"Kristine Kathryn Rusch - Black Throne 02 - The Black King" - читать интересную книгу автора (Rusch Kristine Kathryn)

wasnтАЩt so sure. Rugad, the Black King, had tried to take over her mind. He had made the
assault on her when she was fifteen. He was a Visionary like she was, and he had traveled
across her brother SebastianтАЩs Link into her mind. First Rugad had tried to take over her
body by force, and when that hadnтАЩt worked, he had left a tiny bit of himself inside her
brain.
That bit had been the equivalent of an infant then. In fifteen years, it had grown into
the equivalent of a young man. It wasnтАЩt supposed to awaken inside her for another ten
years, but something triggered itтАФa bright light with black threaded through it, a magical
sending that had come from far away. If Rugad had waited another ten years, he would
have subsumed her entirely, holding her body and her consciousness hostage forever.
Coulter, who was an Enchanter, had tried to kick Rugad out of her and failed. But
Coulter did manage to carry AriannaтАЩs consciousness out of her body and away from the
palace before Rugad could stop him.
The problem was that she lived inside CoulterтАЩs mind while her Golem body was being
built. And, much as she cared for Coulter, the lack of privacy had driven her crazy. Just as
this nonresponsive body was driving her crazy.
All of the people around herтАФSeger, Coulter, Con, Matt, and the other students at
CoulterтАЩs schoolтАФtreated her as if she were an invalid. She wasnтАЩt. She simply didnтАЩt have
the mobility sheтАЩd had in her natural body. Or the power. Right now, all of Blue IsleтАФall of
the Fey EmpireтАФthought that she was still ruling the country. Her body was, but it was
being guided and powered by Rugad, the most ruthless Black King of all.
She put her hands on the edge of the bench and leaned forward. It seemed to take
forever to make the movement. She had to concentrate on speeding up these commands.
She didnтАЩt want to move like Sebastian for the rest of her life.
Sebastian was a Golem too, but he had been formed as an infant. He had his own
personality, which was originally composed of bits of her brother Gift. Sebastian was a
special type of Golem, one that Seger said was maintained by the Mysteries and Powers,
a creature that had a life of its own. Whereas if Arianna left her GolemтАЩs body, it would
remain immobile until she entered it again. Eventually it would revert to the stone it had
once been.
Sebastian was the only one who seemed to understand how she felt. Sometimes he
would sit with her and hold her while she wished she could cry.
Most of the time, though, she found herself on this bench, staring at the Cardidas. It
was hard for her to believe that this river bisected all of Blue Isle. Yet right now the river
seemed to be the only constant in her life.
And somehow, every time she sat here, she felt threatened. She knew that the capital
city of Jahn lay only a few days from here by ship. She and Coulter, in making their
escape from the palace, had left an easy-to-follow trail. Sometimes she thought Coulter
did it on purpose. She thought Coulter wanted to lure Rugad to the Place of Power in the
Cliffs of Blood and either kill him or trap him there.
Arianna wasnтАЩt so sure it would be that easy, but she was surprised that Rugad hadnтАЩt
come. For all his power madness, Rugad believed in the Fey way. And the most important
tenet of Fey Leadership was Vision. Arianna had it, and so did her brother Gift. That was
how they were able to create and sustain Golems, how they were able to move their
consciousness across Links between people, and how they were able to survive outside of
their own bodies as long as their consciousness had a place to reside.
Rugad had had Vision when he was alive, but the bit he had left inside Arianna had
none. He had told her, while they were sharing her brain, that he would force her to use
her Vision to help him lead. Only she wasnтАЩt there anymore, and he was leading Blind. She
couldnтАЩt believe that was something he would do for long. He had to find another