"Simon R. Green - Nightside 1 - Drinking Midnight Wine" - читать интересную книгу автора (Green Simon R)

'Inside the sun? Our sun, the one our world orbits?' Toby looked incredulously from Gayle to Carys
and back again, but both women looked entirely serious. 'Oh, come on! Nothing could live inside
the sun; the whole thing's one bloody great nuclear reaction!'
'And the Serpent lives there,' said Carys. 'Think about that. Think how powerful he would have to
be, how large and potent, compared to us small things... In the Bible, the Serpent was the


file:///G|/Program%20Files/eMule/Incoming/Sim...side%201%20-%20Drinking%20Midnight%20Wine.txt (38 of 118) [10/16/2004 5:28:20 PM]
 file:///G|/Program%20Files/eMule/Incoming/Simon%20R.%20Green%20-%20Nightside%201%20-%20Drinking%20Midnight%20Wine.txt

physical incarnation of evil in the Garden of Eden, the Enemy of all that is, now and for ever,
eternally, implacably evil. There are many who call The Serpent In The Sun the old Enemy. And this
being, this old adversary, has turned his gaze upon you, Toby Dexter. Because even the greatest of
the Powers and the Dominations can be shaken or changed or brought down by the implacable forces
surrounding a focal point.'
'I am dead,' said Toby. 'I am so dead you might as well nail down the coffin lid right now and
start choosing the hymns.'
'Not necessarily,' said Carys. She was glaring at Gayle again. 'She could protect you, if she
wanted. She could put a stop to what's coming. All she has to do is stop slumming, stop pretending
to be human, and assume her rightful mantle, and then even the Serpent would stop and think twice.
But she doesn't want to do that. The comfortable illusion of the life she's built for herself, the
lie she hides behind to avoid her responsibilities, is more important to her than you or me or any
other mayfly human life.'
'That's not true,' said Gayle. Her voice was still calm, but she did seem just a little perturbed
by the raw anger in Carys's voice. 'My only real responsibility is not to interfere directly in
people's lives. I have to stand back, remain uninvolved. People have to learn to stand on their
own two feet, to take responsibility for their own destiny. Otherwise free will would be nothing
more than an illusion, and the whole point of being human would be lost. People have to be free to
make their own mistakes, or they'll never learn anything.'
'Even if they destroy the whole planet in the process?'
'Even then,' Gayle said firmly.
'And how many innocents suffer every day as a result?'
'As many as necessary.' Gayle looked at Toby almost apologetically. 'I have to take the long view.
And Waking Beauty here only thinks she knows what that is. I was already far older than her when
she drew her first breath.' She turned back to Carys. 'Why did you send Toby to me? There have
been focal points before. Why send this one?'
'Because you're linked,' said Carys, with smug satisfaction. 'The skeins of fate are wrapped
around you both, so strongly I'm surprised you can't see them yourself. You think ley lines are
impressive, Toby; you should see fate's workings. It's like looking behind the world, to see the
stagehands at work. In my experience, life isn't nearly as arbitrary as it seems. Patterns and
statistics have a way of working out, whether we like it or not.'
'Crazy,' said Gayle. 'Crazy, and mean-spirited with it. There is no fate, no destiny; only
possibilities.'
'Believe what you like, if it makes you happy,' said Carys. 'Fate doesn't care. But you two have
been linked ever since you let him follow you through the door you conjured up at the railway
station.'
'I didn't let him follow me! I didn't even see him!'
'And how likely is that? He was right there, in plain view... You couldn't have missed him, unless
you were meant to. It's no use kicking and screaming, Gayle. This has been decided where all the
things that matter are decided; in the Courts of the Holy. Someone's pulling strings again...'