"Patricia C. Wrede - Lyra 02 - The Raven Ring" - читать интересную книгу автора (Wrede Patricia C)

based on landmarks, even in villages, she had assumed that Gralith was unused to giving directions when
he had said only "two streets, then right; three streets, then left." Now she understood. Ciaron had been
carefully planned; the streets ran in straight lines at fixed distances from each other. The narrow alleys at
the rear of the buildings were straight, too. It made Eleret even more uncomfortable than the throng of
people.

As she drew farther away from the avenue, the crowd thinned. There were still more people on the
street than she was used toтАФa couple wearing matching bright blue capes and hats, a dark-haired
woman in a brown cloak, a group of youths swaggering slowly in no particular direction, a pair of
muscular men carrying fishnetsтАФbut at least now she could walk without bumping into them. She
wondered how her mother had felt about the people and the straight streets and square buildings, and
whether she had missed the clean quiet of the mountains. But Tamm Salven had been in the army, Eleret
reminded herself, stationed out on the western border. She probably had not spent much time in Ciaron.

Preoccupied with her thoughts, Eleret almost walked right past her destination. The Island of the
Moon had set up its school in yet another large, plain, square stone building. Eleret had an unexpected
attack of nervousness when she saw it. She told herself not to be foolish; a house was a house. Putting
her shoulders back, she laid one hand lightly on the hilt of her dagger and went up to the door.

No one answered her repeated knocks. Eleret frowned. This was the official home of the Islanders
in Ciaron; someone must be in. She stepped back a pace and studied the door. She saw no knocker or
bellpull, but at the left side of the door, set in a niche in the stone, was a small brass knob. Feeling foolish,
Eleret pulled at it.

A faint chime sounded somewhere inside the building. Eleret smiled. A moment later, a dark-haired
girl in a plain gray robe opened the door. She looked as if she might be only a year or two older than
Nilly, but she held herself with the stiff correctness of someone much older. "Welcome to our House.
What service may I do you?"

"I'm here to see Adept Climeral," Eleret answered, all her uncertainty returning with a rush at the
girl's formality.

The girl's eyes widened, and suddenly she looked younger and considerably less dignified.
"Climeral? But he's head of the school; he doesn't do things for anyone, he just directs everyone else. Are
you sure you want to see Climeral?"

Eleret repressed a strong desire to deny that she wanted any such thing. "Yes. I have a message for
him, from Gralith in the Mountains of Morravik."

"Oh!" The girl gave her a bright, relieved smile. "Then you must be Eleret Salven. He's been
expecting you for several days, even though Nijole said you couldn't possibly get here before the end of
the week. He said Nijole hadn't ever met any Cilhar and didn't know what they could do. Looks like he
was right again. Oh, I'm keeping you waiting. Come in; I'm Prill, and I talk too much."

To agree would have been unmannerly, so Eleret stepped inside without speaking. As she crossed
the threshold, her uneasiness vanished like smoke in a sudden breeze. The stone walls seemed to radiate
peace and solid comfort despiteтАФor perhaps because ofтАФtheir plain, uncarved surfaces. A bar of
sunlight fell through a long, narrow window slit above the door, turning a thin stripe of stone to gold and
making the high arch of the ceiling seem to vanish among quiet shadows.