"Sheri S. Tepper - The True Game - 3 books" - читать интересную книгу автора (Tepper Sherri)

King's Blood Four
"TOTEM TO KING'S BLOOD FOUR." The moment I said it, I knew it was wrong. I said, "No!"
Gamesmaster Gervaise tapped the stone floor with his iron-tipped staff, impatiently searching our faces
for a lifted eye or for a raised hand. "No?" he echoed me.
Of the three Gamesmasters of Mertyn's House, I liked Gervaise the best.
"When I said 'no', I meant the answer wasn't quite right." Behind me Karl Pig-face gave a sneaky gasp as
he always does when he is about to put me down, but Gamesmaster Gervaise didn't give him a chance.
"That's correct," he agreed. "Correct that it isn't quite right and might be very wrong. The move is one we
haven't come across before, however, so take your time.. Before you decide upon the move, always
remember who you are." He turned away from us, staff tap-tapping across the tower room to the high

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 Tepper, Sheri S. - The True Game

window which gaped across the dark bulk of Havad's House down to River Reave where it wound like a
tarnished ribbon among all the other School Houses-each as full of students as a dog is of fleas, as Brother
Chance, the cook, would say. All the sloped land between the Houses was crowded full of dwellings and
shops, all humping their way up the hills to the shuttered Festival Halls, then scattering out among the
School Farms which extended to the vacant land of the Edge. I searched over the Gamesmaster's shoulder
for that far, thin line of blue which marked the boundaries of the True Game.
Karl cleared his throat again, and I knew his mockery was only deferred, unless I could find ah answer
quickly. I wouldn't find it by staring out at Schooltown. I turned back to the game model which hung in
the air before us, swimming in icy haze. Somewhere within the model, among the game pieces which
glowed in their own light or disappeared in their own shadow-somewhere in the model was the Demesne,
the focal area, the place of power where a move could be of significance. On our side, the students' side,
Demon loomed on a third level square casting a long, wing-shaped shadow. Two fanged Tragamors
boxed the area to either side. Before them stood Gamesmaster Gervaise's only visible piece, the King,
casting ruddy light before him. It was King's Blood Four, an Imperative-which meant I had to move
something. None of the battle pieces were right; it had to be something similar to Totem. Almost anything
could be hiding behind the King, and Gamesmasters don't give hints. Something similar, of like value,
somethingтАжthen I had it.
"Talisman,тАЭ I blurted. "Talisman to King's Blood Four. "
"Good.тАЭ Gervaise actually smiled. "Now, tell me why!"
"Because our side can't see what pieces may be hiding behind the King. Because Talisman is an
absorptive piece, that is, it will soak up the King's play. Totem is reflective.. Totem would splash it
around, we'd maybe lose some piecesтАж"
"Exactly. Now, students, visualize if you please. We have King, most durable of the adamants, whose
blood, that is, essence, is red light. Demon, most powerful of the ephemera, whose essence is shadow.
Tragamors making barriers at the sides of the Demesne. The player is a student, without power, so he
plays Talisman, an absorptive piece of the lesser ephemera. Talisman is lost in play, 'sacrificed' as we say.
The player gains nothing by this, but neither does he lose much, for with this play the Demesne is
changed, and the game moves elsewhere in the purlieu. "
"But, Master,тАЭ Karl's voice oozed from the corner. "A strong player could have played Totem. A powerful
player. "
I flushed. Of course. Everyone in the room knew that, but students were not strong, not powerful, even
though Karl liked to pretend he was. It was just one more of his little pricks and nibbles, like living with a
hedgehog. Gamesmaster tilted his head, signifying he had heard, but he didn't reply. Instead, he peered at
the chronometer on the wall, then out the window to check where the mountain shadow fell upon the
harbor, finally back to our heavily bundled little group. "So. Enoughfor today. Go to the fires and your
supper. Some of you are half frozen. "