"E. E. Doc Smith - D' Alembert 5 -Appointment at Bloodstar" - читать интересную книгу автора (Smith E. E. Doc)

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Pias nodded. "Yes. Miri has been avenged."

That was all the information the duke required. "Good. Now that you have done what
was needed, you are back here where you belong. I need you here with me, Pias."

Pias felt a sudden chill as he was caught in a storm of conflicting emotions. In order to
become engaged to Yvette, he'd had to undergo Service training and swear a loyalty
oath to SOTE. He'd vowed to serve the cause of the Empire now, and his life was not
entirely his own. "I ... I can't stay here, Poppa."

The old man looked confused. "What do you mean?

You found the man and avenged our honor. This is your home again."

"But I can't stay, Poppa. I'll have to be leaving again, very soon."

"Why? Why must you leave your home, your family? What drives you out?"

"I made a promise."

"To whom?" The old man was sitting up now, anger creeping into his voice. Some of
the old fire was returning, but Pias was not happy at having it directed at him. "Who is
more important to you than your father?"

Pias was about to tell him the truth when he became aware of a third person in the
room. Tas had entered quietly behind them while Pias and his father had been talking,
and was now a presence lurking in the shadows. The duke had always been loyal, and
Pias would have trusted him with the knowledge that he was working for SOTE; but he
had an instinctive distrust of what his brother would do with that same knowledge.
Lamely, he merely said, "I can't tell you now."

"Maybe it's that gadii, that outsider woman he brought with him," Tas suggested. His
voice was pure acid.

Pias repressed an urge to strangle his younger brother. He had meant to bring up the
issue of Yvette separately, once he'd managed to convince his father of the rightness of
his actions. Now Tas had muddied the water still further-deliberately.

"A gadii? And you brought her here?" The duke was furious. "Have you deserted your
own people entirely, then?"

"Poppa, you taught me everything I know about kindness and hospitality to strangers,"
Pias protested. "And Yvette is. . ."

But he could get no further in his explanation. The old man, in his rage, started in on a
coughing fit. His nurse ran in from the hallway and quickly came to the duke's side. "I
don't know what you said to him," he told the two younger men, "but he's not supposed