"Modesitt,.L.E.-.Spellsong.05.-.Shadow.Singer" - читать интересную книгу автора (Modesitt L E)

"Though I have not traveled as you have, my lady," he replied gently, "neither had I."

"I had thought, were I ever to be consorted, it would be in Falcor, or Flossbend, or even Loiseau . . . not in a strange land."

"We could wait," he suggested. "I would not wish to rush you into such."

Secca shook her head. "Lady Anna waited even to acknowledge her love for Lord Jecks, and I fear she lost years of happiness because she delayed." A sad smile crossed Secca's lips as she thought of the woman who had been more than a mentor, more than a teacher a mother as well, in fact, if not in name. Secca doubted that she would ever recall Anna without love, emptiness, and a sense of regret that she had not told Anna how much the older woman had meant to her.

After a silence, Secca added, "I need you, both for myself and for what we do. I would not have it said that our alliance was disharmonious or merely of bodily needs."

Alcaren raised his eyebrows.

Secca found herself flushing again, wondering how she had been able to ignore the sheer magnetism of her consort-to-be for as long as she had. "I did not say. . ." She laughed once more, shaking her head as she did.

Alcaren laughed as well.

As the moment of shared joy passed, Secca cleared her throat gently, repeating, "We must have a consorting ceremony before we leave Encora."

"Because you're a Lady of Defalk."

"And so that the Ladies of the Shadows know that I'm going to carry you off away from Ranuak." Secca smiled mischievously for a moment 'Does the Matriarch perform such ceremonies?"

"Seldom. . . but she can."

"Surely, she would do that for a beloved cousin."

"She would more likely do so to make sure her beloved cousin was leaving Encora forever," replied Alcaren dryly as he rose from the chair and stepped back, stretching, before looking past Secca toward the windows and the harbor beyond.

"I think she would like to see you happy," Secca said.

"Oh. . . that she would. Happy with a lovely woman and a beautiful sorceress. . . and happily gone from Encora and on our way to save Liedwahr from the scourge of the Sea-Priests. With song-sorceries used to great effect elsewhere."

Secca nodded agreement, even as she sensed the under-lying bitterness. "But she would perform the consorting ceremony."

"I am most certain she would."

"I will send her a request by messenger," replied the petite redhead, "after we meet with the others."

"Will you also send a message to Lord Robero?"

"Yes, but not by sorcery, and not soon. Perhaps I will wait to tell him personally." Secca grinned. "He did say that I needed to consider the matter of heirs."

Alcaren's mouth opened.

Secca laughed once more. "Not now, but with you able to do sorcery, I could have children without fearing all would be after me while I was weakened."

"I am not..." he replied slowly.

"You can certainly sing a scrying spell already," Secca pointed out "That is not forbidden, even by the Ladies of the Shadows."