"Patrick Tilley - Amtrak 5 - Death - Bringer" - читать интересную книгу автора (Tilley Patrick)
If he had managed to complete the journey without being discovered he
might decide that this was the best way to return. In the bustle of
trading activity, with Mutes helping to load and unload the
wheel-boats, they would have an excellent opportunity to steal
ashore.
Once there they could rejoin their clanfolk, becoming part of the
delegation which would then travel home across the plains during the
period of truce known as 'Walking on the Water'.
That was the sensible way, but the journey from Ne-Issan took many days
- perhaps weeks. Finding a place on a wheel-boat where three people
could remain undetected for days on end would not be easy. Mr Snow had
been taken aboard one for a brief audience with Lord Yama-Shita. They
were giant structures but they also carried a large crew who constantly
swarmed back and forth like ants on a dunghill. And the wheel-boats
only came to the trading post once a year. To return via
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this route
meant boarding the right vessel at exactly the right moment. The
cloud-warrior was resourceful enough to gather this information but
what if they missed the boat? Or escaped much earlier and were unable
to take the longer but safer way home?
Mr Snow's dilemma arose from his desire to be at the chosen point of
arrival in case his powers were needed to fight off any pursuers. For
they would be pursued.
That was certain. Over the years of trading, he had come to understand
the character of the Iron Masters and their obsession with 'face', what
the Mutes called 'standing'. Because of the status accorded to
warriors, it was a concept the two races shared, but not to the same
degree. Mutes generally nursed their shattered pride then gave it
another shot. To the Iron Masters, loss of face was an unbearable
condition which, if the victim's sense of honour could not be regained,
often led to suicide. This concern with honour, impeccable behaviour
and faultless performance of one's duties only affected the pure-blood
ruling classes; the lower orders - the inferior races - were not graced
by such concerns. Which, according to his informant, explained why the
gods had condemned them to a life of servitude.
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