[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
the shunt, holding the shield, doing things she could not have done only a day
before.
Until the island emerged from the storm, until the island was rocking along
placidly, climbing the long swells, sliding down again, a steady rise and fall
soothing as a rocking cradle and the world around them was quiet, serene, now
and then a gentle rustling of leaves overhead, the snorting of the gyori,
hungry and wanting loose until they were out of the pounding, she held the
shunt, she held the shield, and the diadem glowed and sang its four-note song
into the hush within the shelter. Harskari sighed finally and went away,
letting shunt and shield collapse, Aleytys sighed and fell back against the
shelter wall, the diadem was gone, the light gone, the song silent.
Page 129
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
She felt burnt-out, gray-ash; she arched her back, rubbed hard along her
spine. Her face ached from that endless silent scream. She tried to swallow,
it was painful, her mouth was dry and stiff. She coughed, her hand covering
her mouth, winced with the cough as muscles in her back and arm protested.
Wakille and Shadith were staring at her, Shadith worried, Wakille disturbed
and cautious. He was frightened of her now, she sensed that in passing without
even trying (it startled her not the knowledge itself but the ease with which
she acquired it). Covered over by the fear there were other things to bother
her, greed and a sly calculation focused on her. She didn t like that and
didn t bother to hide her dislike as she scowled at him.
Linfyar was awake, his ears fluttering, his pointed small face screwed into a
puzzled frown.
Shadith patted his shoulder absently. For a moment, she said, I thought you
were going to cremate yourself and us with you.
Aleytys slowly unbent her legs and stretched them out in front of her, fitting
her feet between Shadith and Wakille. She eased over and began massaging her
knees. A confusion, she said. I don t want to talk about it. She closed
her eyes. If you want to go outside, it should be safe enough. Turn the gyori
loose and see what cleaning up we have to do. I m beat. She rested her head
against the wattle-wall, sighed. I ll be out in a while.
Shadith watched her a moment, chewing on her lip as she often did when she was
worried, then she dumped Linfyar hastily and without ceremony on Wakille and
began working at the rope holding the doorflap shut. The water leaking in had
swelled the knots and the jerking of the wind had jammed them tight. Shadith
broke a thumbnail, cursed, her voice shrill with frustration; she took the
pale zel blade she wore at her waist and slashed the ropes apart, shoved the
flap aside and scrambled out on hands and knees.
Aleytys heard her shout of exultation and release, heard her start kicking
through the storm debris, singing at the top of her powerful young voice. She
smiled, feeling the girl s spirit expanding as she threw off the cramps of
body and soul knotted into her by confinement in that small crowded shelter,
by having to face a sudden and rather ignominious loss of the new life she saw
before her, the extent of what she d endured all the long night and the longer
morning could be measured by the violence of that release.
Linfyar was whining and unhappy, roused to wakefulness by Shadith s rough
handling, plucking and scratching at the mud that matted his short fur.
Wakille was soothing him and shooting uneasy glances at Aleytys.
Take him outside, she said. There s a little wind, that s all.
Wakille nodded, said nothing. He shoved the boy through the doorhole and
crawled out after him, leaving the flap partially pushed aside. The light
coming in the triangular opening illuminated with cruel clarity the sloppy
trampled muck and her muddy feet, her soaked and muddy trousers. She rubbed at
her temples, leaving streaks of mud on her face, knowing that but not able to
raise the energy to care. Her head was throbbing, her eyes were watering, she
felt like death warmed over and the thought of moving, made her stomach lurch,
but everything in her rebelled at spending a moment more in this hole. She
eased onto her knees, crawled slowly, painfully, into the sunlight.
day 39
The morning dawned clear and calm, the sky a radiant blue, the waves still
higher than normal but beginning to subside. After breakfast Aleytys left the
others working desultorily at the clean-up, cutting away the branches of
downed trees, stacking them for firewood, Wakille starting to work on a floor
for the shelter, using the hatchet to cut flat sides on some of the larger
branches. She climbed to her favorite retreat, the grassy nob on top of the
center hill, settled herself on the sun-warmed grass, yawned and stretched,
and stared blankly into the blinding blue. Harskari. She waited. Nothing.
Harskari!
The amber eyes blinked slowly open. A sense of yawning, men Harskari spoke,
her voice drowsy and unwelcoming. What do you want?
I need to talk about what happened.
Page 130
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
We ve had this conversation before. The voice dragged a little; the eyes
narrowed to yellow slits. Why go over it again?
How could there be so much anger in me and I not know it?
Harskari said nothing; her eyes continued to gaze beyond Aleytys at something
she alone saw. She was waiting. Obviously and irritatingly waiting for Aleytys
to talk herself out and let her go.
I m frightened, Aleytys said, refusing to let the old one retreat, demanding
that she be present to listen if for nothing else. What if I explode like
that and try to kill her. My mother. Her voice faltered, her mouth was
suddenly dry.
What did you expect? What do you want me to say? It s yours, you deal with
it. Transform it. Control it. You re not a child, stop acting like one. Surely
you understand you must order yourself before you confront your mother? I know
you understand you ll have to fight for your place on Vrithian. Whatever you
feel about her, Shareem has seen you honed and moulded for that task. You owe
her that if nothing else. You know the disciplines that lead to self-knowledge
and you ve avoided using them, finding a thousand excuses for not disturbing
your comfort. You ve got no choice now and you ve got time. Use it.
Aleytys closed her hands into fists. Seen me honed? No! She s got nothing to
do with what I am now except for the genes she gave me. She pressed her lips
hard together, swallowed, closed her eyes, started organizing her breathing to
calm herself. She broke off after a moment and started again, broke off and
started again, broke off and stared down at shaking hands. You re right about
one thing. I m in no shape to take on Vrithian.
With something like a silent sniff of disgust, the amber eyes snapped shut and [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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the shunt, holding the shield, doing things she could not have done only a day
before.
Until the island emerged from the storm, until the island was rocking along
placidly, climbing the long swells, sliding down again, a steady rise and fall
soothing as a rocking cradle and the world around them was quiet, serene, now
and then a gentle rustling of leaves overhead, the snorting of the gyori,
hungry and wanting loose until they were out of the pounding, she held the
shunt, she held the shield, and the diadem glowed and sang its four-note song
into the hush within the shelter. Harskari sighed finally and went away,
letting shunt and shield collapse, Aleytys sighed and fell back against the
shelter wall, the diadem was gone, the light gone, the song silent.
Page 129
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
She felt burnt-out, gray-ash; she arched her back, rubbed hard along her
spine. Her face ached from that endless silent scream. She tried to swallow,
it was painful, her mouth was dry and stiff. She coughed, her hand covering
her mouth, winced with the cough as muscles in her back and arm protested.
Wakille and Shadith were staring at her, Shadith worried, Wakille disturbed
and cautious. He was frightened of her now, she sensed that in passing without
even trying (it startled her not the knowledge itself but the ease with which
she acquired it). Covered over by the fear there were other things to bother
her, greed and a sly calculation focused on her. She didn t like that and
didn t bother to hide her dislike as she scowled at him.
Linfyar was awake, his ears fluttering, his pointed small face screwed into a
puzzled frown.
Shadith patted his shoulder absently. For a moment, she said, I thought you
were going to cremate yourself and us with you.
Aleytys slowly unbent her legs and stretched them out in front of her, fitting
her feet between Shadith and Wakille. She eased over and began massaging her
knees. A confusion, she said. I don t want to talk about it. She closed
her eyes. If you want to go outside, it should be safe enough. Turn the gyori
loose and see what cleaning up we have to do. I m beat. She rested her head
against the wattle-wall, sighed. I ll be out in a while.
Shadith watched her a moment, chewing on her lip as she often did when she was
worried, then she dumped Linfyar hastily and without ceremony on Wakille and
began working at the rope holding the doorflap shut. The water leaking in had
swelled the knots and the jerking of the wind had jammed them tight. Shadith
broke a thumbnail, cursed, her voice shrill with frustration; she took the
pale zel blade she wore at her waist and slashed the ropes apart, shoved the
flap aside and scrambled out on hands and knees.
Aleytys heard her shout of exultation and release, heard her start kicking
through the storm debris, singing at the top of her powerful young voice. She
smiled, feeling the girl s spirit expanding as she threw off the cramps of
body and soul knotted into her by confinement in that small crowded shelter,
by having to face a sudden and rather ignominious loss of the new life she saw
before her, the extent of what she d endured all the long night and the longer
morning could be measured by the violence of that release.
Linfyar was whining and unhappy, roused to wakefulness by Shadith s rough
handling, plucking and scratching at the mud that matted his short fur.
Wakille was soothing him and shooting uneasy glances at Aleytys.
Take him outside, she said. There s a little wind, that s all.
Wakille nodded, said nothing. He shoved the boy through the doorhole and
crawled out after him, leaving the flap partially pushed aside. The light
coming in the triangular opening illuminated with cruel clarity the sloppy
trampled muck and her muddy feet, her soaked and muddy trousers. She rubbed at
her temples, leaving streaks of mud on her face, knowing that but not able to
raise the energy to care. Her head was throbbing, her eyes were watering, she
felt like death warmed over and the thought of moving, made her stomach lurch,
but everything in her rebelled at spending a moment more in this hole. She
eased onto her knees, crawled slowly, painfully, into the sunlight.
day 39
The morning dawned clear and calm, the sky a radiant blue, the waves still
higher than normal but beginning to subside. After breakfast Aleytys left the
others working desultorily at the clean-up, cutting away the branches of
downed trees, stacking them for firewood, Wakille starting to work on a floor
for the shelter, using the hatchet to cut flat sides on some of the larger
branches. She climbed to her favorite retreat, the grassy nob on top of the
center hill, settled herself on the sun-warmed grass, yawned and stretched,
and stared blankly into the blinding blue. Harskari. She waited. Nothing.
Harskari!
The amber eyes blinked slowly open. A sense of yawning, men Harskari spoke,
her voice drowsy and unwelcoming. What do you want?
I need to talk about what happened.
Page 130
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
We ve had this conversation before. The voice dragged a little; the eyes
narrowed to yellow slits. Why go over it again?
How could there be so much anger in me and I not know it?
Harskari said nothing; her eyes continued to gaze beyond Aleytys at something
she alone saw. She was waiting. Obviously and irritatingly waiting for Aleytys
to talk herself out and let her go.
I m frightened, Aleytys said, refusing to let the old one retreat, demanding
that she be present to listen if for nothing else. What if I explode like
that and try to kill her. My mother. Her voice faltered, her mouth was
suddenly dry.
What did you expect? What do you want me to say? It s yours, you deal with
it. Transform it. Control it. You re not a child, stop acting like one. Surely
you understand you must order yourself before you confront your mother? I know
you understand you ll have to fight for your place on Vrithian. Whatever you
feel about her, Shareem has seen you honed and moulded for that task. You owe
her that if nothing else. You know the disciplines that lead to self-knowledge
and you ve avoided using them, finding a thousand excuses for not disturbing
your comfort. You ve got no choice now and you ve got time. Use it.
Aleytys closed her hands into fists. Seen me honed? No! She s got nothing to
do with what I am now except for the genes she gave me. She pressed her lips
hard together, swallowed, closed her eyes, started organizing her breathing to
calm herself. She broke off after a moment and started again, broke off and
started again, broke off and stared down at shaking hands. You re right about
one thing. I m in no shape to take on Vrithian.
With something like a silent sniff of disgust, the amber eyes snapped shut and [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]