"Julian May - Trillium 1 - Black Trillium" - читать интересную книгу автора (May Julian)

blossom and dropped it into the cup, but the plant she hid away beneath her cloak.
She waited for the counting of ten breaths while the flower dissolved, then took
the cup of tisane from the Oddling midwife and signaled to the King.

Krain rushed forward, raised his dear lady in his arms, and supported her while
she sipped at the drink and then drank steadily until the goblet was empty.

The Queen now lay back upon her pillows. Suddenly she uttered a mighty cry—
not of pain but rather of triumph — and the midwife Immu said: "She is giving
birth!"

Three Princesses, one babe following swiftly upon another, appeared. And this
was a great prodigy since multiple births are uncommon among the human
aristocracy.

The babes cried lustily, and although small were perfect in form, each differing
slightly in feature and coloring from the other. As each Princess was welcomed
into the waiting birth-cloth the Archimage spoke a name and laid upon the small
breast a strangely wrought golden pendant inlaid with honey-amber, containing a
bud of the Black Trillium flower.

"Haramis," she said to the first child, in the tone of one welcoming a beloved
friend or fosterling; and "Kadiya" she hailed the second; while "Anigel" greeted
the third.

Then she looked beyond the infants to the King and Queen, who both were staring
at her in wonder, and spoke with such a note of foreboding in her voice as to
impress her words deeply upon the memories of all who heard them.

"Years come and go with speed. That which is lofty may fall, that which is
cherished may be lost, that which is hidden must, in time, be revealed. And yet I
tell you that all will be well. My day slides now into evening, although I shall do
what I must and can until the coming of full night. These three Petals of the
Living Trillium, children of your house, Krain and Kalanthe, have a fearsome

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Trillum 01 - Black Trillium by Bradley, May and Norton (v1.0) (html).html


destiny awaiting them and terrible tasks, but the time for that is not yet."

Before the King and Queen could ask the meaning of her warning, the Archimage
Binah turned and went swiftly from the room. The howling babes and the
necessary duties attending the Queen's deliverance fully occupied the royal
women and the midwife Immu, while the King went forth to announce the joyful
news and proclaim a time of celebration. The magical trillium amulets were hung
on fine golden chains, and the Princesses wore them waking or sleeping.

As the Archimage had said, time passes; and with it treads also a measure of
forgetfulness. The three Princesses grew up to be strong and beautiful girls, who