"Patricia A. McKillip - The Throme of the Erril of Sherill" - читать интересную книгу автора (McKillip Patricia A)

crossed the drawbridge, and they twinkled sympathetically on his upturned face.
тАЬBut it does not exist,тАЭ he mourned to them. тАЬDoes it?тАЭ




2
And so the Cnite Caerles spent the night under a tree. He hated sleeping under
trees. Trees whispered at night and dropped things on his face; trees wound
underground and made hard knobs of their roots that gave lump in the back and
crick in the neck. Trees let the sun too early in his eyes, and the sun would not
go away. But worse than the sun was the Thing, that jumped out of nowhere onto
the stomach of the Cnite Caerles.
тАЬOog,тАЭ said Caerles and opened one eye. A child looked back at him, her
hair in sweet, moist tendrils down her back, her finger in her mouth. The other
eye of the Cnite Caerles opened. тАЬChild,тАЭ he said cheerlessly, тАЬWhy are you
sitting on my stomach?тАЭ
тАЬI have lost my dagon,тАЭ said the child through her finger. Caerles looked at
her motionlessly, unblinking in the sunlight.
тАЬI, too, have lost something,тАЭ he said finally. тАЬI have lost my true heartтАЩs
love, the well-spring of my deep heartтАЩs laughter, because I am sent on a
hopeless quest from which I will never return. But that is no reason to go and sit
on someone elseтАЩs stomach.тАЭ
тАЬI want my dagon,тАЭ said the child. She bounced up and down impatiently on
the Cnite Caerles. Her eyes were blue as the tiny flowers that grew pointed like
stars all around them. The Cnite reached out to still her, and she sat still,
looking down at him, her eyes blue and fearless and certain as the true seasonтАЩs
sky.
тАЬWho are you?тАЭ said Caerles.
тАЬI am Elfwyth. My dagon is Dracoberus.тАЭ
тАЬDid you call him?тАЭ
тАЬI called and called and called. And called. Who are you?тАЭ
тАЬI am the Cnite Caerles, and I do not think I like small girls. Perhaps Damsen
will have only sons.тАЭ
Elfwyth took her finger out of her mouth. тАЬI do not think I like you,тАЭ she said
sternly. тАЬAnd if you do not help me find my dagon I will bounce up and down
and I will cry.тАЭ
The Cnite Caerles lifted her in his strong arms and stood up and set her on
the ground, where she came barely higher than his knee. He folded his arms and
looked down at her. She folded her arms and looked back up at him. Then,
sudden as a falling star, came a tear rilling from the curve of her eye down to
the corner of her mouth. Another followed, and her blue eyes were flowers with
hearts of rain.
тАЬOh, please,тАЭ she sniffed. тАЬOh, please find my dagon. Then I will help you
look for what you have lost. Oh, please.тАЭ
тАЬOh, please,тАЭ Caerles said weakly. тАЬDo not cry. If you cry I will have to help
you, for the love of the tears in my sweet DamsenтАЩs eyes.тАЭ
тАЬOh, please find my dagon. I am lost and sorely sad without him, for I love
him, and he loves me, and I will not go home without him.тАЭ
Caerles gave a sigh sadder than the windтАЩs sigh on moonless nights. тАЬOh,