"Martha Wells - Wheel of the Infinite" - читать интересную книгу автора (Wells Martha)

read his expression. He was sitting among the knobs at the base of an old cypress, the sheathed siri on
the ground in front of him. This close to him she could still sense the scent of the Temple of the Sare on
him, from when he had bathed in the sacred baray. He didn’t say anything as she settled next to him, but
after a moment he evidently decided not to hold it against her, and whispered, “It hasn’t moved since it
came out of the river.”
Maskelle hadn’t expected to see whatever spirit had come ashore during the play, at least not until it
moved into the compound. “How long have you been watching it?”
She could feel him looking at her. “Since the middle of the play.” Shifting to face forward again, he
added, “I saw the lamps go out too.”
She decided not to correct his impression that she had seen the lamps blown out and not belatedly
noticed the absence of light. She scanned the bank, but still couldn’t see where the damn thing was.
Giving in, she said, “Where is it?”
There was a snort of exasperation and he leaned closer to her to point. “There, next to the boat with
the broken hull, in the reeds,” he said.
She squinted. She could see the beached boat, a narrow-hulled slip used for quick travel. There was
a crack in the hull and it had been left abandoned in the reeds on the bank, far from the occupied boats.
After a moment she was able to discern a shape crouching near the bow. She gave the man next to her a
sideways look, impressed. She had known it was somewhere along the bank, but she would never have
seen it on her own, not without the Adversary’s help.
“What is it waiting for?” he asked, still watching her.
“Me,” she said, and stood slowly.
As soon as she stretched her senses toward it, it moved. It stood too and came toward her up the
bank. A large dark shape, at least the size of a big man and roughly human-shaped, but its form seemed
to flow and shift with the shadows. Maskelle frowned, staring incredulously. Water spirits were small, the
size of children. They were little, gray-green creatures, dangerous to sleeping people or animals, but
easily frightened by fire.
The man beside her stood, his sheathed sword in one hand. “Magic would be helpful now,” he
suggested, eyeing the thing that stalked up the bank.
“I’m not a wizard, I’m a priestess,” Maskelle said, not taking her eyes off the creature. It’s not a
water spirit. It was something new. Ancestors, what a thought. After all this time, I’d have sworn
I’d seen everything. It was within thirty feet of them now and she hastily rearranged her plans. “Get it to
follow you back through the trees.”
“Fine.” He sounded exasperated.
“It’s not human,” she cautioned him, as he started to move away.
There was a lamp hanging from a post at the top of the water steps, one of those the factor’s assistant
had relit. As the shape from the river drew near it, the light reflected off and through it, as though the
creature was made of black glass. The flame winked out as the thing passed.
Her swordsman stopped long enough to say, “No, really?” before slipping away.
Maskelle moved back into the trees, watching his progress. He went down toward the river, coming
at the creature from the side and slightly behind it. She saw him bend and scoop up something from the
ground, then shy it at the creature’s back.
Maskelle glanced upwards, appealing to the Infinite. He threw a rock at it. Rastim could have
done that.
The creature didn’t so much turn around as reverse its direction, moving with the smooth rapidity of
rushing water, abruptly closing the distance between itself and the man. He dodged backward, made sure
its attention was focused on him, then bolted for the trees.
Maskelle moved rapidly herself, tucking her staff back among the cypress knobs and running toward
the compound. She went to the sloppy trader’s wagon she had spotted earlier and found the large gourd
tied to the sideboard. Sniffing it to make sure it contained lamp oil, she cut it free, slicing a finger in her
haste and need for silence. Then she found a metal cup abandoned nearby and scooped up a quantity of