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

least this tenuous connection between us which leads me to be concerned about you," He leaned forward
to lay his face against mine, a shocking thing to do, as forbidden as anything I had ever done.
"Think, Peter. I cannot force you to be wise. Perhaps I will only frighten you, or offend you, but think. Do
not put yourself in another's hands." Abruptly he left me there in the high room, still angry, confused,
wordless.
"Do not put yourself in another's hands.тАЭ The first rule of the game. Make alliances, yes, they told us, but
do not give yourself away to become merely a pawn.
This is why they forbid us so many things, deny us so much while we are young and defenseless.. I leaned
on the sill of the high window where golden sunlight lay in a puddle. A line of similar color reflected
from a high House across the river, Dorcan's House, a woman's house. I wondered if they gamed there as
we did; learning, waiting for their Mistresses and peers to name them, being bored. I knew little about
women.. We would not study the female pieces for some years yet, but the sight of that remote house


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 Tepper, Sheri S. - The True Game

made me wonder what names they had, what name I would have.
It was said among the boys that one could sometimes tell what name one would bear by the sound of it in
one's own ears. I tried that, speaking into the silent air.. "Armiger. Tragamor. Elator. Sentinel.тАЭ Nothing.
"Flugleman," I whispered, fearfully, but there was no interior response to that, either. I had not mentioned
the name I dreamed of, the one I most desired to have, for I felt that to do so would breed ill luck. Instead,
I called, "Who am I?" into the morning silence. The only reply came in a spate of gull-scream from the
harbor, like impersonal laughter. I told myself it didn't matter who I was so long as I had more than a
friend in Mandor. A bell tolled briefly from the town, and I knew I had missed breakfast and would be
late for class. In the room below, the windows were shut for once to let the fire sizzling upon the hearth
warm the room.. That meant no models that day, only lectures; dull, warm words instead of icy, exciting
movement. Gamesmaster Gervaise was already stalking to and fro, mumble-murmuring toward the cluster
of student heads, half of them already nodding in the unaccustomed heat.
"Yesterday we evolved a King's game,тАЭ he was saying. "Those of you who were paying attention would
have noticed the sudden emergence of the Demesne from the purlieu.. This sudden emergence is a
frequent mark of King's games. Kings do not signal their intentions. There is no advance 'leakage' of
purpose. There may be a number of provocations or incursions without any response, and then, suddenly,
there will be an area of significant force and intent-a Measurable Demesne. Think how this differs from a
battle game between Armigers, for instance, where the Demesne grows very gradually from the first move
of a Herald or Sentinel. Just as the Demesne may emerge rapidly in a King's game, so it may close as
rapidly. Mark this rule, boys. The greater the power of the piece, the more rapid the consequence."
He rattled his staff to wake the ones dozing.
"Note this, boys, please. If a powerful player were playing against the King's side, the piece played might
have been one of the reflective durables such as Totem, or even Herald. In that caseтАж"
He began to drone again. He was talking about measuring, and it bored everyone to death. We'd had
measuring since we came into class from the nurseries, and if any of us didn't know how to measure a
Demesne by now, it was hopeless. I looked for Yarrel. He wasn't there, but I did see the visiting Sorcerer
leaning against the back wall, his lips curved in an enigmatic smile.
"Sorcerer,тАЭ I defined to myself, automatically. "Quiet glass, evoking but Unchanged by the evocation, a
conduit through which power may be channeled, a vessel into which one may pour acid, wine, or fire and
from which one may pour acid, wine, or fire.тАЭ I shivered. Sorcerers were very major pieces indeed,
holders of the power of others, and I'd never seen or heard of one going about alone. It was very strange
to have one leaning against the classroom wall, all by himself, and it gave me an itchy, curious feeling. I
decided to sneak down to the kitchen and ask Brother Chance about it. He had been my best source of