"Joan D. Vinge - Eyes of Amber" - читать интересную книгу автора (Vinge Joan D)

"Where one goes, the other follows. We are inseparable. You should
know that better than most, my lord." She watched his long, pale arm
extend to spear several berries at once. Even though the nights were chill
he wore only a body-wrapping tunic, which let him display the intricate
scaling of jewels that danced and spiraled over his wing surfaces.
He smiled; she saw the sharp fangs protrude slightly. "Because my
brother made the one into the other, when he seized your lands? I'm
surprised you would come at allтАФhow did you know you could trust me?"
His movements were ungraceful; she remembered how the jewels dragged
down fragile, translucent wing membranes and slender arms, until flight
was impossible. Like every noble, Chwiul was normally surrounded by
servants who answered his every whim. Incompetence, feigned or real, was
one more trapping of power, one more indulgence that only the rich could
afford. She was pleased that the jewels were not of high quality.
"I don't trust you," she said, "I trust only myself. But I have friends, who
told me you were sincere enoughтАФin this case. And of course, I did not
come alone."
"Your outlaws?" Disbelief. "That would be no protection."
Calmly she separated the folds of cloth that held her secret companion
at her side.
"It is true," Chwiul trilled softly. "They call you Demon's Consort!"
She turned the amber lens of the demon's precious eye so that it could
see the room, as she had seen it, and then settled its gaze on Chwiul. He
drew back slightly, fingering moss.
" 'A demon has a thousand eyes, and a thousand thousand torments for
those who offend it.' " She quoted from the Book of Ngoss, whose rituals
she had used to bind the demon to her.
Chwiul stretched nervously, as if he wanted to fly away. But he only said,
"Then I think we understand each other. And I think I have made a good
choice: I know how well you have served the Overlord, and other court
members . . . I want you to kill someone for me."
"Obviously."
"I want you to kill Klovhiri."
T'uupieh started, very slightly. "You surprise me in return, Lord Chwiul.
Your own brother?" And the usurper of my lands. How I have ached to
kill him, slowly, so slowly, with my own hands. . . . But always he is too
well guarded.
"And your sister tooтАФmy lady." Faint overtones of mockery. "I want his
whole family eliminated; his mate, his children . . ."
Klovhiri . . . and Ahtseet. Ahtseet, her own younger sister, who had been
her closest companion since childhood, her only family since their parents
had died. Ahtseet, whom she had cherished and protected; dear,
conniving, traitorous little AhtseetтАФ who could forsake pride and decency
and family honor to mate willingly with the man who had robbed them of
everything . . . Anything to keep the family lands, Ahtseet had shrilled;
anything to keep her position. But that was not the way! Not by
surrendering; but by striking backтАФT'uupieh became aware that Chwiul
was watching her reaction with unpleasant interest. She fingered the
dagger at her belt.
"Why?" She laughed, wanting to ask, "How?"