"Sheri S. Tepper - The True Game 2 - Necromancer Nine" - читать интересную книгу автора (Tepper Sherri)

about not using Talents in a Schooltown. He simply ordered and it was done, a horse, packing, certain
books from the library, foodstuffs, two Armigers and a young Demon to accompany him. I did nothing
but get in his way, each time trying to tell him that I would go back with him to the Bright Demesne to do
what I should have done in the first place. He would have none of it.
"For the love of Divine Didir, Peter, sit down and be still. If there were anything you could do, I
would have you do it in a moment. There is nothing. Believe me, nothing. Just now the most important
thing you can do is what you were intending to do anyhow, find Mavin and tell her what has happened
here. Give me a moment with these people and I'll talk to you about it.
So I sat and waited, with ill grace and badly concealed hurt. It was quite bad enough to remember
that I had come away when I was needed; it was worse now to be denied return when I was eager to
help. At last Mertyn had all his minions scattered to his satisfaction, and he came back to me, sitting
beside me to take my hand.
"Thalan, put your feelings aside. NoтАФI know how you feel. You could not have failed to love old
Windlow. All who know him do. As for Himaggery, it is hard not to like him, admire him, even when he
is most infuriating. So, you want to help. You can. Hear me, and pay utmost attention.
"For some time there have been disappearances. Gamesmen of high rank. Wizards. Almost always
from among those we would call 'progressive.' Many have been Windlow's students over the years. It
can't be mere happenstance, coincidence. We suspect the cause but have no proof.
"Are those who have vanished dead? If they are, then some among the powerful Necromancers
should be able to raise them, query them, find out what has happened. So, Necromancer after
Necromancer has called into the dust of time, but none of the vanished rise. Instead, for some few of the
searchers, it has been Necromancer Nine, highest risk, and they have vanished as well. Gone. Not dead,
Or, if dead, dead in a way no others have ever died." He shivered as though cold. "If not dead, then
where? Demon after Demon has sought them, and for some of them it has been Demon's Eyes Nine; they
have disappeared as well. Are they imprisoned? Pursuivant after Pursuivant has searched, Rancelmen
have delved. We find nothing. Those who vanish are simply gone.
"Yet still we pursue our goal, our studies. Himaggery. His allies. Windlow's old students. Though
our allies vanish, our numbers continue to growтАФslowly, too slowly. I warned Himaggery to draw no
attention to himself. Bannerwell was a mistake, though we had to do it. As Windlow would say, it was
morally correct but tactically wrong. So it has happened. Old Windlow evidently had some
foreknowledge of it; he told you I would be needed. Well, I will go and try to hold things together while
you seek out Mavin because we need her. We need her clever mind, her hidden ways, her sense of
strategy. You can help most by finding her, which you would have done in any case."
I could not be so discourteous as to argue against that. He meant what he said. It was no mere sop
for my comfort. I swallowed my pride and assented, sorrowing that I had refused help earlier and that it
was now too late. He pulled me close, whispering.
"Thalan, mark me. You have the eidolon of Dorn. I know you dislike using it, but if you have chance
to do so, query among the dead for Himaggery and Windlow. If youтАФby any chanceтАФuse others of
those TalentsтАФno, don't say anything, boyтАФseek for Himaggery and Windlow. Even half answers are
better than no answers at all."
He kissed me and went. I was left in his place alone, among the tumble of packing, things half out of
boxes, paper scattered upon his table, maps curling out of their cases, a disorder which spoke more
harshly than words of his state of mind. I spent an hour setting it right, then went to make my own
preparations and to take farewell of Chance.
It was not easy. He did not accept that I would have to go alone. He could accept only that Mertyn
had so ordered, and he was as bound by that order as I. At the end he told me he would go back to the
Bright Demesne to await my return. He said that two or three times, to await my return, as though by
saying it he could assure it would be so. It comforted me more than it did him, I'm sure. Perhaps he
intended it so. I was very uncertain of what was to happen next, so preoccupied I paid no attention at all
to Karl Pig-face and by my contemptuous silence (for so he and his followers interpreted it) did his