"Katherine Kerr - Deverry 10 - The Black Raven" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kerr Katherine)

'Well, yes.'
'I'm not surprised. He's not really human, you see.'
'That's what my husband says!' Marka turned to Ebany. 'I don't understand any
of this!'
'No doubt.' Evandar bowed to her. 'But I see this interests you. Perhaps we
can discuss it?'
Ebany merely glared at him, trembling on the edge of rage.
'The Guardians,' Evandar hissed. 'Does that name mean anything to you?'
All at once Ebany laughed, relaxed, and began speaking to him in an
incomprehensible language. For a moment Marka felt like screaming herself, but
the stranger seemed to understand the words; he answered in the same tongue.
When she started to ask them what it was, Ebany silenced her with a wave.
'I'm sorry, my love, and truly, I'm forgetting all my manners.' Ebany laid a
soft hand on her arm. 'We have a guest, a stranger in our camp!'
'So we do.' She saw her chance for escape and took it. "We'll all have a
lovely breakfast. I'll go attend to it.'
'None for me!' Evandar broke in. 'I don't exactly eat, you see.' There seemed
to be nothing to say to this announcement. Marka hurried away, calling to her
daughters to come help with the meal.
Inside the tent Salamander offered his guest cushions, and they sat across
from each other on a flat-woven carpet of green and blue. Kwinto, dark and
graceful with his father's long fingers and slight build, sat cross-legged on
the floor cloth nearby. When Salamander glanced his way he found the boy's
face a tightly-controlled mask.
'Did I ever tell you about the Guardians?' Salamander said.
Kwinto shook his head.
They're a race of spirits, like the Elementals, but far far more advanced and
more powerful than that. This fellow, sitting here? The man you see is just an
illusion.'
'A bit more than that, please,' Evandar said. 'I don't know what I make myself
out of, exactly, but it suffices.' He picked up a silk scarf, flicked it, then
tossed it to Kwinto. 'Illusions don't have hands that hold and touch.'
Kwinto smiled briefly, then ducked his head to study the scarf as if perhaps
he could read the secrets of the universe from the pale gold silk. Marka and
the girls came in, set down plates of bread and fruit, cups, and a pitcher of
water laced with wine. When they started out, Salamander called Marka back but
let the girls run off.
'Come sit with me, my love,' he said. 'I think this news concerns you, too.'
'Where's Zandro?' Marka said. 'I should go see -'
Terrenz has him.' Kwinto spoke up, his boy's voice cracking. 'They went out
the back when we came in.'
'Leave him be, my love,' Salamander said. 'Sit down.'
When he shoved a cushion her way she sank onto it. For a long moment an
awkward silence held, as Evandar studied her and Kwinto both, but neither
would look his way. Salamander poured himself a cup of water.
'I should tell you why I'm here,' Evandar said at last. "Your father is
worried about you. He wants you to come home.'
'My life lies here.'
'And it seems to be a busy one, I must say.' Evandar glanced around the tent.
'And prosperous. Your tents are much richer than your father's.'