"Zelazny, Roger - Amber Short Story 02 - The Salesman's Tale" - читать интересную книгу автора (Zelazny Roger)

over the sculpted figure that stood there. Finally, selecting a broad-faced
statue with a narrow torso, she began pushing it toward the center of the room.
I was on my feet and moving in an instant.
"Let me do that for you, Your Highness."
She shook her head.
"Call me Vialle," she said. "And no, I must position them myself. This one
is named Memory."
She placed it below and somewhat to the northwest of the Tongue. Then she
moved to a knot of figures and selected a thin one with slightly parted lips,
which she placed to the south on Tongue's compass.
".And this is Desire," she stated. Quickly locating a third-a
tall, squinting figure-she placed it to the northeast.
"Caution," she went on.
A lady, her right hand boldly extended, went to the west.
"Risk," she continued.
To the east she positioned another lady, both arms spread wide.
"Heart," she said.
To the southwest went a high-domed, shaggy-browed philosopher. "Head," she
said.
...And to the southeast a smiling lady-impossible to say whether her hand
was raised in greeting or to deliver a blow.
"Chance," she finished, fitting her into the circle which had come to
remind me both of Stonehenge and of Easter Island.
"Bring two chairs," she said, "and place them here and here,"
She indicated positions to the north and south of her circle.
I did as she'd said, and she seated herself in the northern-most chair,
behind a final figure she had placed: Foresight. I took my place back of Desire.
"Be silent now," she instructed
Then she sat still, hands in her lap, for several minutes.
Finally, "At the deepest level," she said, "what threatens the peace?"
From my left, Caution seemed to speak, though the Tongue chimed his words
overhead.
"A redistribution of ancient powers," he said.
"In what manner?"
"That which was hidden becomes known and is moved about" answered Risk.
"Are both Amber and the Courts involved?"
"Indeed," answered Desire, from before me.
"Ancient powers," she said. "How ancient?"
"Before there was an Amber, they were," stated Memory.
"Before there was a Jewel of Judgement--the Eye of the Serpent?"
"No," Memory responded.
She drew a sudden breath.
"Their number?" she said.
"Eleven," Memory replied.
She grew pale at that, but I held my silence as she had instructed.
"Those responsible for this stirring of ashes," she said then, "what do
they wish?"
"A return to the glory of days gone by," Desire stated.
"Could this end be realized?"
"Yes," Foresight replied.