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

brilliant emerald that matched the beryl of her controlling collar,
seemed relieved that she no longer had to entertain him, and
was nibbling on spiced fruit, wearing a bored, but wary,
expression.
Now the rest of the guests had taken an interest in the
proceedings, calling out encouragement to Varcaleme or the
slave, taking bets on whether or not he would catch her, as she
dodged his outstretched hands and outpaced his stumbling
feet. Most of Aelmarkin's guests were male, with a scant pair of
Elven ladies. One of the ladies, clad in pearly silks that revealed
scarcely less than the slaves' costumes, had brought her own
couch-companion, a muscle-bound human gladiator; the other
Elven lady, swathed from nape to ankle in skin-tight black satin,
had come with another of the Elvenlords---who was not her
affianced. Of the remaining twenty guests, half had brought
their own concubines, and half had made a selection from the
slaves offered to them by Aelmarkin.
All of the Elvenlords present, with the exception of Aelmarkin
and the lady who had brought her own male concubine, were
the sons of ruling Elvenlords--but had not joined the Young
Lords' Rebellion. Most of them saw themselves as losing far
more than they would gain by rebelling, and the rest were
cynically hoping for the rebellion to eliminate their fathers for
them.
Aelmarkin and V'dann Triana Lord Falcion--who, despite being
female, was Lord of the Falcion holdings in her own right, and
thus (it recently had been ruled) was entitled to the title of Lord
rather than Lady or er-Lord--were the only Elvenlords in the
room with their own estates and property. Aelmarkin, however,
was hardly a Great Lord--his property was a fraction of the size
of any of those with real power; most of his wealth came from
the sale of the exquisitely bred and trained concubines who
were literally worth their weight in gems. That gave him a
certain status, but no real power. As for Triana, her standing
had plummeted after her involvement in the debacle of the
Second Wizard War, and she was no longer a desirable ally to
anyone on the Great Council. She generally kept to herself on
her own estate. He suspected that she was biding her time,
waiting to see which way the wind blew in the Young Lords'
Uprising, before she tried to worm her way back into the good
graces of the powerful.
As a party guest, however, she was still of value; an acid wit
and a reputation for depravity gave her all the fascination of a
captivating serpent, and people enjoyed seeing what she would
say or do next. Any time Aelmarkin invited her to one of his
entertainments, he knew he would have full participation, and
her own parties continued to be extremely popular among the
younger sons, those who did not possess great power, and
those who did not have a Council seat.
Aelmarkin was by no means as certain as the Great Lords that