"Patricia A. McKillip - The Snow Queen" - читать интересную книгу автора (McKillip Patricia A)

The Snow Queen




The Snow Queen
Patricia A. McKillip

Kay


THEY STOOD TOGETHER WITHOUT TOUCHING, watching
the snow fall. The sudden storm prolonging winter had surprised the
city; little moved in the broad streets below them. Ancient filigreed
lamps left from another century threw patterned wheels of light into
the darkness, illumining the deep white silence crusting the world.
Gerda, not hearing the silence, spoke. "They look like white rose
petals endlessly falling." Kay said nothing. He glanced at his watch,
then at the mirror across the room. The torchieres gilded them: a
lovely couple, the mirror said. In the gentle light Gerda's sunny hair
looked like polished bronze; his own, shades paler, seemed almost
white. Some trick of shadow flattened Gerda's face, erased its
familiar hollows. Her petal-filled eyes were summer blue. His own
face, with sharp bones at cheek and jaw, dark eyes beneath pale
brows, looked, he thought, wild and austere: a monk's face, a
wizard's face. He searched for some subtlety in Gerda's, but it
would not yield to shadow. She wore a short black dress; on her it
seemed incongruous, like black in a flower.
He commented finally, "Every time you speak, flowers fall from

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The Snow Queen


your mouth."
She looked at him, startled. Her face regained contours; they were
graceful but uncomplex. She said, "What do you mean?" Was he
complaining? Was he fanciful? She blinked, trying to see what he
meant.
"You talk so much of flowers," he explained patiently. "Do you
want a garden? Should we move to the country?"
"No," she said, horrified, then amended: "Only ifтАФ Do you want
to? If we were in the country, there would be nothing to do but
watch the snow fall. There would be no reason to wear this dress.
Or these shoes. But do you wantтАФ"
"No," he said shortly. His eyes moved away from her; he jangled
coins in his pocket. She folded her arms. The dress had short puffed
sleeves, like a little girl's dress. Her arms looked chilled, but she
made no move away from the cold, white scene beyond the glass.
After a moment he mused, "There's a word I've been trying all day