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.Well, they weren't starving yet.Paithan had attempted to impose some sort ofrationing system on them, but Roland had refused to accept it, stating thathumans being bigger needed more food than elves and so it was unfair ofPaithan to allot to Roland and Rega the same amount of food that he allottedto himself and Aleatha.At which Drugar had spoken up a rarity for him and claimed that dwarves,because of their heavier body mass, needed twice as much food as either elvesor humans.At which Paithan had thrown up his hands and said he didn't care.They couldgorge themselves.They'd only die that much sooner and he, for one, would beglad to be rid of them.At which Rega had flown into a rage and said that no doubt he'd be thankful ifshe was the first one to die and she hoped she was because she couldn't go onliving with a man who hated her brother.At which they'd all stormed off and no one had ended up rationing anything.Aleatha looked down the empty street and shivered in the bright sunlight.Themarble walls were always cold.The sun did nothing to warm them, probablybecause of the strange darkness that flowed over the city every night.Havingbeen raised in a world of perpetual light, Aleatha had come to enjoy theartificial night that fell on the citadel and nowhere else on Pryan.She likedto walk in the darkness, reveling in the mystery and velvet softness of thenight air.It was especially nice to walk in the darkness with someone.She glancedaround.The shadows were deepening.The strange night would fall soon.Shecould either go back to the Star Chamber and be bored to tears watchingPaithan dither over his stupid machine or she could go and see if Roland wouldreally meet her at the garden maze. Aleatha glanced at her reflection in a crystal window of a vacant house.Shewas somewhat thinner than she had been, but that didn't detract from herbeauty.If anything, her narrow waistline only made her full breasts morevoluptuous.Artfully she rearranged her dress to best advantage, brushed herfingers through her thick hair.Roland would be waiting for her.She knew it.CHAPTER 21THE CITADELPRYANTHE GARDEN MAZE WAS AT THE BACK OF THE CITY, ON A GENTLE slope that dippeddown from the city proper to the protective wall that surrounded it.None ofher companions particularly liked the maze; it had a strange feel to it,Paithan complained.But Aleatha felt drawn to the maze and often walked nearit during winetime.If she had to be by herself (and it was getting more andmore difficult to find company these days), this was where she liked to be."The garden maze was built by the Sartan," Paithan told her, having acquiredthe knowledge from one of the books he bragged about reading."They made itfor themselves because they were fond of being outdoors and it reminded themof wherever it was they came from.It was off-limits to us mensch." His lipcurled when he said the word."I don't know why they bothered.I can't imagineany elf in his right mind who'd want to go in there.No offense, Thea, butwhat do you find so fascinating about that creepy place?""Oh, I don't know," she'd answered with a shrug."Perhaps because it is kindof frightening.Everything and everyone around here is so boring."According to Paithan, the maze a series of hedges, trees, and bushes had oncebeen carefully clipped and maintained.The paths led, by various circuitousroutes, to an amphitheater in the center.Here (away from the eyes and ears ofthe mensch) the Sartan had held secret meetings."I wouldn't go into it if I were you, Thea," Paithan had warned her."According to the book, these Sartan laid some type of magic on the maze,meant to trap anyone who wasn't supposed to be there."Aleatha found the warning thrilling, just as she found the maze fascinating.Over the years, abandoned and left to itself, the garden maze had gone wild.Hedges that had once been neatly trimmed now soared high into the air, grewover the paths, forming green and tangled ceilings that shut out the light andkept the maze cool and dark even during the hot daylight hours.It was likeventuring into a green tunnel of plant life, for something kept the pathsthemselves clear, perhaps the strange markings carved into the stone, marksthat could be seen on the buildings in the city and on its walls.Marks thatPaithan said were some type of magic.A gate made of iron (a rarity on Pryan, where few people had ever seen theground) led to an arch formed by a hedge over a stone pathway.Each stone onthe path was marked with one of the magical symbols.Paithan had told her thatthe marks might hurt her, but Aleatha knew better.She'd paid no attention tothem before finding out what they were.She'd walked on them many times.Theyhadn't hurt her feet a bit.From the gate, the path led straight into the maze.High walls of vegetation soared overhead; flowers filled the air with sweet fragrance.The path ran straight for a short distance, then forked, slanting off in twodifferent directions, each leading deeper into the maze.The fork was thefarthest Aleatha had ever ventured.Both paths took her out of sight of thegate, and Aleatha, though wild and reckless, was not without common sense.At the fork were a marble bench and a pool.Here Aleatha sat in the coolshadows and listened to hidden birds singing, admiring her reflection andwondering idly what it would be like to wander deeper into the maze.Probablyboring and not worth the effort, she'd decided after having seen a drawing ofthe maze in Paithan's book.She'd been dreadfully disappointed to learn thatthe paths led to nothing but a circle of stone surrounded by tiers of seats.Walking down the empty street (so very empty!) that led to the maze, Aleathasmiled.Roland was there, pacing moodily back and forth, casting dark anddubious glances into the bushes.Aleatha permitted her skirts to rustle loudly, and at the sound Rolandstraightened, shoved his hands into his pockets, and began to saunter aboutquite casually, regarding the hedge with interest, as if he had just arrived.Aleatha smothered a laugh.She'd been thinking about him all day.Thinking howmuch she didn't like him.Thinking that she detested him, in fact.Thinkingthat he was boorish, and arrogant and.well.human.Recalling how much shehated him, it was only natural for her to think about the night they'd oncemade love.There had been extenuating circumstances, of course.Neither hadbeen responsible.Both had been recovering from the terrible fright of beingnearly eaten by a dragon.Roland had been hurt and she'd only been trying tocomfort him.And why did she have to keep remembering that night and his strong arms andsoft lips and the way he'd loved her, a way in which no other man had everdared to love her.It wasn't until the next day she'd remembered he was human and hadperemptorily ordered him never to touch her again.He apparently had been onlytoo glad to obey judging by what he'd said to her in response.But she took a grim delight in teasing him it was the only pleasure she had.And he seemed to take equal delight in irritating her.Aleatha stepped out into the pathway.Roland, lounging against the hedge,glanced at her and smiled what she considered a nasty smile [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.Well, they weren't starving yet.Paithan had attempted to impose some sort ofrationing system on them, but Roland had refused to accept it, stating thathumans being bigger needed more food than elves and so it was unfair ofPaithan to allot to Roland and Rega the same amount of food that he allottedto himself and Aleatha.At which Drugar had spoken up a rarity for him and claimed that dwarves,because of their heavier body mass, needed twice as much food as either elvesor humans.At which Paithan had thrown up his hands and said he didn't care.They couldgorge themselves.They'd only die that much sooner and he, for one, would beglad to be rid of them.At which Rega had flown into a rage and said that no doubt he'd be thankful ifshe was the first one to die and she hoped she was because she couldn't go onliving with a man who hated her brother.At which they'd all stormed off and no one had ended up rationing anything.Aleatha looked down the empty street and shivered in the bright sunlight.Themarble walls were always cold.The sun did nothing to warm them, probablybecause of the strange darkness that flowed over the city every night.Havingbeen raised in a world of perpetual light, Aleatha had come to enjoy theartificial night that fell on the citadel and nowhere else on Pryan.She likedto walk in the darkness, reveling in the mystery and velvet softness of thenight air.It was especially nice to walk in the darkness with someone.She glancedaround.The shadows were deepening.The strange night would fall soon.Shecould either go back to the Star Chamber and be bored to tears watchingPaithan dither over his stupid machine or she could go and see if Roland wouldreally meet her at the garden maze. Aleatha glanced at her reflection in a crystal window of a vacant house.Shewas somewhat thinner than she had been, but that didn't detract from herbeauty.If anything, her narrow waistline only made her full breasts morevoluptuous.Artfully she rearranged her dress to best advantage, brushed herfingers through her thick hair.Roland would be waiting for her.She knew it.CHAPTER 21THE CITADELPRYANTHE GARDEN MAZE WAS AT THE BACK OF THE CITY, ON A GENTLE slope that dippeddown from the city proper to the protective wall that surrounded it.None ofher companions particularly liked the maze; it had a strange feel to it,Paithan complained.But Aleatha felt drawn to the maze and often walked nearit during winetime.If she had to be by herself (and it was getting more andmore difficult to find company these days), this was where she liked to be."The garden maze was built by the Sartan," Paithan told her, having acquiredthe knowledge from one of the books he bragged about reading."They made itfor themselves because they were fond of being outdoors and it reminded themof wherever it was they came from.It was off-limits to us mensch." His lipcurled when he said the word."I don't know why they bothered.I can't imagineany elf in his right mind who'd want to go in there.No offense, Thea, butwhat do you find so fascinating about that creepy place?""Oh, I don't know," she'd answered with a shrug."Perhaps because it is kindof frightening.Everything and everyone around here is so boring."According to Paithan, the maze a series of hedges, trees, and bushes had oncebeen carefully clipped and maintained.The paths led, by various circuitousroutes, to an amphitheater in the center.Here (away from the eyes and ears ofthe mensch) the Sartan had held secret meetings."I wouldn't go into it if I were you, Thea," Paithan had warned her."According to the book, these Sartan laid some type of magic on the maze,meant to trap anyone who wasn't supposed to be there."Aleatha found the warning thrilling, just as she found the maze fascinating.Over the years, abandoned and left to itself, the garden maze had gone wild.Hedges that had once been neatly trimmed now soared high into the air, grewover the paths, forming green and tangled ceilings that shut out the light andkept the maze cool and dark even during the hot daylight hours.It was likeventuring into a green tunnel of plant life, for something kept the pathsthemselves clear, perhaps the strange markings carved into the stone, marksthat could be seen on the buildings in the city and on its walls.Marks thatPaithan said were some type of magic.A gate made of iron (a rarity on Pryan, where few people had ever seen theground) led to an arch formed by a hedge over a stone pathway.Each stone onthe path was marked with one of the magical symbols.Paithan had told her thatthe marks might hurt her, but Aleatha knew better.She'd paid no attention tothem before finding out what they were.She'd walked on them many times.Theyhadn't hurt her feet a bit.From the gate, the path led straight into the maze.High walls of vegetation soared overhead; flowers filled the air with sweet fragrance.The path ran straight for a short distance, then forked, slanting off in twodifferent directions, each leading deeper into the maze.The fork was thefarthest Aleatha had ever ventured.Both paths took her out of sight of thegate, and Aleatha, though wild and reckless, was not without common sense.At the fork were a marble bench and a pool.Here Aleatha sat in the coolshadows and listened to hidden birds singing, admiring her reflection andwondering idly what it would be like to wander deeper into the maze.Probablyboring and not worth the effort, she'd decided after having seen a drawing ofthe maze in Paithan's book.She'd been dreadfully disappointed to learn thatthe paths led to nothing but a circle of stone surrounded by tiers of seats.Walking down the empty street (so very empty!) that led to the maze, Aleathasmiled.Roland was there, pacing moodily back and forth, casting dark anddubious glances into the bushes.Aleatha permitted her skirts to rustle loudly, and at the sound Rolandstraightened, shoved his hands into his pockets, and began to saunter aboutquite casually, regarding the hedge with interest, as if he had just arrived.Aleatha smothered a laugh.She'd been thinking about him all day.Thinking howmuch she didn't like him.Thinking that she detested him, in fact.Thinkingthat he was boorish, and arrogant and.well.human.Recalling how much shehated him, it was only natural for her to think about the night they'd oncemade love.There had been extenuating circumstances, of course.Neither hadbeen responsible.Both had been recovering from the terrible fright of beingnearly eaten by a dragon.Roland had been hurt and she'd only been trying tocomfort him.And why did she have to keep remembering that night and his strong arms andsoft lips and the way he'd loved her, a way in which no other man had everdared to love her.It wasn't until the next day she'd remembered he was human and hadperemptorily ordered him never to touch her again.He apparently had been onlytoo glad to obey judging by what he'd said to her in response.But she took a grim delight in teasing him it was the only pleasure she had.And he seemed to take equal delight in irritating her.Aleatha stepped out into the pathway.Roland, lounging against the hedge,glanced at her and smiled what she considered a nasty smile [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]