"Alexander Kazantsev. The Destruction of Faena (ГИБЕЛЬ ФАЭНЫ, англ.)" - читать интересную книгу автора

another. The hunchback was trying to get Mother Lua to take him somewhere,
but she was frightened.
One evening, Ave came into the garden looking downcast.
"What's the matter?" asked Mada in alarm.
Ave Mar confessed that he had to leave the Great Shore on the following
day. The travellers were not allowed to stay any longer near the Dictator's
palace. Kutsi had spotted that they were being trailed.
The young Faetians, as at their first tryst, were standing in the
shadow of the trees. Mada rested her head on Ave's breast and wept. He
stroked her hair, not knowing what to say. It was obvious that they loved
one another and could not bear to be apart.
Mada held her head back and looked up at Ave. His curly hair blotted
out the stars.
"Everything'll sort itself out," he said reassuringly. "We must use
certain of your father's oddities-his attachment to the old customs, for
instance. He refers in his teaching to the former monarchs; he even
remembers that intermarriage between the children of hostile kings used to
stave off war. I'm going to my father. I shall ask him to approach Yar Jupi
with an offer of alliance between us."
Mada shook her head.
"What? Get married now?" Ave had read her mind.
"Yes. Before you leave."
Mada said this firmly, almost imperiously.
"You mean tonight?" asked Ave, perplexed. "But who's capable of
marrying two polar opposites of hostility?"
Mada laughed, although her face was still wet with tears. Ave had an
odd way of putting things in a foreign language.
"You just don't know the ways of the Superiors. It's the roundheads
that need permission from the authorities to get married. But we longfaces
are free. Any of the Superiors whose age exceeds the combined ages of the
lovers can pronounce them man and wife."
"But where are we going to find such an elder? Ave is only a guest of
the Superiors."
"What does 'guest' mean? Are you helpless to find an answer?"
Ave flared up.
"I was a pupil of Dm Sat himself, the first Elder of learning on the
planet. He is old enough and he lives here."
"But he's a roundhead," said Mada disappointedly.
"Urn Sat has only just been proclaimed 'honorary longface' in
Powermania. He is equal to the Superiors amongst the Superiors."
Mada pushed Ave away from her, but clasped his hands in hers as she
looked adoringly up at him.
"Hurry to him! You're a true Faetian and you'll be able to convince
him."


Bowing low, the hunchback Kutsi Merc conducted the young Faetian into
Dm Sat's cell.
"Ave Mar? You have returned to your teacher?" said the Elder,
half-rising from his chair to greet them.