"Briggs, Patricia - Sianim 2 - Steal the Dragon.text" - читать интересную книгу автора (Briggs Patricia)

society, as long as his occupation as a slave trainer could be kept quiet. Laeth, she
knew, had never had any interest in the slave trade. It was feasible that Laeth knew
her former owner, but didn't know he was a slave trainer.

Rialla knew that she ought to go back to Laeth's room and warn him that the
slave trainer was in the castle, butЕ in the dark, beer-scented room she was safe.
She curled into a tighter ball in the corner of the room and rested her cheek against
the side of a wooden barrel, letting the rough wood dig into her tattooed skin.

She despised the cowardice that had been beaten into her, but that didn't keep
her from shaking with bone-deep tremors. If her father could see her, he would be
ashamed. She'd worked so hard to shed the habits of a slave, and all it took to bring
them back was Laeth's anger or her old master's voice.

She swore silently and dug her nails into her palms, reminding herself that he
would be unlikely to visit the quarters again this night. With a shuddering sigh, she
came to her feet, wiping the tears from her face with the sides of her hands. Like
most of the Traders she had good night vision, but in the underground cellar the
darkness was absolute. It took her a moment to find the latch on the door.

Taking a deep breath, she exited the wine cellar, locked it, and walked with
outward calm to the slave quarters. If one of the slaves noticed that she'd been
crying, they wouldn't comment upon itЧsuch was a slave's lot. Quietly she let
herself into the large room.

A few scattered torches lit the large room, allowing Rialla to see that only twenty
of the bunks were occupied. That meant the rest of the slaves were either working,
or sleeping in their owner's rooms. There was no one awake, so Rialla strode quietly
to a pair of unoccupied bunks away from the door.

She climbed to the top bunk and stretched out on it: only a new slave would take
the vulnerable bottom bunk. Among slaves, status was very important. Occasionally
fights broke out in the quarters when one slave tried to establish dominance. The top
bunk offered some protection against unwanted aggression.

Rialla had started to close her eyes when she heard a slight noise from the
bottom bunk next to her. She leaned over the edge of her bed and looked at the girl
lying there.


As a Trader, and later as a horse trainer in Sianim, she'd seen every color that a
person could come inЧfrom her own pale ivory to the deep bronze of the Ynstrah
peopleЧbut this slave's skin was closer to black. Fine dark hair that might be brown
or red in daylight cloaked her shoulders in waves of curls. Her face was buried in
the thin mattress and her body shook as she cried.

Rialla reached a hand to the girl, but caught herself in time. She was doing the
best that she could to end slavery in Darran, but she couldn't do anything for this
other slave now.