"Holly Lisle - Secret Texts 2 - Vengeance Of Dragons" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lisle Holly)

“Which is . . . ?”

“Southern Ibera. The harbor at Brelst will do.” Shedid not know how far south her cousin Danya
was, but where Danyawas, the Reborn was — and that was where Kait and the Mirrorhad to be,
too. From Brelst, she could get the Mirror wherever itneeded to go.

“You ask a great deal of us: the diversion of our ship fromits intended destination; the disruption
of our crewmen’slives; and an increased chance of encounters with pirates, storms,monsters, and
reefs. What do you offer in return?”

“Ry Sabir’s life.”

The captain smiled at her. “He came across the sea torescue you. Had he not come with your
good in mind, you would notnow have his life to use as a bargaining chip.”

“And if he had come to rescue all of us, I would not beforced to use it.”

“And you can be so certain that we would not have rescuedall of you?”

“Never mind that you assume I knew you came to rescue me.Galweighs and Sabirs don’t share a
happy past — knowing aSabir ship sailed into our harbor, how could I assume that myfriends
would be your friends? And indeed, I’ve discoveredthat your Sabir and our captain are enemies.”
She did notelaborate — the gods had drawn her to both Ian and Ry, thegods had brought the two
brothers together, and now she was surethe gods had their bets placed on what would happen
next. She,however, saw no reason to complicate her negotiations with thatinformation.

“Fair enough,” the captain said evenly. “What isyour cargo?”
She shrugged. “Bedrolls, the few possessions that themutineers didn’t steal, a single artifact that
we came here toget.”

“The Mirror of Souls,” Ry said. Kait heard the slapthat followed, and Ian’s voice saying,
“Another word fromyou and you’re dead — and if we die with you, we’llat least send your
friends to the grave first.”

The captain snorted, clearly disbelieving what Ry had said, butthe parnissa was staring at her
with wide eyes. “The Mirror ofSouls?”

She could not lie — not bound in negotiation, with the godsher witnesses and her life forfeit if
she failed. She said,“Yes. We found the Mirror of Souls.”

She thought for an instant that the parnissa was going to dropto his knees before her, but then he
steadied himself.“Captain,” he said, and she heard the trembling in hisvoice, “the Mirror cannot
be allowed to go anywhere but toCalimekka. It is . . . it belongs to. . .” He swallowed so hard she
watched the head ofhis windpipe bob. “Only the parnissas should be permittedanywhere near it.
In the wrong hands it would be enormouslydangerous — it is the most magical of the old
Dragonartifacts.”

The captain looked from the parnissa to Kait. “Hmmm,”he said. “We seem to have a problem.”