"Kristine Kathryn Rusch - The Room of Lost Souls" - читать интересную книгу автора (Rusch Kristine Kathryn)

ThereтАЩs pain in her voice.

тАЬHe moved on from you,тАЭ I say as I take some yellow cheese. ItтАЩs
slimy against my fingers, but I donтАЩt dare put it back.

тАЬOf course he did. Anyone who believed he would do otherwise was
a fool.тАЭ

But the bitter twist on the word тАЬfoolтАЭ makes it clear to me who
тАЬanyoneтАЭ was.

тАЬYou said that you know things no one else does.тАЭ I make myself eat
the slimy cheese. ItтАЩs delicious. Rich and sharp, a taste that goes well with
the pepper and garlic of the meat.

тАЬOf course I do,тАЭ she says. тАЬAnd some of it will go with me to my own
death.тАЭ

ItтАЩs my turn to nod. I understand that kind of privacy.

She sets the plate near the edge of the table. Something moving so
fast that I can barely see it whisks the plate away.

тАЬBut the story IтАЩm going to tell you,тАЭ she says, тАЬisnтАЩt one of those. And
itтАЩs not something youтАЩll find in the histories either.тАЭ

I wait.

тАЬItтАЩs about his plans,тАЭ she says with that secret smile. тАЬHe never
planned to go to any of the ceremonies, and he wasnтАЩt going to sign any
treaties.тАЭ

тАЬHe told you this?тАЭ I ask, mostly because sheтАЩs surprised me.
Everything IтАЩve seen says he fully intended to go to the ceremonies. He
sent notice as to when his ship would arrive. He had a contingent of honor
guards waiting for him on another outpost nearer to the ceremony. He even
had a dress uniform ordered specially for the occasion.

тАЬNo, he didnтАЩt tell me anything,тАЭ she says. тАЬAt least, not in so many
words. He wasnтАЩt that kind of man. I figured it out, years later.тАЭ

****

She figured it out when she remembered what happened that last
day. How heтАЩd been, how sad heтАЩd seemed.

They met in his VIP cabin. It was large and lovely, with a bed the size
of her quarters. But he wasnтАЩt interested in sex, although they had some.