"Simon Hawke - Dark Sun - Tribe of One 03 - The Nomad" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hawke Simon)

The Nomad
Simon Hawke
TRIBE OF ONE TRILOGY, Book Three

Scanned, formatted and proofed by Dreamcity
Ebook version 1.0
Release Date: December, 30, 2003


Acknowledgments

FOR BRIAN THOMSEN

Special acknowledgments to Rob King, Troy Denning, Robert M. Powers, Sandra West, Jennifer
Roberson, Deb Lovell, Bruce and Peggy Wiley, Emily Tuzson, Adele Leone, the crew at Arizona Honda,
and my students, who keep me on my toes and teach me as much as I teach them.
Prologue
The heavy, arched wooden door opened by itself with a loud, protracted creaking of its ancient iron
hinges. Veela swallowed hard and took a deep breath to steady her nerves. The long climb up the tower
steps had winded her, and now the noisome stench that wafted through the doorway made her head spin.
Weak-kneed from both exertion and fear, she reached out to lean against the doorjamb, fighting the gorge
rising in her throat. The palpable emanations of malevolent power that came from within the room were
overwhelming. She had felt them throughout the long climb up the winding stone steps, and it was like
swimming against a powerful, oppressive current.
"Enter," said a sepulchral voice from within.
The templar stood unsteadily in the entrance of the gloomy, circular chamber, staring with
apprehension at the grotesque figure that loomed before her. It stood at one of the tower windows, looking
out over the city as the dark sun sank slowly on the horizon and the shadows lengthened.
"Come closer, so that I may see you," said the dragon.
Veela swallowed nervously. "As you wish, my lord."
Hesitantly, she approached the creature as it turned and fixed her with a chilling gaze from its
unblinking, yellow eyes.
"Remind me once more," the dragon said. "Which one are you?"
"Veela, my lord," she answered.
"Ah, yes. I remember you now." The remark was delivered flatly, without emotion. Perhaps he really
did remember her. And perhaps he would forget again the moment she left his presence.
It was difficult for Veela to believe the frightening creature that stood before her now was once her
husband. He was still her husband, but no trace of the man that she had known back then remained. She
recalled how honored she had been to be selected as a wife to the Shadow King of Nibenay. Her parents
had been very proud. Their daughter was to be a queen, though strictly speaking, Nibenay's many wives
were templars, not queens. When they entered into the service of the Shadow King, they were trained for
their new role in the society of the city named after its king, rigorously prepared to assume their official
duties as Nibenay's factotums and the bearers of his power.
For Veela, it meant leaving the hovel she had shared with her family and moving into the palace,
where she would live in unimagined luxury together with the other templars, who were all Nibenay's wives.
It meant she would no longer run barefoot on a hard earth floor, but would have her feet and body washed
daily by a retinue of servants and would walk in soft hide sandals on exquisite mosaic floors. She would
have her dirty hair shaved and would no longer dress in rags, but in robes of flowing white, embroidered
with gold and silver, that she could change daily. She would be taught to read and write, and trained how to
administer the city's laws, but more important still, she would be trained in sorcery, and would wield the