Читать «THE SEA DEVIL S EYE (зксм-3)» онлайн - страница 36

"No." Jherek shook his head and kept pulling at his hands. Nothing that strong and heady could ever be natural.

"An innocent," Dehnee breathed in quiet wonder. "By Umberlee's favored sight, I've not touched an innocent in decades."

"Have a care with him, lady," Glawinn warned softly. "I'll not have him hurt in any way."

"I know what I'm doing, Sir Knight."

All Jherek's ability to struggle deserted him in a powerful surge that left him weak. He still felt the woman's hands on his, still felt the unaccustomed and unacceptable desire that flamed him, but he couldn't move.

Then Glawinn's strong hand dropped to his shoulder, anchoring him and putting some of the feeling at bay. "Patience, lady," the paladin said. "He's never been around one such as you."

"What did you come here seeking?" Dehnee asked, her eyes totally focused on Jherek's.

Jherek's thoughts ran rampant. It was hard to concentrate. "Lathander's disk," he said.

"Picture it in your mind."

Unbidden, Jherek's thoughts ranged only on the woman before him. He saw her naked, her body trim and gently rounded, her small breasts heavy with desire. He closed his eyes tightly against the vision and whispered, "No."

"What you're feeling is normal," Dehnee said.

Jherek didn't believe her. Nothing like this could ever be normal-or acceptable.

"Picture the disk."

Calming himself as much as he was able, Jherek built the image of the disk inside his head.

"Good," Dehnee whispered. "I can see it as well. What do you wish to know?"

"Vurgrom took it," Azla said beside Jherek. "We want to know if he still has it."

Lathander's disk tumbled in Jherek's mind.

"Yes," the diviner said. "It is still in Vurgrom's possession."

"Where?"

Filmy black patterns ghosted over Jherek's vision, like rotten spots on fruit. They cleared momentarily, revealing a glimpse of a ship. He managed to peer closer and see her name, then the image slipped away. He recognized the ship from the confrontation at the Ship of the Gods.

"Maelstrom" he gasped.

"Do you know where she is?" Azla asked.

Jherek shook his head, too weak to say anything.

"It is far from here," Dehnee replied.

"We want to find it," Azla told her.

"Of course you do. And you will. It is meant for this boy to find."

The diviner released one of Jherek's hands but not the other. The young sailor watched as she reached into the sea lion's open mouth and pulled out a complex device.

"An astrolabe. It's used by a ship's navigator," Azla said. "With it a captain or anyone learned enough to take readings from the azimuth of the sun, the moon, or certain stars can determine where a ship is on the sea."

"This is no ordinary astrolabe," Dehnee told them. She cradled the instrument in her lap with one hand. "This device is ages old, and its origin is almost completely unknown to me."

The whale oil light glistened off the astrolabe's surface. Only then did Jherek realize it was cut from some kind of yellowed crystal that held only minute fractures.

"I was given this by a sea elf in exchange for information," the diviner continued. "I can enspell it to track Vurgrom's ship for you."