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

They looked at one another a moment: cousins
bound by blood and by secret, ancient ways. Memo-
ries gathered between them in the sunlit air. The
swans on the hilt and etched blade in Meguet's hands
had taken wing, Nyx had transformed herself from
bog-witch into Cygnet's heir so recently that the sor-
cery in that hidden time and place beneath their feet
must still be rebounding against the labyrinth stones.
The sorceress's eyes, mist-pale in the light, seemed
mildly speculative, as if, Meguet thought, she contem-
plated turning her cousin into a bat to liven up the
tedium. Meguet, returning her attention to the pro-
ceedings, half-wished she would.

Linden Dacey had brought up the matter of a bor-
der feud between Withy Hold and the Delta. A river
had shifted, or been shifted; the south border, defined
for centuries, was suddenly uncertain ... The great
Hold banners swayed and glittered above her head as
she spoke; eyes caught at Meguet. The Blood Fox of
the Delta prowled on starry pads; one eye glinted as\
if thought had flashed through its bright threads. The
Gold King of Hunter Hold, the crowned and furious
sun, glared out of his prison of night. Meguet, gazing
back, felt a sudden chill, as if the face of spun gold
thread were alive again and watching.

Someone from the Delta interrupted Linden Dacey.
There was an interesting squabble on the council
floor. Old Maharis Kell jerked mid-snore out of his
nap. The Holder let it rage a moment, probably to
wake everyone up. Then she cut through it in a voice
that must have brought a few cottagers in the outer
yard to a dead stop. Rush Yarr slid a hand over his
mouth. Calyx, catching a tremor in the air, glanced at
him. Rush, Meguet noted, had recovered his sense of
humorтАФor discovered it, she wasn't sure which, for
he had loved a sorceress who was never home for so
long that likely even he didn't remember if he had
one. Calyx had entered the doorless walls of the tower

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he had built around himself, and he found her inside
his heart.

Linden Dacey, finished finally, yielded debate to
the chastened Delta councilor. Gold streaked sud-