"Sheri S Tepper - The End of the Game_txt" - читать интересную книгу автора (Tepper Sherri)

УIТll take the girl,Ф the large man said, the only one who had done any talking at all. УLeave the pony here.Ф

I objected, to which they paid no attention at all, but leaving Misquick was what I wanted to do. She would head for home as soon as she settled down, carrying the saddlebag, which the men didnТt think of taking. When Murzy saw the twigs in the pocket, she would know I was in troubleЧthatТs what three of anything put where it doesnТt belong means. Three stones in a shoe, three twigs in a pocket, three feathers under a saddle. Then the dams would know as much as I did. That is, if Murzy or one of the dams saw the saddlebag first. Well, IТd done all I could, so I put it out of my mind.

УWould you mind telling me who you are, or what this is all about?Ф I asked.

УMy name is Porvius Bloster,Ф he said. УTragamor. This is about Game. We announce Game against Mendost of Stoneflight Demesne.Ф

УBut, but ...Ф I sputtered, УIТm a student. IТm going off to Xammer tomorrow. IТm Game exempt.Ф

УYouТre not wearing exempt colors,Ф he snorted. УWhich I was careful to determine before accosting you. You should have worn the dress you wore that night you were wandering around the garden talking foolishness with that friend of your brotherТs.Ф

I didnТt want to talk about clothes. This whole thing was too silly for words. УWhat kind of Game is this?Ф I pursued the subject. The kind of Game could be very important.

УThis is Death Game,Ф he snarled. УFor I am weary of your brotherТs perfidy. Twice IТve had him challenged, and twice heТs slipped by me. HeТs a dishonorable Gamesman ...Ф Which wasnТt telling me anything I didnТt know. УWe have taken this step to guarantee he stands to Game.Ф

УYouТre expecting Mendost to stand Death Game with you in order to save my life!Ф My honest amazement must have come through to him, however slightly.

УOf course. For the honor of the Demesne.Ф He was very much the mature Gamesman enlightening the child. The man took me for an utter fool.

I pleaded with him. УYouТve said yourself that Mendost is dishonorable. Worse than that, IТm not even MendostТs concern anymore. I was betrothed to King Kelver of DragonТs Fire Demesne three days ago!Ф

УYou?Ф He burst out laughing, which didnТt make me feel any better about the whole thing. УYouТre a child!Ф

I had never felt more the child. For a blinding moment, I wanted a Talent, any Talent, so long as it was strong and destructive and could get back at this muscle and little-wit holding on to me who did not seem to see me as a person at all. He was like a man reciting a role, uttering speeches he had rehearsed. I tried to get his attention, explain to him. УI know IТm very young. King Kelver is having me Schooled at Xammer. As part of an alliance ...Ф The more I tried to explain the circumstances, the more he smiled into the air, not seeing me, disbelieving me.

УYouТve a good imagination, girly,Ф he said at last. УA very good imagination. If you live to get older, maybe theyТll put you to work making dream crystals. Or being a Seer. Most of what they tell you they make up out of their heads. I donТt believe them, either. So, weТll take you along to the place weТve got ready, then weТll send our message and wait Сtil Mendost shows up.Ф

УHe wonТt show up,Ф I said hopelessly.

УFor your sake, girly, heТd better.Ф

УWould you ask ransom?Ф I suggested, hoping that King Kelver might see fit to increase his investment. He had already gone to considerable expense and might not mind a little extra.

УThe Game is between Mendost and me,Ф he said offhandedly. УWhy should I want ransom? Ransom will not avenge my honor. Mendost struck me without warning. He did not announce Game before striking me.Ф

УIf heТd been drinking,Ф I said, Уit wasnТt Game at all. It was just bad temper.Ф

УIf it wasnТt Game for Mendost then, he must learn it is Game now,Ф he said, turning the horse through a screen of trees and down into a hidden hollow where a camp had been set up. УThe Herald has delivered my demands by now. He was on his way to your gate when we picked you up.Ф Porvius Bloster sounded so self-satisfied, so pompous, I knew there would be no reasoning with him. Which is probably why Mendost hit him in the first place. If you are ever captured by someone, pray it is not a stupid, pompous man who sees the whole world through a haze of his own preconceptions. As I analyzed the situation, it seemed fairly hopeless that he would ever believe me. He was not living in the same world I was. He was simply too sure he was right.

There was a tall, greasy-looking post at one side of the camp, and I saw with alarm it had been fitted up with a tether and harness. Sure enough, they put the harness on me, hooked up behind where I couldnТt reach it, and the tether went to the top of the post where I couldnТt reach that end, either. There was a small tent nearby where I could sleep. I could get into the thicket if I needed to go. They werenТt going to torture me or anything. In fact, as they went about their business, it was obvious they werenТt very interested in me at all. I sat in the entrance of the tent, getting familiar with the camp, thinking. It seemed to me the best thing to do was to become invisible.

Now the first rule of invisibility is that you have to be where you can be seen. You sort of blend into the scenery. Never hide. If you hide, people wonder where you are and what youТre doing, so you donТt hide. You do whatever youТre doing right out in front of everyone, but itТs what you do all the time. So I began to wander around, into the thicket and out. Among the trees and out. Into the tent and out. Over near the fire to get warm, then away. Down to the little pool to get a drink. Pick up a few sticks and put them down near the fire. Pick a rainhat berry and eat it. Rainhat berry. Still walking aimlessly around, I set myself to search for shivery-green. It wasnТt common. Not nearly as common as the rainhat bush. Thinking of that, I picked a couple of leaves and put them beside the tent. If it rained, I could use them to replace the rain cape in the saddlebag Misquick had taken home.

I didnТt find any shivery-green that day. Night came. They gave me some food, not very good. They sat in the light of their fire, mumbling to one another. Porvius Bloster had a chain about his neck with a pendant on it. I had noticed it during the day several times and now it was even more noticeable in the light of the fire. He fingered it now, turning it in his fingers. When the others lay down to sleep he sat there, turning it, turning it, at last laying it upon his tongue and sucking upon it as a baby does a sugar tit.

I knew what it was then. IТd never seen one before that I knew of, though there was talk of them in the Demesne, as there is always talk of things exotic and strange. It was a dream crystal. If what I had heard about them was true, it was no wonder he could not deal with the reality around him. He had already dreamed this occasion, dreamed its progress and conclusion. Nothing I could say would disrupt the dream. Too much confusion between the dream and the reality would unbalance him completely, and who knew what he might do then.

I waited, scarcely breathing until he let the thing fall from his mouth and wandered toward the tent. The tent the men slept in was out of reach of my tether, so I couldnТt sneak in on them in the night. I could get up very, very early, however, and start my wander once more. It took until noon to find a plant of shivery-green. Only one plant of it, trembling like a little emerald fountain between the buttress roots of a great tree, with three little seed clusters nodding at the tips of the stems. So. Now the location of it was known, if one could only figure out what to do about it.