[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

old days before Andellate Heslin knocked the belligerence out of the warlords.
Every man s hand raised against his neighbor and the landless left to starve.
Eh-Rane, if the Nor do me in, I d almost thank them.
RAKE: Back to business, old philosopher. Practical things have their charm.
How are the ordinary folk feeling? Not the converted, the others.
HAL: All this happened so fast, most folk were stunned; it came on them
boom-boom, they didn t have time to react or work themselves up to resisting.
They re begin-ning to stir now, just need a leader. With Anders put-ting on
the black so fast, it took a while before the ties would talk to me, but I ve
picked up a few things. Example: Our folk grumbled when the Gorduufest was
cancelled, then they got together and made a little Gorduufest out in the
orchard. I was rather afraid I d scare them off, but I joined them anyway with
a jug of hard cider to liven the night for us. Another example: Some of the
tie-wives are starting to seethe at the way they re being treated. They work
damn hard. Used to be they had a say in what happened to their families. The
Agli and his more rabid Followers, they resent and fear women for tempting
them from what they see as higher things, and the women are beginning to
resent back hard, (He chuckles, then shakes his head.) Though there s little
they can do about it. If they open their mouths to protest even the most
outrageous nonsense, even if it s to protect their children, they re hauled
off to the House of Repentance to be schooled in submis-sion. Repeat the
offense and they re publicly flogged. (His brows come together, he stares down
at his hands, sighs.) There are a lot of floggings these days, my friend.
Fools. The Followers, I mean. They don t see that they re not beating sin out
but rebellion in. What else? Ah. Yes. Folk are angry about the defiling of the
Maiden Shrines and the treatment of the Keepers. The Keeper in Sadnaji was
quite old, she taught most of us our letters and the chants, delivered a good
many of the babies the past fifty years. She disappeared after the Guards led
her out of the Shrine and took her to the House of Repentance. One rumor is
the Agli had her whipped to death. Other rumors say worse. It doesn t sit well
in the bellies of our folk, even some of the Followers. Um. Floarin s levies
are making trouble for her; she s taken half the men off the tars to fight in
that army of hers. A lot of the men don t want to go, but what can they do?
The tithing is another thing. She s starting to dip into the seed grain. Lot
of folk going to starve that shouldn t need to.
RANE: Any resistance organized?
HAL: Getting there. Tesc Gradin has sent some young-ties down from the
mountains to sound things out, his son too, good lad from what I ve heard.
Page 19
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
There was some resentment of his attacks on the tithe wagons, but he s defused
this by sending young Teras Gradin around with some of the grain he took and
promising more. Rumor says he s defied the more conservative outcast taroms
and brought ties into the governing council of that Haven. When they heard
that, my ties got a fire under their skins. There s a lot of talk about after
the war, how things are going to be different. I only get snippets of that,
they won t talk much around me, well, can you blame them? And there s Hern.
(The words are a question, there is a hint of a twinkle in Hal s faded brown
eyes.) A clever man, they say. There s almost as much talk about Hern as there
is about Tesc. Though I might just be hearing more of that. There s a large
reservoir of good will for the Heslins. I ve heard men say he s a lazy
layabout too keen on women, almost fond talk as if they admire his weaknesses
as much as his strengths; it s as if he belongs to them. They tell stories
about his skill with a sword and what a fox he is at settling disputes. Funny,
a lot of stories I haven t heard for years are surfacing again. How he got the
truth out of twisty Jagger; the time he settled that marriage busi-ness at
Cantintar; how he led a decset of guards after that rogue band that was
burning tars, backed them into a corner and whipped them though they had five
times his fighters. (He chuckles.) First time I heard the story, there were
only a dozen raiders. Now there s fifty. By the time Hern returns (he raises a
brow, his smiling eyes fix on Rane s face) he ll find a space waiting for him
no man could possibly fill.
RANE: What about you, Hal? Any danger?
HAL: (shrugging) They ve tolerated me so far because they see me as an amiable
nothing. They ve taken the tar from me, did you know? Anders is tarom now,
good little Follower that he is.
RANE: Does anyone suspect you re sending information to the Biserica?
HAL: (chuckling) Oh no, my long friend. Sweet Hallam, he s a harmless fool.
Let him potter about grinning at people, he s entertaining now and then, cools
things down sometimes. They burned my books, did you know? Took them all out
and put them on a pile. Even the Keeper s Praises, illuminated by Hanara Pan
herself. Anders carried them out with his own hands and put them on the fire.
(He broods at the fire, his anger so intense it was palpable; Tuli felt it
powerfully.) Barbar-ians. They re all barbarians. (His voice is very soft,
very even, the words are flat, floating like leaves in the crack-ling
silence.)
RANE: Hal, you don t have to stay here. This storm will close the pass to
wagons, but a man on snowshoes could get through if he had a reason to.
HAL: Oh, I think I must stay. There are still ways I can help my ties. Anders
is too thick to notice when he s being led about by the nose. (He ran a
trembling hand through his silverwhite hair.) If by chance I do survive this
nonsense, I d like to live in your guesthouse and work in the Biserica
Library. You might mention that to Yael-mri when you see her next.
RANE: (putting her hand over his) I will, be sure of that. Hal?
HAL: What is it, my friend?
RANE: Could you dig into your stores, get us some winter clothing? Blankets
(she makes a rueful little sound, bites on her lower lip) and food; meant to
get that from you anyway, grain for our macain, they ll find little enough to
eat, groundsheets, a tent, a firestriker, we ll be sleep-ing out until we hit
Sel-ma-Carth. It s a lot to ask.
HAL: A lot, but not too much. It s late. Anders and his soulmate will be
sleeping the sleep of the self-justified. The attics will be dusty but
deserted. Come with me. (He nods at Tuli.) The youngling should stay here. You
know the bolt holes if we run into trouble. By the way, I ve never gotten
round to telling Anders about the little secrets in the walls so you needn t
fear he ll be poking around down here. If it s still snowing tomorrow you d
better stay. That won t be a problem. (He gets to his feet, stretches, pats a
yawn.)
Rane unfolded from the pillows, stood looking down at Tuli.  Eh-Moth, she
Page 20
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
said.  Kick some of that straw to-gether and stretch out between those quilts.
You re pinch-ing yourself to keep awake.
Tuli yawned. She nodded, got shakily to her feet. Yawned again.
Rane chuckled.  We won t be leaving until tomorrow night at the earliest.
Sleep as much as you need.
They stayed in the secret cellar for three days while the storm raged outside.
Tuli grew heartily bored with the place. This wasn t what she d expected, [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]