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Mistrals Kiss :: Гамильтон Лорел
Страница: 21 из 148I whispered, “What is on Rhys’s arm?”
But Abeloec and I stood in the dark, and the Queen of Air and Darkness could hear anything that was spoken into the air in the dark. She answered me, “Show her, Rhys. Show her what has made you bold.”
Rhys didn’t turn his back on her, but moved sort of sideways toward us. The soft, white sourceless light moved with him, outlining his upper body. In a battle it would have been worse than useless; it would have made him a target. But the immortal don’t sweat things like that — if you can’t die, I guess you can make as obvious a target of yourself as you like.
The light touched us first, like that first white breath of dawn that slides across the sky, so white, so pure, when dawn is nothing more than the fading of darkness. As Rhys got closer to us, the white light seemed to expand, sliding down his body, showing that he was still nude.
He held his arm out toward me. There was a pale blue outline of a fish that stretched from just above his wrist almost to his elbow. The fish was head-down toward his hand and seemed oddly curved, like a half circle waiting for its other half.
Abeloec touched it much as the queen had done, lightly, with just his fingertips. “I have not seen that on your arm since I stopped being a pub keeper.”
“I know Rhys’s body,” I said. “It’s never been there before.”
“Not in your lifetime,” Abeloec said.
I glanced from him to Rhys. To him, I said, “It’s a fish, why…”
“A salmon,” he said, “to be exact.”
I closed my mouth so I wouldn’t say something stupid. I tried to do what my father had always taught me to do, think. I thought out loud…“A salmon means knowledge. One of our legends says that because the salmon is the oldest living creature, it has all the knowledge since the world began. It means longevity, because of the same legend.”
“Legend, is it?” Rhys said with a smile.
“I have a degree in biology, Rhys; nothing you say will convince me that a salmon predated the trilobites, or even the dinosaurs. Modern fish is just that, modern, on a geological scale.”
Abeloec was looking at me curiously. “I’d forgotten Prince Essus insisted on you being educated among the humans.” He smiled. “When you’re reasoning things out, you aren’t as easy to distract.” He tightened his other hand, with the cup still gripped in it.
I frowned, and finally stepped away from him. “Stop that.”
“You drank from his cup,” Rhys said. “He should be able to persuade you of almost anything.
But Abeloec and I stood in the dark, and the Queen of Air and Darkness could hear anything that was spoken into the air in the dark. She answered me, “Show her, Rhys. Show her what has made you bold.”
Rhys didn’t turn his back on her, but moved sort of sideways toward us. The soft, white sourceless light moved with him, outlining his upper body. In a battle it would have been worse than useless; it would have made him a target. But the immortal don’t sweat things like that — if you can’t die, I guess you can make as obvious a target of yourself as you like.
The light touched us first, like that first white breath of dawn that slides across the sky, so white, so pure, when dawn is nothing more than the fading of darkness. As Rhys got closer to us, the white light seemed to expand, sliding down his body, showing that he was still nude.
He held his arm out toward me. There was a pale blue outline of a fish that stretched from just above his wrist almost to his elbow. The fish was head-down toward his hand and seemed oddly curved, like a half circle waiting for its other half.
Abeloec touched it much as the queen had done, lightly, with just his fingertips. “I have not seen that on your arm since I stopped being a pub keeper.”
“I know Rhys’s body,” I said. “It’s never been there before.”
“Not in your lifetime,” Abeloec said.
I glanced from him to Rhys. To him, I said, “It’s a fish, why…”
“A salmon,” he said, “to be exact.”
I closed my mouth so I wouldn’t say something stupid. I tried to do what my father had always taught me to do, think. I thought out loud…“A salmon means knowledge. One of our legends says that because the salmon is the oldest living creature, it has all the knowledge since the world began. It means longevity, because of the same legend.”
“Legend, is it?” Rhys said with a smile.
“I have a degree in biology, Rhys; nothing you say will convince me that a salmon predated the trilobites, or even the dinosaurs. Modern fish is just that, modern, on a geological scale.”
Abeloec was looking at me curiously. “I’d forgotten Prince Essus insisted on you being educated among the humans.” He smiled. “When you’re reasoning things out, you aren’t as easy to distract.” He tightened his other hand, with the cup still gripped in it.
I frowned, and finally stepped away from him. “Stop that.”
“You drank from his cup,” Rhys said. “He should be able to persuade you of almost anything.