"Andre Norton - WW - 18 Port of Dead Ships" - читать интересную книгу автора (Norton Andre)

A woman was drawing water at a well as I dismounted and, when I asked her where I might find the
lord, she blinked and then grinned at me, saying here were no lords, only old men who ruined their eyes
looking at books which sometimes fell to pieces while they did so. So I went searching for Kemoc.

Later I discovered that the affairs of housing were managed by Ouen (leader by default of the scholars,
he being a younger and more active man) and by Mistress Bethalie, whose opinion of the domestic arts
of most men was very low indeed. There was also Wessel, a jewel of a steward. It was because of these
three that Lormt flourished as well as it did.

Nor were there only males among the scholars. For I heard of a Lady Nareth, who kept much to her
own company, and one Pyra, a noted healer, whose country and clan were unknown but who Kemoc
revered for her knowledge and help with his own injury.

Five days I stayed with him, listening with growing excitement to his discoveries. Those about him were
for the most part so elderly that they might have been our grandsires. Each had a quest of his own and no
time for us.

The night before I left Kemoc faced me across one of the timeworn tables, having pushed aside a pile of
books bound in worm-eaten wood. He had a small pouch in his hand and from this he scattered between
us some beads of crystal which lay winking fire in the lamplight.

Without any thought my hand went out and I pushed one here, and one there until a pattern I did not
understand lay before my eyes. Kemoc nodded.

"So it is right, Duratan, knowledge lies here for you, also. And believe it or not, you have talent."

I looked at him openmouthed. "I am no maid--" I protested.

He smiled at me. "Just so, you are no maid, Duratan. So let me say this to you. There may be secrets
within secrets and the Witches are mortals for all their powers. There is infinitely more in this world than
they know. I have discovered much here and soon I shall be able to follow my own road. Take these."
He swept up the crystals, returning them to the pouch. "You shall find use for them."
When I left at dawn the next morning he was at the gate to see me forth.

"If peace ever comes to this land of ours, shield mate, ride you here again, for I think that there is to be
found a greater treasure than any wrecker lord of the eastern coast can dream of. Luck be with you and
fortune your shield."

But his wish did not hold. Within a month of my return to the mountains a rock moved under my mount's
feet when I was on scout, to plunge both me and the poor beast into a narrow valley. The chance I
would be found was slim and pain sent me drifting into a darkness I welcomed.

Yet I had not come to the Last Gate. I was discovered by a deaf-and-dumb beast of a man who carried
me forth, though his rough handling was a torment. I awoke in the house of a wisewoman he served.
With all her skill she fought to save my crushed leg. Heal it did, but I knew that I would never stride
easily again and the Borderers would ride without me.

With a knotted stump of cane in hand I made myself walk daily. I had fallen onto a stool after such a
push when she came to me, in her hand Kemoc's bag. She held that out and for some caprice I fumbled
within and drew out a few of the crystals, throwing them on the floor. By some chance they were all of