"Sheri S. Tepper - Awakeners 2 - Southshore" - читать интересную книгу автора (Tepper Sherri)

Tell yourself you do it to save the flame-bird's life. But do not expect it to nest, or
to sing."
She bowed her head, very pale. At the table behind her, Pamra rose, her hand
shaking as she wiped her mouth with the napkin. "Where are my clothes?" she
asked.
Peasimy found them for her, beside the fire, and she put them on. They were
warm and dry.
"Won't you stay until it stops raining?" Elina asked her. "Only until morning."
"No," Pamra said, her eyes darting from place to place in the high dwelling,
marking it in her memory. Another timeтАФ there might be converts to be had in
places like this. "No. Neff is waiting. Mother and Delia. They're waiting. We have

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set our feet upon the road and must not leave it. This is a bad place, Elina. You
should come with us. You can't see the road from in here, Elina. Come with us. . .
." Her face lit from within, glowed, only for a moment, but for that moment Elina
felt herself torn, wrenched, dragged to the gate of herself. Fear struck at her and
she drew back.
"No, Pamra. It is safe here. The people here find much joy and comfort."
"Joy," said Pamra. "Comfort!" The scorn in her voice was palpable, "an acid
dripping upon those words. "Safety. Yes. That is what you have here."
Peasimy was suddenly beside her, swallowing the last bite of his supper. Then
they were moving toward the entrance, out across the open chimney, through the
hallway, pulling at the great doors. They went into the night, a night miraculously
cleared of storm, with the moons lighting the sky. Potipur, half-swollen and sullen
above them to the west; Vkanel a mere sickle dipping beyond the western
horizon; Abricor a round melon, high in the east.
"You see," said Pamra. "Neff has arranged it. Here he comes now." And she
turned her radiant face to the woods, from which some invisible presence moved
to join her. Elina, in the doorway, gasped, for she saw it, for that moment saw it, a
towering figure of white light, golden wings outstretched, its breast stained with
red.
Trale was behind her. "Come in, Elina."
"Trale, I saw . . ."
"Saw what she sees. As do all those who follow her. Come in to the fire, Elina."
Behind Pamra and the others, the doors of the Jarb House shut with a solemn
clang. From the forests came the multitude, and Pamra's heart sang. "Crusade,"
she called. "Let us go on."
Thrasne thought of what he was about to do somewhat as he might have regarded
taking the axe to himself if he had been touched by blight. He would have
rejected the intention to lop off his own leg with horror, yet he would have done it
because the alternative was more terrible still.
So, he fell in with the plan to go with a group of Medoor Babji's Melancholies on
a voyage of exploration to find Southshore without enthusiasm, with a kind of

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