"Kristine Kathryn Rusch - Black Throne 02 - The Black King" - читать интересную книгу автора (Rusch Kristine Kathryn)

“I think the surface always looks like that.” He had a deep voice and warmer eyes than
most of the Gull Riders. “I felt no wind while I was between the Guardians, but the air
currents were unsteady. The weather’s not bad enough to make the chop anything out of
the ordinary. I think we trust our maps and go in.”
Gift nodded. Ace had proven himself over and over. Originally, Ace had served Gift’s
uncle, Bridge. Then a Gull Rider from Blue Isle had arrived on Bridge’s ship, near death.
Ace had taken her mission—to find and report to Gift about Arianna’s troubles—and had
completed it in record time. He had found Gift shortly after Gift had arrived in Etanien, in
a place Skya insisted was impossible to locate.
“I won’t go through chop and whirlpools with just a map for guidance,” Wave said.
“Of course not,” Gift replied. “We use all the Sailors and Navigators, and if we don’t
find a Ze, we don’t go any farther.”
“A Ze?” Ace asked.
“It’s a fish,” Gift said, “and it’s native to these waters. Sailors have found it to be a
useful guide through the currents around the Stone Guardians.”
“You’d better find that Ze well away from those stones,” Uhgse said. “We’re not going
to be able to anchor, and I’m afraid the currents’ll pull us into the rocks.”
“It’s my job to worry about that.” Wave gave her an odd look as he pushed past her.
“I’ll get the Sailors working.”
“Good,” Gift said.
Wave left the room.
“I’ve gone through the Guardians before,” Gift said to the Riders, “and the water was
as you described it. I suggest that you rest until we get into the currents, then Shift to
your Gull forms and fly above us. You might see some things that will help us through.”
“Are you worried about this?” Abdal asked.
“No more than any sane man would be,” Gift said.
He left the room-and headed back toward the ladder. The ship was rocking more than
it had before, and he wondered if they were taking action too late. He’d heard that the
currents of the Stone Guardians began far out at sea. Perhaps he should have sent the
Riders out the day before.
He shivered once, then grabbed the ropes and pulled himself up. When he reached the
deckhouse, he found Xihu.
She was a Shaman who had defied the rest of her kind to travel with Gift. She felt the
Black Family needed a Shaman, and since they had none, she had volunteered. She was
younger than most Shaman, which put her in her nineties. Her face wasn’t as lined as
most, although she had her share of wrinkles. Her white hair frizzed around her skull,
making her face look like the center of an explosion.
“What is it?” he asked. He was taller than she was, a sign that he had more magic,
which always astonished him. He had been raised to believe that Shaman had the most
power.
“A Vision,” she said softly.
And then he saw the evidence: the tear tracks that lined her eyes, the moisture beside
her mouth, the crease in her cheek where her face had rested against something.
He put a hand on her arm. She felt thinner than she had when they started this
journey over six months before.
“Are you all right?”
She nodded, then led him out of the deckhouse.
 Sailors were standing near the rails, holding their hands out so that their fingers could
be pricked by the Navigator. Five Navigators would work with over twenty Sailors. The
link between them was established through blood. Then the Sailors would send their