"Nancy Springer - Isle 05 - The Golden Swan" - читать интересную книгу автора (Springer Nancy)

be the greatest of blessings, the foremost gift of the gods."
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"They are mistaken." Frain spoke so quietly, so evenly, that the sense of his words struck with a shock,
jagged rock under still water. "It is the curse of the gods. Lord, I am entrapped. I have not been able to
grow or leave anything behind in all my wanderings. Seven years and they have not helped me or healed
meтАФit is as if I am frozen, a fly in amber. Lord, the wound smarts as if it were given but yesterday."

For a moment there was silence. Even Trevyn did not seem to know what to say. Then the doctor
scurried in, leading a servant with a steaming bowl of porridge. Frain could scarcely contain his
eagerness. His hand trembled as he reached for the spoon.

"Slowly," Trevyn cautioned, holding the bowl for him.

He ate, and not very slowly. As he sat back after eating we could see that he was in pain.

"Gut-ache," he said. "Sorry. I tried not to gulp."

"Never mind. Lie down." Trevyn helped him to curl up under the blankets. "Keep warm, maybe sleep. I
will have someone bring you a warm brick."

"Thank you. Truly, my lord, I feel that I shall soon be much better. Thank you for everything.",

He wanted us to leave. But Trevyn lingered, frowning thoughtfully.

"Only one more question, if you do not mind telling me. What were you seeking, that you set to sea in so
small a craft, unprovisioned, and in the freezing season yet?"

"Ascalonia," said Frain, his voice muffled by blankets. "Ogygia. The home of the goddess, if you will."

"Is that a sunlit land? You could have gotten to it in a larger vessel, if it is, and at a more clement time of
year. Or was it perhaps death you were seeking?"

"Yes, hi a sense. Her name is Shamarra. But to find her I must first speak to the goddess hi Ogygia."
Frain stirred tensely. "I hardly know anymore what I really seekтАФ growth, death, change, endingтАФ"

"Who is Shamarra?"

"That is yet another question." The daring of him, with a king he scarcely knew! But Trevyn smiled and
touched his shoulder.

"Sleep well," he said, and we left him. We did not speak until we reached the far end of the corridor.

He is a marvel, I said finally. I sensed uneasily that he did not like me, and I wished I could abate my
liking for him, but I could not.

"Ay," said Trevyn absently. "I expected no less. And it is a good nameтАФcan you say it, Dair?