"Andre Norton & Lackey, Mercedes - Elvenbane 3 - Elvenborn" - читать интересную книгу автора (Norton Andre)

celebrants. The black carpet of the floor was kind to the bare
feet of the slaves, but Aelmarkin had selected black carpeting
largely because it was easy to clean after one of his
entertainments and was far more forgiving a surface for a
drunken reveler to fall on than marble or wood. The east and
west walls were hung with silver draperies, and the silver
dining-couches were upholstered in black to match the carpet.
Between each couch and the next stood an enormous silver
censer, from which came sensuous and intoxicating incense-
smokes. Silver tables stood before each couch, and the guests
provided the only touch of color in the room. The couches
themselves each held two occupants, an invited guest and a
companion of his (or her) choosing--either a fellow guest or
one of Aelmarkin's harem-slaves dressed in silver gossamer
and matching silver collar. Picturesque wine-slaves, dressed in
abbreviated silver tunics, stood at each couch with their silver
pitchers, and more slaves dressed in silver tunics and
gossamer skirts or trews served the guests with plates of
dainties. Enough wine had been drank by this time that the
guests were starting to raise their voices in less-than-delicate
jests, and lose what few inhibitions they had when they arrived
here.
V'sher Tennith er-Lord Kalumel raised one long, silver eyebrow
sardonically as he surveyed the occupants of the dining
couches before and below him. "I must admit," he drawled, "that
seeing Varcaleme making a fool of himself is far more
entertaining than fending off would-be brides and their anxious
fathers."
Aelmarkin laughed and continued to caress the platinum
tresses of his slave, chosen out of all the possible candidates
presented to him, because she most resembled a delicate
Elven maiden. He dressed her like an elven girl, too, in flowing
gowns of delicate pastel silks with huge, butterfly sleeves and
long embroidered trains, ordering her attendants to weave
strings of pearls in her silver-blond hair--and to arrange her hair
so that it covered the round tips of her ears. So long as one
didn't look too deeply into her eyes, the illusion was complete;
and he could use his magic to change her blue eyes to Elven-
green if he chose. Her name had been "Kindre" until he ordered
it changed to the Elven "Synterrathe."
The aforementioned Varcaleme was chasing one of the wine-
girls around his couch; the flower-wreath she had bound around
his brows had slipped sideways and was obscuring one eye,
and the fact that he had drunk most of the wine in her now-
empty flask was not aiding his ability to catch her. She had cast
one look at her master when she began eluding those clutching
hands, to see if he objected to her evasions; he had nodded
slightly, and she needed no further encouragement to keep
dodging his advances. Varcaleme's couch-companion, one of
his personal concubines, a tall, dark-haired wench gowned in