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."When itwas over, Samah caught me, sent me to the Labyrinth.I escaped.The Nexus, thebooks you read mine.My handiwork." The old man looked faintly proud."That was before the sickness.I don't remember the sickness, but my dragon tells meabout it.That was when he found me, took care of me.""Who are you?" Xar repeated.He looked into the old man's eyes.and then Xar saw the madness.It dropped like a final curtain, dousing the memories, putting out the fires,clouding over the red-hot skies, blotting out the horror.The madness.A gift? Or a punishment."Who are you?" Xar demanded a third time."My name?" The old man smiled vacantly, happily."Bond.James Bond."CHAPTER 31THE CITADELPRYANALEATHA FLOUNCED THROUGH THE GATE LEADING INTO THE maze.Her skirt caught on abramble.Swearing, she tore it loose, taking a certain grim satisfaction inhearing the fabric rip.So what if her clothes were in shreds? What did itmatter? She would never get to go anywhere, never get to do anything withanybody of interest ever again.Angry and miserable, she curled up on the marble bench, giving herself up tothe luxury of self-pity.Outside the maze, through the hedgerows, she couldhear the other three continuing to bicker.Roland asked if they shouldn't goin after Aleatha.Paithan said no, leave her alone, she wouldn't go far andwhat could happen to her anyway?"Nothing," said Aleatha drearily."Nothing will happen.Ever again."Eventually their voices faded away; their footsteps trailed off.She wasalone."I might as well be in prison," she said, looking at her surroundings, thegreen walls of the hedges with their unnaturally sharp angles and lines,strict and confining."Except prison would be better than this.Every prisonerhas some chance of escape, and I have none.Nowhere to go but this same place.No one to see except these same people.On and on and on.through theyears.Wearing away at each other until we're all stark, raving mad."She flung herself down on the bench and began to cry bitterly.What did itmatter if her eyes turned red, her nose dripped? What did it matter who sawher like that? No one cared for her.No one loved her.They all hated her.Shehated them.And she hated that horrid Lord Xar.There was somethingfrightening about him."Don't do that, now," came a gruff voice."You will make yourself sick."Aleatha sat up swiftly, blinking back her tears and fumbling for what remainedof her handkerchief, which from being put to various uses was now little morethan a ragged scrap of lace.Not finding it, she wiped her eyes with the hemof her shawl."Oh, it's you," she said. Drugar stood over her, gazing down at her with his black-browed frown.But hisvoice was kind and almost shyly tender.Aleatha recognized admiration when shesaw it, and though it came from the dwarf, she felt comforted."I didn't mean that the way it sounded," she said hurriedly, realizing herprevious words hadn't been exactly gracious."In fact, I'm glad it's you.Andnot any of the others.You're the only one with any sense.The rest are fools!Here, sit down."She made room for the dwarf on the bench.Drugar hesitated.He rarely sat in the presence of the taller humans and theelves.When he sat on furniture made for them, his legs were too short topermit his feet to touch the ground; he was left with his limbs dangling inwhat was to him an undignified and childlike manner.He could see in theireyes or at least he presumed he could see that they tended to think less ofhim as a result.But he never felt that way around Aleatha.She smiled at him when she was in agood humor, of course and listened to him with respectful attention, appearedto admire what he did and said.Truth to tell, Aleatha reacted to Drugar as she reacted to any man she flirtedwith him.The flirtation was innocent, even unconscious.Making men love herwas the only way she knew to relate to them.And she had no way at all torelate to other women.She knew Rega wanted to be friends, and deep inside,Aleatha thought it might be nice to have another woman to talk to, laugh with,share hopes and fears with.But early on in her life, Aleatha had understoodthat her older sister, Gallie, unlovely and undesirable, had hated Aleatha forher beauty, at the same time loving her all the more fiercely.Aleatha had come to assume that other women felt the same as Gallie andadmittedly most did.Aleatha flaunted her beauty, threw it into Rega's facelike a glove, made of it a challenge.Secretly believing herself inferior toRega, knowing she wasn't as intelligent, as winning, as likable as Rega,Aleatha used her beauty as a foil to force the other woman to keep herdistance.As for men, Aleatha knew that once they discovered she was ugly inside, they'dleave her.And so she made a practice of leaving them first, except that nowthere was nowhere to go.Which meant that sooner or later, Roland would findout, and instead of loving her, he'd hate her.If he didn't hate her already.Not that she cared what he thought of her.Her eyes filled with tears again.She was alone, so desperately alone.Drugar cleared his throat.He had perched on the edge of the bench, his toesjust touching the ground.His heart ached for her sorrow; he understood herunhappiness and her fear.In a strange way, the two of them were alikephysical differences keeping them apart from the others.In their eyes, he wasshort and ugly.In their eyes, she was beautiful.He reached out, awkwardlypatted her on the shoulder.To his amazement, she nestled against him, restingher head on his broad chest, sobbing into his thick black beard.Drugar's aching heart almost burst with love.He understood, though, that shewas a child inside, a lost and frightened child, turning to him forcomfort nothing more.He gazed down at the blond, silken tresses, minglingwith his own coarse black hair, and he had to close his own eyes to fight backthe burn of tears.He held her gently until her sobs quieted; then, to spare them both embarrassment, he spoke swiftly."Would you like to see what I have discovered? In the center of the maze."Aleatha raised her head, her face flushed."Yes.I'd like that.Anything isbetter than doing nothing at all." She stood up, smoothing her dress andwiping her tears from her cheeks."You won't tell the others?" Drugar asked."No, of course not.Why should I?" Aleatha said haughtily."They have secretsfrom me Paithan and Rega.I know they do.This will be our secret yours andmine." She extended her hand.By the One Dwarf, he loved her! Drugar took her hand.Small as his was, hersfit well inside it.He led her by the hand down the maze path until it grewtoo narrow for them to walk together.Releasing her, he admonished her to stayclose behind him, lest she get lost in the myriad turns and twists of themaze.His injunction was needless.The hedges were tall and overgrown, often forminga green roof that blotted out all sight of the sky or anything around them.Inside it was greenly dark and cool and very, very quiet.At the beginning of their journey into the maze, Aleatha tried to keep trackof where she was going two right turns, a left, another right, another left,then two more lefts, a complete circle around a statue of a fish.But afterthat she was confused and hopelessly lost.She kept so near the dwarf shenearly tripped him up, her long skirts constantly getting under his heels, herhand plucking at his sleeve [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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."When itwas over, Samah caught me, sent me to the Labyrinth.I escaped.The Nexus, thebooks you read mine.My handiwork." The old man looked faintly proud."That was before the sickness.I don't remember the sickness, but my dragon tells meabout it.That was when he found me, took care of me.""Who are you?" Xar repeated.He looked into the old man's eyes.and then Xar saw the madness.It dropped like a final curtain, dousing the memories, putting out the fires,clouding over the red-hot skies, blotting out the horror.The madness.A gift? Or a punishment."Who are you?" Xar demanded a third time."My name?" The old man smiled vacantly, happily."Bond.James Bond."CHAPTER 31THE CITADELPRYANALEATHA FLOUNCED THROUGH THE GATE LEADING INTO THE maze.Her skirt caught on abramble.Swearing, she tore it loose, taking a certain grim satisfaction inhearing the fabric rip.So what if her clothes were in shreds? What did itmatter? She would never get to go anywhere, never get to do anything withanybody of interest ever again.Angry and miserable, she curled up on the marble bench, giving herself up tothe luxury of self-pity.Outside the maze, through the hedgerows, she couldhear the other three continuing to bicker.Roland asked if they shouldn't goin after Aleatha.Paithan said no, leave her alone, she wouldn't go far andwhat could happen to her anyway?"Nothing," said Aleatha drearily."Nothing will happen.Ever again."Eventually their voices faded away; their footsteps trailed off.She wasalone."I might as well be in prison," she said, looking at her surroundings, thegreen walls of the hedges with their unnaturally sharp angles and lines,strict and confining."Except prison would be better than this.Every prisonerhas some chance of escape, and I have none.Nowhere to go but this same place.No one to see except these same people.On and on and on.through theyears.Wearing away at each other until we're all stark, raving mad."She flung herself down on the bench and began to cry bitterly.What did itmatter if her eyes turned red, her nose dripped? What did it matter who sawher like that? No one cared for her.No one loved her.They all hated her.Shehated them.And she hated that horrid Lord Xar.There was somethingfrightening about him."Don't do that, now," came a gruff voice."You will make yourself sick."Aleatha sat up swiftly, blinking back her tears and fumbling for what remainedof her handkerchief, which from being put to various uses was now little morethan a ragged scrap of lace.Not finding it, she wiped her eyes with the hemof her shawl."Oh, it's you," she said. Drugar stood over her, gazing down at her with his black-browed frown.But hisvoice was kind and almost shyly tender.Aleatha recognized admiration when shesaw it, and though it came from the dwarf, she felt comforted."I didn't mean that the way it sounded," she said hurriedly, realizing herprevious words hadn't been exactly gracious."In fact, I'm glad it's you.Andnot any of the others.You're the only one with any sense.The rest are fools!Here, sit down."She made room for the dwarf on the bench.Drugar hesitated.He rarely sat in the presence of the taller humans and theelves.When he sat on furniture made for them, his legs were too short topermit his feet to touch the ground; he was left with his limbs dangling inwhat was to him an undignified and childlike manner.He could see in theireyes or at least he presumed he could see that they tended to think less ofhim as a result.But he never felt that way around Aleatha.She smiled at him when she was in agood humor, of course and listened to him with respectful attention, appearedto admire what he did and said.Truth to tell, Aleatha reacted to Drugar as she reacted to any man she flirtedwith him.The flirtation was innocent, even unconscious.Making men love herwas the only way she knew to relate to them.And she had no way at all torelate to other women.She knew Rega wanted to be friends, and deep inside,Aleatha thought it might be nice to have another woman to talk to, laugh with,share hopes and fears with.But early on in her life, Aleatha had understoodthat her older sister, Gallie, unlovely and undesirable, had hated Aleatha forher beauty, at the same time loving her all the more fiercely.Aleatha had come to assume that other women felt the same as Gallie andadmittedly most did.Aleatha flaunted her beauty, threw it into Rega's facelike a glove, made of it a challenge.Secretly believing herself inferior toRega, knowing she wasn't as intelligent, as winning, as likable as Rega,Aleatha used her beauty as a foil to force the other woman to keep herdistance.As for men, Aleatha knew that once they discovered she was ugly inside, they'dleave her.And so she made a practice of leaving them first, except that nowthere was nowhere to go.Which meant that sooner or later, Roland would findout, and instead of loving her, he'd hate her.If he didn't hate her already.Not that she cared what he thought of her.Her eyes filled with tears again.She was alone, so desperately alone.Drugar cleared his throat.He had perched on the edge of the bench, his toesjust touching the ground.His heart ached for her sorrow; he understood herunhappiness and her fear.In a strange way, the two of them were alikephysical differences keeping them apart from the others.In their eyes, he wasshort and ugly.In their eyes, she was beautiful.He reached out, awkwardlypatted her on the shoulder.To his amazement, she nestled against him, restingher head on his broad chest, sobbing into his thick black beard.Drugar's aching heart almost burst with love.He understood, though, that shewas a child inside, a lost and frightened child, turning to him forcomfort nothing more.He gazed down at the blond, silken tresses, minglingwith his own coarse black hair, and he had to close his own eyes to fight backthe burn of tears.He held her gently until her sobs quieted; then, to spare them both embarrassment, he spoke swiftly."Would you like to see what I have discovered? In the center of the maze."Aleatha raised her head, her face flushed."Yes.I'd like that.Anything isbetter than doing nothing at all." She stood up, smoothing her dress andwiping her tears from her cheeks."You won't tell the others?" Drugar asked."No, of course not.Why should I?" Aleatha said haughtily."They have secretsfrom me Paithan and Rega.I know they do.This will be our secret yours andmine." She extended her hand.By the One Dwarf, he loved her! Drugar took her hand.Small as his was, hersfit well inside it.He led her by the hand down the maze path until it grewtoo narrow for them to walk together.Releasing her, he admonished her to stayclose behind him, lest she get lost in the myriad turns and twists of themaze.His injunction was needless.The hedges were tall and overgrown, often forminga green roof that blotted out all sight of the sky or anything around them.Inside it was greenly dark and cool and very, very quiet.At the beginning of their journey into the maze, Aleatha tried to keep trackof where she was going two right turns, a left, another right, another left,then two more lefts, a complete circle around a statue of a fish.But afterthat she was confused and hopelessly lost.She kept so near the dwarf shenearly tripped him up, her long skirts constantly getting under his heels, herhand plucking at his sleeve [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]