"John Norman - Gor 08 - Hunters of Gor" - читать интересную книгу автора (Norman John)

I moved my UbarтАЩs Rider f the High Tharlarion to command the file on
which the Home Stone of Samos lay richly protected.
тАЬIt is long since you have been the Free Companion of Talena, daughter
of Marlenus,тАЭ said Samos. тАЬThe Companionship, not renewed annually, is at an
end. And you were once enslaved.тАЭ
I looked at the board, angrily. It was true that the Companionship, not
renewed, had been dissolved in the eyes of Gorean law. It was further true
that,
had it not been so, the Companionship would have been terminated abruptly
when one or the other of the pledged companions fell slave. I recalled,
angrily,
with a burning shame, the delta of the Vosk, when I, though of the warriors,
once, on my knees, begged the ignominy of slavery to the freedom of honorable
death. Yes, I, Bosk of Port Kar, had once been slave.
тАЬIt is your move,тАЭ I said.
тАЬYou have no obligation,тАЭ said Samos, тАЬto seek the girl Talena.тАЭ
I knew that. тАЬI am unworthy of her,тАЭ I said.
I had never forgotten her, the beautiful, olive-skinned, green-eyed Talena,
so stunningly figured, such fantastic lips, the proud blood of Marlenus of Ar,
Ubar
of Ar, Ubar of Ubars, in her veins. She had been my first love. It had been
years
since we had touched.
тАЬPriest-Kings tore me from her,тАЭ I told Samos, hard-eyed.
Samos did not look up from the board. тАЬIn the game of worlds, he said,
тАЬwe are not important.тАЭ
тАЬShe was taken to the northern forests, I have learned,тАЭ I said, тАЬby the
outlaw girl, Verna, to serve as bait for her capture of Marlenus of Ar, who is
presumed to be concerned for her rescue.тАЭ I looked up. тАЬMarlenus on a hunting
expedition, with other animals, captured Verna, and her girls. He caged them
and exhibited them as trophies. They have escaped, and they wish their
vengeance.тАЭ
тАЬYou would do well to stay in Port Kar,тАЭ said Samos.
тАЬTalena is held slave in the northern forests,тАЭ I told him.
тАЬDo you still love her?тАЭ asked Samos, looking at me, directly.
I was startled. For years Talena, the magnificent Talena, had been in my
heartтАЩs deepest
dreams, my first love, my never forgotten love. She had burned in my memory,
unforgettably. I recalled her from the fields near the Swamp Forest south of
Ar,
in the caravan of Mintar, at the great camp of Pa-Kur'тАЩ horde, as she had been
upon Ar'тАЩ lofty cylinder of justice, as she had been in lamp-lit Ko-ro-ba,
when,
with interlocking arms, we had drunk the wines of Free Companionship.
How could I not love Talena, the deep, and first love, the first beautiful
love of my life?тАЭ
тАЬDo you love her?тАЭ asked Samos.
тАЬOf course!тАЭ I shouted, angrily.
тАЬIt has been many years,тАЭ said Samos.
тАЬIt matters not,тАЭ I muttered.