"Douglas Niles - Forgotten Realms - Moonshae 02 - Black Wizard" - читать интересную книгу автора (Niles Douglas)

of the druidsтАФ find out for myself if I am destined to serve, as my mother did
and my aunt does, as a druid of the isles. This is something I have to do, and
if Genna tells me that the only way I will learn is by performing mundane
tasks around her grove, then so be it."
"Of course," N,ewt said nonchalantly. "Tristan's probably got plenty to do at
Caer Corwell, anyway. Festivals and hunts ... all those pretty country lasses
and barmaids. I don't imagine for a minute that a prince of the Ffolk would
waste his hot summer afternoons in a cool alehouse, of course, but just
supposing he. . . ."
"Oh, shut up!" exclaimed Robyn, more harshly than she intended. Newt had an
uncanny ability to aggravate her.
DOUGLAS MILES
She did miss Tristan. But, she reminded herself, she was doing the right thing
by following in the footsteps of the mother she had never knownтАФthe mother
that had left her a book and a staff as proof of her druidic legacy.
Wasn't she?
She remembered the sense of awe and wonder with which she had opened her
mother's book, only a year ago. It had been given to her by her stepfather,
King Kendrick of CorwellтАФTristan's father. Through its pages, Robyn had begun
to understand the nature of the work she was capable of doing. She saw that
she had the power to serve the goddess, Earthmother, and to use druidic magic
to maintain the balance of nature in the islands that were her home.
Now she recalled the smooth ashwood staff, plain and unadorned, that had
nonetheless become her most treasured possession. Crafted by her mother's own
hands, it was both a receptacle and a tool for the earthpower of druidic
magic. Not only had it saved her life, but it had been instrumental in
rescuing the kingdom itself from the terror of the Darkwalker, Now it stayed
safely within the Great Druid's cottage, awaiting her need.
Wistfully, she wondered about her motherтАФas she did so often. Her Aunt Genna
had described her to Robyn in such detail that she now seemed completely
familiar. Sometimes Robyn felt as though she had indeed known her mother. As
always, a great sadness washed over her at the thought that she would never
truly know the woman who had brought her into the world.
A sudden soundтАФthe snapping of a dry twigтАФcracked through her thoughts, and
Robyn froze. She knew every creature that visited the grove, and none of them
would make such a careless noise. Even Grunt, the cantankerous brown bear who
lived with them in the grove, moved his bulk silently among the plants.
The cracking was repeated, and Robyn located its source in a clump of bushes
behind her. A sharp prickle of fear ran along her spine, and she reached for
the stout stick leaning against a nearby stump. Slowly, she turned.
The bushes rustled, indicating that a large creature was moving toward her.
Suddenly, they parted to reveal the
BLACK WIZARDS
staggering figure of a man. At least, she thought it was a manтАФthe shaggy,
matted hair and beard, the filthy, spindly limbs, and the dazed, sunken eyes
looked more beastly than human. The creature shuffled forward like an ape,
clad only in a tattered rag tied with a crude belt.
Hut a sound croaked from an unmistakably human throat as the figure collapsed
on the ground at her feet.
The boat's slim prow slipped through the black waters of Corwell Firth. The