"Patricia A. McKillip - The Cygnet And The Firebird" - читать интересную книгу автора (McKillip Patricia A)

Meguet heard a snore from one of the back tables,
Sne stifled a yawn. A sudden wind tugged at her light
mantle. The air was a heady mix of brine and sun-
steeped roses on the tower vines; it seemed to blow
from everywhere at once: from past and future, from
unexplored countries where wooden flowers opened
on tree boughs to reveal strange, rich spices, and
sheep the colors of autumn leaves wandered through
the hills....

She felt herself drifting on the alien wind; a sound
brought her back. The hall was silent; she wondered
if she herself had made some noise. But it was only
Haf Berg, sitting down at last, working his chair fuss-
ily across the flagstones. Lauro Ro watched him im-
passively. She sat at the crescent dais table, the
Cygnet flying like a shadow through tarnished mid-
night stars on the vast, timeworn banner behind her.
Her elegant face was unreadable, her wild dark hair
so unnaturally tidy that Meguet suspected Nyx had
bewitched it into submission. The Holder's heir sat at
her right, wearing her enigmatic reputation with com-
posure. Lauro Ro asked, "Will anyone challenge Haf
Berg's painstaking examination of the problems of
sheep pasturage on the south border of Berg Hold?"
There was a daunting note in her voice. Only a pigeon
challenged. Iris, on the Holder's left, consulted a pa-
per and whispered to her mother.

Rush Yarr sat beside Iris, and Calyx beside Nyx.
The two younger sisters, one fair and reclusive, the
other dark and distinguished most of the time by ex-
traordinary rumors, bore the intense scrutiny of the
council members calmly. When Calyx spoke, pearls
and doves did not fall from her lips. When Nyx spoke,
toads did not fall, nor did lightning flash. But it had
taken days for the anticipation to fade.

The Holder spoke again. Linden Dacey of Withy
Hold wished to bring up the matter of... Meguet
tightened her shoulders, loosened them. A knot
burned at the nape of her neck. She shifted slightly,
easing some of her weight onto the blade she held.

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Across the room, the sorceress lifted her eyes at the
flash of light.