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Автор Джо Клейтон

Jo Clayton

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Chapter 2. Be Loved, Honeychild

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Chapter 7. Prophet From Pain

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WILD MAGIC

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BURN!

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WILD MAGIC 15 7

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YOUR VOICE WILL BE MY VOICE.

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Chapter 11. Honcychild Joins The Dance

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DISCIPLINE IS NECESSARY.

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BURN.

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Chapter 15. The Purge Goes On And On

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CHU MA VAY YAL CHU MA VAY YAL

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Chapter 16. Death Dance

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Chapter 17. The General’s Conversion

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Chapter 18. Flight Plans

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Chapter 19. The God on Her Shoulders

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Chapter 20. Fiddling The Escape

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Chapter 24. Attack

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WILD MAGIC 329

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Chapter 26. Dungeon

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Chapter 28.

Pyre

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Chapter 29. The Last Dance

CHU MA VAY YAL CHU MA VAY YAL

Jo Clayton

Wild Magic

Goddance. The Opening Steps

The islands of the Tukery glitter with dew; the sky is dark blue burning at the edges, clear of clouds; a wandering breeze twitches at green leaves still on the trees, whirls up and drops again khaki and mustard leaves drying on the ground. The selats-the narrow winding stretches of sea between the islands-are filled with chop and shadow and drifting veils of mist.

A small boat slides gracefully along the selat that goes past Jal Virri. The hull is amber and mother-of-pearl, the single mast is yellow sandalwood, the lateen sail silk the color of beeswax; the bow curls up and over like the scroll on a violin; the stern rises in a duck-tail; delicate feathering is carved into the sides. A woman clad in veils of honey-colored mist stands in the stern, honey arms folded across her breasts, gossamer bee wings shimmering from her shoulders, antennas like curved black threads rising above huge black bee eyes.

The boat stops improbably in midstream when it reaches the part of the island where a house is visible among the trees and a broad lawn slopes to white sand and the sea water. The Bee-eyed Woman begins to hum.

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Inside the house, in a small nursery, the newly risen sun is shining through the window, turning the leaves of the vines that grow across the glass into slices of jade; leaf shadows dance on the white wall across from the crib and the child in it; the leaves scrape across the glass in soft arrhythmic sshp-sshps.

Faan rolls onto her back, kicks off the sheet, and sits up. She pulls herself onto her feet and pushes at the latch holding the side of the crib in place. She unbalances as it goes crashing down, gurgles with pleasure as the crib mattress gives under her and bounces her a few times.