"Andre Norton - Brother To Shadows" - читать интересную книгу автора (Norton Andre)

The hooded listener refused the Shagga the satisfaction of seeing how deep that thrust
went. He had long known that the priest hated him, looked upon his being there as a blot
on the honor of the Lair. Since the force stone had started to fail he had foreseen this and
tried to plan beyond it. But so much of his life was tied here that it was hard to break the
bonds of discipline, to think of himself as moving without orders on a wayward path
which had no real goal.

Within the Lair only the Master had ever shown him any concern. He had been told why
only three moon speds ago. The Brothers to Shadows, trained assassins, spies,
bodyguards, had been in service on Asborgan for centuries. Rulers employed their
services knowing well that, once oathed, they were absolutely loyal to their employer for
the agreed-upon length of their bond. However, recently there had been a rumor that their
particular talents were in demand off-world also and that was a new source of income for
the Lairs. To employ one of off-world blood off-world would be setting that Lair to the
fore of the new idea and the Master had been a forward-looking manтАФwhich was, Jofre
thought, a hidden point of disagreement between him and the custom-bound Shagga.

Jofre was the Master's own find, a literal find, for the Master, on one of his scout training
missions, had come upon the wreck of an escape craft, one of those which sometimes
could make a perilous rescue from a spacer in dire trouble. Jofre had been the only living
thing in that tiny vessel, a child so young he could remember only a few scraps of scenes
of his life before he had been taken into the Lair to be given the grilling training of the
Brothers.

Though in frame he was larger than the rest of the novices, he quickly absorbed all he
was taught, proving more proficient in some of the necessary skills than others. At the
same time the Master had seen that he was given lessons in the off-world trade tongue,
passed to him information which seeped from the airport to the Lair, brought by traders
and travelers. Though both Master and student knew well there were large and awkward
gaps in what he absorbed with a will. His greater reach and strength as he approached
manhood had awakened envy in his fellows, something he had long known that the
Shagga Priest had fostered. However, he knew that he was competent enough for a
mission and that the Master had had plans for him.

The Master and the force stoneтАж Each Lair was endowed with such a stone and no one
knew from where these came or what was the purposeтАФsave that at long intervals their
glow died. That was taken as a direct sign that the force of the Master had gone also and
that he must pay for whatever secret failing had brought about the death of his power.
With the stone died also the Lair as this one had here and now. But it had been a long
time since any Lair had come to an end, and it was a bitter thing which brought a faint
touch of fear to every other Lair when it happened.

Jofre continued to meet the priest eye to eye. The man would see him dead if he could.
But he could not, for Jofre had passed the first oathing four seasons ago and Brother
could not shed the blood of Brother. However, the Shagga was settling his fate in another
way. This was the season of mountain cold. To be cast out of shelter without weapons or
full supplies was a delayed sentence of deathтАФor so the priest believed.

"I am assha if not issha." Jofre spoke the words slowly as he might ready his knives for a
final thrust. "Weapons you may take from me, for they are of the Lair. I claim therefore