"Michelle West - Winter Death" - читать интересную книгу автора (West Michelle)

shadows, whispered eagerly and quickly amongst themselves. Not even the dour
expression of the Widow Davis could silence them completely.
The widow's hand tightened; Kayla's arm began to tingle. She did not, however,
ask the old woman to let go.
"He's here for you, girl," the woman said, pulling her arm free
 Kayla looked up at the Companion, and then she reached out with her free hand.
Her fingers stopped inches from his nose, and she let that hand fall. She said,
quietly, "Do I have to go with you?"
He looked into her eyes and said, in a voice that made all song seem flat and thin,
:The choice is yours.
:I have waited long for this day. I have waited, bright heart, and promised myself
that I would let you lead the life the mountain would give you.:
:But I have heard your cries from across the continent; I have been with you
when you buried your dead, when you cradled the living that you knew you could
not hold on to.:
She looked up at his eyes; his gaze never wavered. "You know that this choice is
no choice."
He was silent a moment; she thought he would offer no answer. And then,
quietly, he said, :Better than you would understand.:
"Because the choice has always been yours to make."
:Because the Companions Choose, yes.:
"And the Heralds?"
:They are Chosen. But they feel the bond, and they desire it, and they accept it for
all that it is; all that it can be.:
"And my oath?" she asked him, voice steady, arm now drawing on an young
child for support.
:There are oaths that are made that cannot be kept in the manner that their
maker envisioned. If a child promises to love you, and only you, for all of forever,
could you hold him to that vow? Would you desire it?:
"I was no child when I made that vow."
:Dear heart,: he said gently, :you are barely an adult now, and you made that
vow when your older brother moved away, long before you had husband or
children.: He stepped forward, and she shied away.
Because she wanted what he offered.
Because she had never wanted anything so badly. :I choose you, Kayla.:
She heard the song of his name, although she had never asked it of him, and he
had never offered itтАФas if they both understood, in the dreams of her youth, that
his name was a binding they had avoided by careful dance until this moment.
"Darius."
Widow David coughed. The old woman's face was set in its harshest lines. In the
distance, children that had been silent until that moment surged forward as Kayla
did; they came in a press of small bodies, eager and excited.
But she knew that they would understand it truly later.
For now, all they said was, "You're to be Chosen, Kayla? You're going to be a
Herald? Will you wear white? Will you have a sword? Will you have a bow?"
 She answered all questions gravely, until one lone boy spoke. Evan.
"Will you come back?"
"Yes," she said, fiercely. "Often. I will come back with a saddlebag full of
Northern toys and treats and books, and I will come at the edge of winter, just
before they close the passes, like some foolish, green merchant."