at a time since he was born.
УWeТll do it,Ф he said.
УBring them with you tomorrow, then,Ф Solander said, but Wraith was already shaking his head in disagreement. УNo? You wonТt bring your friends?Ф
УI can go through the gates. They canТt.Ф
Solander looked startled. УOh. I forgot about that.Ф He frowned thoughtfully and said, УAnd you and your two friends live in the Warrens.Ф
УYes.Ф
УThen I have to figure out some way to get an aircar with universal clearance into the Warrens. That might take a day or two. Going through gates like thatЧwell, that isnТt the sort of thing you want to make a mistake about.Ф
Solander thought for another minute, then said, УIТll figure something out. In the meantime, weТre going to steal some food for you and your friends.Ф

Wraith and Solander stood in one of the pantries of the houseТs enormous kitchen, loading food into a box. Wraith had a hard time believing his eyesЧhe could not begin to guess the purpose of all the equipment in the huge outer room, nor what most of the many people out there were doing. Cooking, obviouslyЧthe smells alone whispered every wonderful promise possible about the food being preparedЧbut none of them did anything that looked like drawing Way-fare out of the wall-tube. Wraith knew of no other method of food preparation, so he kept peeking over his shoulder to see just what they did.
That was how Wraith saw a hard-faced older boy coming toward the pantry where he and Solander picked out supplies for him, Smoke, and Jess. УSolander,Ф he said, keeping his voice low, УsomeoneТs coming.Ф
Solander looked toward the door and groaned. УLuercasЧheТs a distant cousin.Ф Solander hid the box in with other boxes on the floor behind him and turned quickly, several small pies in hand. He passed one to Wraith and started chewing on the other one. УHeТsа.а.а. awful.Ф
Wraith said, УOh,Ф and then took a bite of the pie. It tasted so impossibly good, tears started in the corners of his eyesЧand at that moment Luercas sauntered into the pantry.
УYou,Ф he said, looking past Wraith to Solander. УWhat are you doing in here, you little rodent? Your parents should keep a tighter leash on you.Ф
УI have as much right to be in the pantry as you do.Ф He muttered something the tone of which sounded insulting to Wraith, though he couldnТt make out the words.
Apparently neither could Luercas, because he glared at Solander. УNot if I tell you that you donТt, worm.Ф Luercas then looked at Wraith, and his eyes narrowed. УAnd what in all the hells is this thing?Ф
УAа.а.а. distant cousin fromа.а.а. Ynjarval,Ф Wraith lied. УHere on temporaries.Ф
УLooks like something you found in the street. You, street-dirt. Disgusting black-haired stick. All by yourself in the real city, eh? Let me see you bow to your superiors.Ф He smiled at Wraith, a most unpleasant smile.
Wraith felt sick to his stomach. But he looked Luercas in the eyes and said, УI donТt think so.Ф
УDonТt you, street-dirt? With Mama and Papa back in Ynjarval, theyТre not going to be able to do much to help you. Better get used to bowing if youТre planning on transferring here.Ф
УNo,Ф Wraith said, shaking his head. He felt pretty certain if heТd had more than that single bite of pie in his stomach over the last day, he would have thrown up right there, but he tried not to let it show in his face or in his voice.
Luercas pointed at Wraith, and Wraith heard Solander gasp. УI said bow,Ф Luercas said, and a pale line of fire sketched itself from Luercas to Wraithа.а.а. and promptly died.
Wraith crossed his arms over his chest and tried to look confident. He said nothing. His heart was racing, and his knees were so weak he could feel them trembling. He leaned back against the shelving for support, but it apparently had the effect of making him look self-assured.
УI said bow!Ф Luercas snarled. The second bolt of radiance that leaped toward Wraith looked big.
УNo, Luercas!Ф Solander said, but he need not have protested. This attack, too, died before it reached Wraith.
LuercasТs face went red. УThink youТre clever, do you? Think your little trick is amusing. LetТs see how funny you think real magic is. BOW, you filthy bastard!Ф Luercas bellowed, as outside Wraith heard running feet. Two adults burst into the pantry just as LuercasТs thirdЧhugeЧattack blasted toward Wraith and died.
Both adults grabbed Luercas and dragged him out, and Wraith heard them shouting about him bothering children, about using magic attacks large enough to set off alarms all over the house to try to hurt childrenЧabout how he was suspended from his sessions and how this incident was going before the reviewers and certainly going to go on his records, and how heТd find it difficult to get any sort of good posting with the Dragons after demonstrating such poor judgment and poor self-control. The adults, dragging Luercas with them, moved out of earshot then, and Wraith turned to Solander.
УI think IТm going to be sick.Ф
УHeТs going to hate you forever for that,Ф Solander said, awed. УI canТt believe you didnТt justа.а.а. bow.Ф
УI looked in his eyes. If IТd given him what he wanted that time, the next time we met, he would have tried to make me do something worse. HeТsа.а.а. I donТt like him at all.Ф