[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

Following the noise, he walked past the murals and down a short hallway, stopping
when he caught sight of the wide altar at the end of a spacious area. It was bright in
there, with a mild, mellow breeze that he surmised allowed what could have been hot
and suffocating to be a pleasant place to meditate.
No murals there the worshippers were more important than works of art but he
was pleased to recognize a variation of a minor shrine work, a scene from the sacred
scrolls in which the sun father and the moon mother met for the first time according to
Neoti myth. There was a variation in Vozuan faery tales, but for whatever reason,
Bosaru s mother, though of Vozuan descent, had never told him many of those when he
was growing up. His mother displayed a viz-image of the scene in her dining room.
A noise to his side startled him, coming from the doorway leading to the offices of
the high priestess.
 Peace and light, he said, raising his voice so she would know there was a visitor.
 Your Eminence, I am Daegon en-Bosaru, of the house Bosaru. My mother, Ir en-
Bosaru, she who was Irali Parall Murrin, was high priestess of the shrine of Ixtr, who 
he stopped. Was she there?  Your Eminence?
 Blessed be, he heard. The high priestess emerged from her office. And the rest of
his planned greeting deserted him, wiped clean from his mind.
This was a high priestess? No.
The high priestesses of Ixtr were usually seers, like his mother thin, pallid more
in tune with the stars above than the here and now. That Bosaru s mother had chosen to
marry his father had never ceased to surprise him, but by all accounts, their mating had
been a happy one. High priestesses were high-strung. It was simply a fact.
But this one& she was like no other high priestess he had ever been acquainted
with. Priestesses and seers were notable for sensing things, seeing othertime,
otherwhere. But this priestess& she saw the here, she saw the now, he could tell. Her
hair, deep gold twisted into curls piled high on her head, was full and thick, almost the
shade of her skin. Seer priestesses were usually thin. This priestess was voluptuous.
34
Echoes of Passion
Every movement, every step she took that made her come toward him made her sway.
It was familiar no, it couldn t be.
With strength of will, he forced himself to look at her face. And his mouth dropped
open.
He knew that face, that body.  Holy Pthets, he whispered.
That face was in his dreams. How
 You re real, he said, almost inaudible.  All these years and I thought 
 Blessed be. How may I help you?
The expression on her face didn t change looking at him, concentrating on him,
the way no shrine priestess he had known ever did. He didn t remember her looking
like that in his dreams. In his dreams, she was here, now. Concentrating on him.
Was it because dreams were so easily forgotten that she looked different somehow?
He didn t remember her eyes being as the same color as her hair, marking her as a
Vozuan, the  other side of the Great Conflict. But that didn t matter. She was his
mother s friend, the high priestess of the shrine? How could that be? From the looks of
her, she had to be younger than he was.
 Blessed be, she said again, and her voice was low and warm. She stopped in front
of him, so close he could smell the distinctive scent of feren perfume in her hair. She
placed her palms together and nodded at him, her smile cooler than that voice would
have suggested.  I am Imreen Dal of the Shrine Ixtr. How may I help you?
Bosaru frowned.  My apologies, Your Eminence. But I was given the impression
the high priestess of this shrine was someone else.
The woman nodded, a golden curl falling across her forehead. The errant tendril
made her look, just for a moment, a little less formidable.  Our lives are without
permanence, sir. Our situation seems to change daily, with no end in sight. It is our
way. She looked up at him from beneath the curl. He could have sworn the look was
almost& mischievous. But why& [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

zanotowane.pl

doc.pisz.pl

pdf.pisz.pl

ssaver.htw.pl