"Bradley, Marion Zimmer - Rohanna - Everything But Freedom" - читать интересную книгу автора (Bradley Marion Zimmer)

She brushed hastily past Rohana and ran down the stairs; as she reached the great front door, Kindra was just riding up the long path. Jaelle, cursing the hated skirts which she had to wear at Ardais, bundled them up in her hands and sped down the front pathway, to fling herself at Kindra, even before the woman dis­mounted, almost jerking her from her saddle.
"Gently! Gently, my child," Kindra admonished, dis­mounting and taking Jaelle into her arms. Then, seeing
that Jaelle was weeping, she held her off at arm's length and surveyed her seriously.
"What is the matter?"
"Oh. I'm just so—so glad to see you!" Jaelle sobbed, hastily drying her eyes.
"Come, come, child! I cannot believe that Rohana has been unkind to you, or that you could have been so miserable as all this!"
"No, it's not Rohana—no one could possibly have been kinder—but I've been counting the days! I can't wait to be home again!"
Kindra hugged her tight. "I have missed you, too, fos­ter-daughter," she said, "and we shall all be glad to have you home to us again. So you have not chosen to remain with the Domains and marry to suit your clan?"
"Never!" Jaelle exclaimed. "Oh, Kindra, you don't know what it's been like here! Rohana's women are so stupid; they think of nothing but pretty clothes and how to arrange their hair, or which of the guardsmen smiled or winked at them in the evenings when we dance in the hall—they are so stupid! Even my cousin, Rohana's daughter—she is just as bad as any of them!"
Kindra said gently, "I find it hard to believe that Ro­hana could have a daughter who was a fool—"
"Well, perhaps Elorie is not a fool," Jaelle admitted grudgingly. "She is clever enough—but already she has learned not to be caught thinking when her father or her brothers are in the room. She pretends she is as foolish as the rest of them!"
Kindra concealed a smile. "Then perhaps she is clev­erer than you realize—for she can think her own thoughts without being reproved for it—something that you have not yet learned, my dearest. Come, let us go up, let me pay my respects to Lady Rohana; I am eager to see her again."
"When can we go home, Kindra? Tomorrow?" Jaelle asked eagerly.
"By no means," Kindra said, scandalized. "I have been invited to make a visit here for a tenday or more; too much haste would be disrespectful to your kinfolk, as if you could not wait to be gone."
"Well, I can't," muttered Jaelle; but before Kindra's
stern glance she could not say it aloud. She called a groom to have Kindra's horse taken and stabled, then led Kindra toward the front steps where Rohana awaited them.
As the women greeted one another with an embrace, Jaelle stood at a little distance, looking at them side by side and studying the contrasts.
Rohana, Lady of Ardais, was a woman in her middle thirties; her hair was the true Comyn red of the heredi­tary Comyn caste, and was ornately arranged at the back of her neck, clasped with a copper butterfly-clasp orna­mented with pearls. She was richly dressed in a long elegant over-gown of blue velvet almost the color of her eyes; her thin light-colored undergown was heavily em­broidered and the overgown trimmed at the neck and sleeves with thick dark fur. Now the rich garments looked clumsy, her body swollen with her pregnancy. By contrast to Rohana, Kindra appeared frankly middle-aged; a tall lanky woman in the boots and breeches of an Amazon, which made her long legs look even longer than they were; her face was thin, almost gaunt, and her face, as well as her close-cropped gray hair, looked weathered and was beginning to be wrinkled with small lines round the eyes and mouth. Almost for the first time, Jaelle wondered how old Kindra was. She had al­ways seemed ageless. She was older than Rohana—or was it only that Rohana's relatively sheltered and pam­pered life had preserved the appearance of youth?
"Well, come in, my dears," Rohana said, slipping one arm through Kindra's and the other through Jaelle's, "I hope you can pay us a good long visit. Surely you did not ride alone all the way from Thendara?"
Jaelle wondered scornfully if Rohana thought Kindra would be afraid to make such a journey alone—as she, Rohana, might have been afraid. To her the question would have been insulting; but Kindra answered uncriti­cally that she had had company past the path for Scaravel; a group of mountain explorers going into the far Hellers, and three Guild-sisters hired to guide them.
"Rafaella was with them, and she sent you her love and greetings, Jaelle. She has missed you, and so has her
little girl Doria. They both hoped you would be with them another time."
"Oh, I wish Rafi had come here with you," Jaelle cried. "She is almost my closest friend!"
"Well, perhaps she will be back in Thendara by the time we are able to return there," Kindra said, smiling. She added to Rohana, "Mostly it was a group of Terrans from the new spaceport; they are trying to map the Hell­ers—the roads, the mountain peaks and so forth."
"Not for military purposes, I hope," Rohana said.
"I believe not; simply for information," Kindra re­plied. "The Terrans all appear to have a passion, from what I know of them, for all kinds of useless knowledge; the height of mountains, the sources of rivers and so forth—I cannot imagine why, but such things might be useful even to our people who must travel in the mountains."
They were now well inside the great hallway, and Jaelle noted, standing in the corner where a heap of hunting equipment was piled, Lord Gabriel Ardais, Rohana's husband and the Warden and head of the Do­main of Ardais. He was a tall man with a smart military bearing that somehow gave his old hunting clothes the look of a uniform.
"You have guests, Rohana? You did not warn me to expect company," he said gruffly.
"Strictly speaking, the lady is Jaelle's guest; Kindra n'ha Mhari, from the Thendara Guild House," Rohana said calmly, "but though she journeyed here to bring Jaelle home, she is my friend and I have invited her to stay and keep me company now I must be confined so close to house and garden."
Dom Gabriel's mobile face darkened with disapproval as his gaze fell on Kindra's trousered and booted legs; but as Rohana spoke on his face softened, and he spoke with perfect courtesy. "Whatever you wish, my love. Mestra," he used the term of courtesy from a nobleman to a female of a lower class, "I bid you welcome; any guest of my lady's is a welcome and a cherished guest in my home. May your stay here be joyful."
He went on, leading the way into the upper hall, "Did I hear you speaking of Terranan in the Hellers? Those
strange creatures who claim to be from other worlds, come here in closed litters of metal across the gulf of the stars? I thought that was a children's tale."
"Whatever they may be, vai dom, theirs is no chil­dren's tale," Kindra replied. "I have seen the great ships in which they come and go, and one of the professors in the City was allowed to journey with them to the moon Liriel, where they have set up what they call an observatory, to study the stars."
"And the Hastur-lords permitted it?"
"I think perhaps sir, if we are only one of many great worlds among the stars, it may not be of much moment whether the Hastur-lords permit or no," Kindra returned deferentially. "One thing is certain, such a truth will change our world and things can never be as they have been before this time."
"I don't see why that need be," Dom Gabriel said in his usual gruff tone. "What have they to do with me or with the Domain? I say let 'em let us alone and we'll let them alone—hey?"
"You may be right, sir; but I would say if these folk have the wisdom to travel from world to world,, they may have much to teach us," Kindra said.
"Well, they'd better not come here to Ardais trying to teach it. I'll be the judge of what my folk should learn or not," said Dom Gabriel, "and that's that." He marched to a high wooden sideboard where bottles and glasses were set out and began to pour. He said deferen­tially to Rohana, "I'm sure it would do you good, but I suppose you are still too queasy to drink this early, my love? And you, mestra?"
"Thank you, sir, it is still a bit early for me," Kindra said, shaking her head.
"Jaelle?"
"No, thank you, Uncle." Jaelle said, trying to conceal a grimace of disgust. Dom Gabriel poured himself a lib­eral drink and drank it off quickly, then, pouring an­other, took a relaxed sip. Rohana sighed and went to him, saying in a low tone, "Please, Gabriel, the steward will be here with the stud-books this morning, to plan the seasons of the mares."
Dom Gabriel scowled and his face set in a stubborn
line. He said, "For shame, Rodi, to speak of such things before a young maiden."
Rohana sighed and said, "Jaelle, too, is country-bred and as well acquainted with such things as our own chil­dren, Gabriel. Please try to be sober for him, will you?"
"I shall not neglect my duty, my dear," Dom Gabriel said. "You attend to your business, Lady, and I shall not neglect mine." He poured himself another drink. "I am sure a little of this would do your sickness good, my love; won't you have some?"
"No, thank you, Gabriel; I have many things to see to this morning," she said, sighing, and gestured to her guests to follow her up the stairs. Jaelle said vehemently as soon as they were out of earshot, "Disgraceful! Al­ready he is half drunk! And no doubt before the steward gets here, he will be dead drunk somewhere on the floor—unless his man remembers to come and get him into a chair—and no more fit to deal with the stud-books than I am to pilot one of the Terran starships!"
Rohana's face was pale, but she spoke steadily.
"It is not for you to criticize your uncle, Jaelle. I am content if he drinks alone and does not get one of the boys to drinking with him; Rian already finds it impossi­ble to carry his drink like a gentleman, and Kyril is worse. I do not mind attending to the stud-books."
"But why do you let him make such a beast of himself, especially now?" Jaelle asked, casting a critical look at Rohana's perceptibly thickened waistline.
"He drinks because he is in pain; it is not my place to tell him what he must do," Rohana said. "Come, Jaelle, let us find a guest chamber near yours for Kindra. Then I must see if Valentine has been properly washed and fed, and if his nurse has taken him outdoors to play in the fresh air this morning."