 |
 |
|
|
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] mostly but with dots of crimson and amber. Ordonai the Pilot/Owner stood on the far side of the brazier, stripped also, painted white from hairline to heels, with fmgerdrawn designs laid on the white in a glistening wet black that kept its sheen after it dried. He beckoned her forward, then flicked his hand up, palm out to stop her when she d come far enough. Eschewat ched doo ayal, he chanted. Desu telab. Desu telab. She stood erect and very still, fascinated because she knew she was hearing the secret tongue of the Jilitera, at least that part which she could perceive. And fright-ened because she shouldn t be seeing this or hearing that, not that she could understand a word of what was being said. Dabuxoo devoo, he chanted and held out a hand. Beredea put a shallow bowl in it, a bowl filled with a viscid golden fluid. Lylunda s eyes blurred and she started getting dizzy. She concentrated on keeping her eyes open and her body still; disrupting this ceremony didn t seem like a very good idea. Degoo watuhbey. He held out his other hand. Merekea dribbled a coarse meal into it until the curve of his palm was filled. Da oocid al di sec. He brought his hands around in front of them, held them into the incense rising from the brazier, then let the meal trickle into the fluid. Lerxuadid. He mixed them together with his forefin-ger. Ki ti ada. Merekea and Beradea rose with a disturbing sinuous grace. For an instant Lylunda saw them as twin ser-pents, the paint marks converted to scales. They each took one of her arms and led her around the brazier un-til she was standing before Ordonai. He chanted something else, but this time she couldn t separate the sounds from the pounding in her ears. At the same time he dipped his fingers into the bowl, scooping up a mixture of liquid and meal. Still chanting, he smeared the thick sticky mess across her brow, down her cheeks, then thrust his finger into her mouth and put another dollop on her tongue. She concentrated grimly on keeping the contents of her stomach where they belonged. The women s hands tightened on her arms and Ordonai slapped her lightly on the Page 80 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html right ear, then the left, then shouted a great word at her. It was as if he blew out the lights when his breath touched her face. 5 When she woke, she was stretched out on a patch of grass staring into a clear blue sky. Huh? She got to her feet and touched her face. Someone had washed her clean; the honey mixture was gone. The memory of Ordonai s finger in her mouth hovered queasily for a moment, then she pushed it aside and looked around. On her right the land sloped steeply down to a narrow white sand beach and beyond the beach blue sea glittered unhindered to the horizon. A short dis-tance off to her left, she saw a wide path paved with white shells that glittered in the brilliant yellow sun-light. She looked down. She was wearing a clean shipsuit and at her feet was a well-stuffed backpack. And a small square envelope was pinned to the pack. When she opened it, she snorted. A message from her father. Lylunda Elang, I won t ask for your forgiveness, only your understanding. I could not protect you here. I will have trouble in these next weeks protecting myself from those who would be delighted to use you to get at me. I have spent on you what I kept for my own safety. I have never forgotten your mother, nor how it felt when she put you in my arms. If Hutsart were a different place or I were a g differ-ent man . . . a zuz, there s no point in that. What-ever happens to me, 1 have made arrangements to free you from your exile if at the end of four years you still wish to leave. You will find all your gear in the pack, including your credit chip. Don t try bribing a free trader to take you offworld. The only traders who land there are the Jilitera and they would be more likely to kill you than offer you any help. Be patient, daughter, and stay alive. She turned the letter over, but there was no signa-ture, nothing to point to him, and the glyphs were care-fully drawn, all character erased from them. You re a cautious man, Father, she said and began tearing the paper into small pieces, listening to the ripping sounds with a fierce satisfaction. When she was finished, though, she remembered the strictures and stuffed the pea-sized bits into a pocket of the backpack, then checked the ground to make sure none of them had blown away. No point in standing around here any longer. She lifted the backpack, got her arms through the shoulder straps, settled it in place, then crossed the strip of grass and started walking along the path, the shells crunch-ing under [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |