Christopher Rowley [Arna 02] The Shasht War (v1.0) (epub) id

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.It was the only way they could win the war.She couldn't let him die here of starvation.Suddenly she had an idea, and she sat up with a sudden rush of breath as it burst into her mind.She prodded him."Thru, darling Thru, we have to leave these hills.We can't just die here."Thru struggled out of sleep.He was filled with shame for what he had done, but Simona did not seem angry in the slightest."I am sorry, I should not have done what I did.It was wrong.""No it wasn't!" She seized his hand and bit it gently, then squeezed it between her breasts."I love you, Thru, and what we did was not wrong.Even if we never do it again, it will never be wrong.We are different, but we are the same."He blinked, stared into her eyes.His lips moved, but he said nothing.Her breast felt warm, inviting, just like Nuza's."If we leave, where will we go?""If we go to Aunt Piggili she might be able to help us hide.""But that would endanger her.You said the Red Tops would go after all your relatives.""Oh, don't say that." This was Simona's great fear.That she might have brought down the wrath of the priests upon her family."I'm sorry, Simona, I wasn't thinking."He put his arms around her, and she rested her head on his hard, muscled shoulder."We can't just die here, Thru.You at least must go back to the Land.You can tell the Assenzi what they need to know."He nodded."Yes, but how?""We have to leave this place.""Wherever we go, there will be Red Tops.""No.We shall go to the coast and buy a ship.We will sail back to the Land.""Buy a boat?" he grinned at her in the dark."We have no money.""We do.Or I do.At the zob, years ago, my mother gave me the jewels she had collected for my inheritance from her.They were for my dowry.I buried them in the courtyard of the purdah house.""And that would be enough to buy a boat?""There is an emerald there that will be enough on its own.My mother told me never to give that stone up, unless my life depended on it."She squeezed his hand."And it does."Thru's mind fairly spun at the implications of this."Then we can buy a boat.The next question is whether we can sail it.""We will have to learn."Thru rubbed his chin thoughtfully.He had been around fishing boats, had traveled in them and handled nets."I have watched them setting the sails, I think I could do that.""I will steer.I will help you with the sails."But how would they navigate? Thru knew that navigation beyond the sight of land was very tricky."And when there is no wind?""Then I will row the boat."CHAPTER FIFTYIn the murk of a late winter afternoon, the big house was a dark hulk within the cold fog.From what they could see, only a single light glowed in the kitchen.They moved closer."There's hardly anyone here."The windows on the upper floors were shuttered, no lights showed there at all.The Red Tops had already scoured the place."Poor Shalee," muttered Simona.No doubt her old friend had gone to the city, destined for the altar to the Great God; all her friends at the house, probably.They had investigated the stables.Only a couple of horses there and a single small carriage were left.Otherwise it had been stripped.Simona had had to fight back tears at the sight.Poor Silvery, her beloved white horse had been taken.She hoped that Silvery had been given to someone who was kind to horses and not some brutal Gold Top with a heavy whip.They moved closer to the house.Movement was much easier now, since the packs on their backs held hardly anything.They passed quickly through the shrubberies behind the grand lawn.The gallery at the western end of the house was shut tight.Wide windows that were opened in the summer were shuttered, and the door was locked.But Thru tested them and found one that was slightly loose at one hinge.He climbed up to work on the other one with his knife.The fastening pegs needed repair, and he dug them out quite easily.With a careful heave, he and Simona were able to lift the shutter off the window and set it down quietly.Rather than leave their snowshoes there, they tied them together and slung them on a thong behind their packs.They slipped inside.Thru had given the sword to Simona.He held the bow at the ready, with an arrow nocked.They listened carefully, but heard only the sigh of the wind around the upper gables.Simona knew the layout of the house with the familiarity of a girl who had spent all her summers there.They skirted the grand salon, took a stair to a mezzanine floor, and flitted through grand rooms, all shuttered and silent.None of these rooms had been used for years.That was in the other life, the happy time before Filek received the imperial summons sending him on the colony fleet [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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