"Jean Lorrah - Savage Empire 05 - Sorcerers of the Frozen Isles" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lorrah Jean)

Torio laughed, and lunged for Decius, ducking him. The younger boy retaliated, pulling Torio under, then
waiting to splash water in his face when he emerged snorting.

But Torio was bigger and stronger, and the better Reader. Decius could not shield his thoughts as well,
so Torio knew which move he would make next, and captured the wriggling boy to duck him again.

When Decius shot out of the depths, blowing water out of his mouth, Torio caught him and pinned him
against the pool wall for a moment. "Decius, stories like that are fun to tell around the fire in the evening,
but you know they are misunderstandings, if they're not totally imaginary. Did you counter the sailors by
telling them you have a friend who was raised from the dead?"

"Well, uhтАФ" Torio Read that the boy had had to work very hard not to yield to that temptation.

"You see? You know I wasn't deadтАФ-just some nonReaders thought I was, so when I turned up alive
they thought the savage healers had brought me back. That's how accurate you can expect those stories
the sailors told you to be. Flying, indeed!"

"Why not, if the Adept is powerful enough?" Decius demanded stubbornly.

"How long can any Adept work directly against nature? Or did your sailors claim that these sorcerers
with their powers to regrow limbs and eyes used them to grow wings for themselves?"

"NoтАФdon't be silly!" Decius protested, hurt by Torio's mocking tone. At Fifteen, he was still fighting to
be taken seriously.

"HeyтАФI'm sorry," said Torio. "Decius, it's just that you don't understand the limitations of Adept powers
yet. Talk to Master Lenardo and Master Clement about Reading for some of the Lords Adept. You're
good enough to do most of what they require, and it will give you a better idea of just how limited an
Adept's powers are when you see someone like Wulfston or Aradia collapse after an Adept trick that
uses up all their reserves. If you knew how much energy it took to lift something against gravity even for
just a moment, you'd realize why flying is impossible."

"YeahтАж I know," Decius said grudgingly. "ButтАФhow can you be sure there aren't Adepts somewhere
with even more powers than Wulfston or Aradia?"

"You're rightтАФI don't know," Torio conceded. No one understood exactly how Adept powers worked,
for an Adept using them was unRead-able. Even Readers who had learned Adept tricks, like Lenardo
and Melissa, found that they could not Read at the same time they were applying Adept power.

When the two boys had finished their bath, they dressed in familiar Aventine-style tunics, the
warm-weather garb Lenardo had popularized in his lands. Torio still felt more comfortable in such clothes
than in the silk shirts, hose, and tabards of the savage style.

Decius still wore the plain white linen tunic of a Reader in training, while Torio's was green silk, edged in
gold embroideryтАФa concession to his position as a savage lord. He would have preferred to dress in the
black-edged white tunic indicative of a Reader who had reached one of the upper ranks.

Master Clement still wore the robes of a Master

ReaderтАФscarlet cloak over a black-banded white tunicтАФevery day. Lenardo, who had the right to them