"Michelle West - Winter Death" - читать интересную книгу автора (West Michelle)

In the morning, grim, she rose. The child was sleeping, and his peace was fitful,
but it was there. She dressed in the odd, gray uniform she'd been given, admiring
the quality of its workmanship, if not the choice of its colors. Then she lifted him,
waking him. He was disoriented, but only for a moment; she let him throw his
arms around her neck until she could almost not breathe for the tightness of the
grip. She loved that breathlessness.
"Daniel," she told him gently, "I need you to talk with Darius. I need you to stay
with him."
The boy's smile was shy, but it was genuine.
"I—I have work to do today. Darius is not really allowed inside."
"But he's not a horse!"
"No...he's not a horse. He's better than that, and I'm sure he'll let you ride him if
you want. Come. Let's find him."

The halls were bustling; there were more people in the Collegium than she had
ever seen in the Hold, and she found their presence almost overwhelming. But she
discovered two important things from the young—the very young—man who
stopped to talk to her. The first, where breakfast was served—and when, that being
important—and the second, where the Companions were stabled.
She knew breakfast was important, and stopped for just long enough to feed
Daniel. Then she carried him to where she knew Darius was waiting.
He met her eyes, his own dark and unblinking.
 Without preamble, Kayla set Daniel upon his back. He accepted the burden.
:You made a weapon out of him.:
:No, Kayla. He made a weapon out of himself He thought that that was the best
way of proving his worth to a distant father.:
:But his father—:
:His father loved him, yes. Loves him still.:
:If he was truly an Empath, he would have known that
:The Kings,: Darius said sadly, :are taught to shield themselves. Against all
intrusion, all influence. They must be strong.:
:And his youngest son was so insecure that he couldn't infer that love.:
Darius was silent.
:My mother knew him.:
:Your mother...knew him, yes. Your mother could have reached him, had she
lived; your mother was the one who discovered his Gift, the strength of his Gift.
Your mother was the woman who insisted that he be moved from the court and
taken to a place without the politics of power.:
:But she must have known—the dreams, the dreams I had—she must have had
them:
:I...do not know. She could have reached him. The Heralds who have some hint of
your Gift...could not. He made a weapon out of himself and the forging was
completed with the death of his Companion.:
She knew, then.
:He...he killed his Companion?:
:No! No. But the loss broke something in him. No other Companion can reach
him now, and believe me, Kayla, we have tried. He is one of the Gifted; he can
hear us all, if he so chooses.:
:But this must have happened years ago—:
:Yes, but few.: