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

For my sister, Peg Hammer, who showed me
that women can he strong, courageous, and
feminine all at the same time.




Acknowledgments


Thanks on this book go to Anne Lesley Groell for her tremendous work on this project;
Merrilee Heifetz for keeping the dream alive; Paul Higginbotham and Jerry and Kathy
Oltion for their perceptive comments; my husband, Dean Wesley Smith, for loving the
world of the Fey sometimes more than I do; and to all the readers whoтАЩve been writing
me letters and telling me what they enjoy about this world, and why.




The Black King
contents - next
 The Return



Chapter One
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Gift stood on the prow of the Tashka, his hands clasped behind his back, his feet
spread slightly apart. He wore his hair longer than he ever had, and used a leather tie to
hold it back. The sun and weather had darkened his skin, making it the same color as that
of the Fey around him. His hands had calluses, his body more muscles. He had learned a
lot on this trip, much of it about survival.
The Infrin Sea was choppy. A wind had come up, carrying with it a light mist. The
skies were overcast, the air chill, but something in it smelled of home.
If he squinted, he could see Blue Isle ahead. At first its mountainous shore had looked
like a gray shadow against the gray ocean, but as the ship drew closer, the shapes were
becoming clearer.
The Stone Guardians protected the only natural harbor in Blue Isle. They were huge
rocks, three times taller than most ships, staggered throughout the harbor and its entry
way. The Guardians created unusual currents that changed with the tides and the
weather. No ship had ever made it through the Guardians without guidance. For decades,
GiftтАЩs Islander father and grandfather kept Blue Isle isolated by destroying all the maps
and getting rid of the people who watched the currents.
Now that GiftтАЩs sister, Arianna, was Queen of Blue Isle, she had reopened the trade
routes. Maps existed again, as did the on-land watchers. Navigators learned the patterns
of the currents, and some Fey had even been trained in reading the waters.
He unclasped his hand and wiped his eyes. Soon his Gull Riders would return with