"Sara Douglass - Redemption 3 - Crusader" - читать интересную книгу автора (Douglass Sara)

kept her face impassive.
StarGrace had moved to within a pace of StarLaughter, and now she extended a hand —
StarLaughter noted that it, too, was in the shape of a claw — to help StarLaughter rise.
"I wanted to hear what you had to say," StarGrace said, and StarLaughter nodded.
She brushed out her gown, and spoke. "I have become disenchanted with Qeteb and the Demons."
"Questors," corrected StarGrace.
"No," StarLaughter said firmly. "Not Questors. Demons." She shrugged. "Although, in truth, the
semantics of the matter bothers me little. Demons or Questors, they aided us when no-one else would,
and gave us succour and hope."
"This is true."
"They said they would return us to Tencendor so we could revenge ourselves on Wolf Star."
"This is true."
"But have they done this?"
StarGrace was silent, regarding StarLaughter thoughtfully.
"We are back in Tencendor, true — but look what they have done to it!"
"I don't think that the ruin of Tencendor means much to our plans for —"
"And do they let us do what we need to do?" StarLaughter continued, putting as much emotion and
conviction into her voice as she was able. "Why can't they let us go to hunt down WolfStar?
Stars knows it is the only reason we continue to exist!"
StarGrace shifted from foot to foot (claw to claw), and blinked. She cocked her head to
one side, thinking.
"It was the only thing that kept us going through our frightful deaths and then through
thousands of years drifting in space!" StarLaughter grabbed the front of StarGrace's robe and gave her a
little shake. "We are nothing without a fulfilment for our revenge!"
StarGrace finally nodded. "What do you want?"
"Will you tell Qeteb that you could not find me?"
"What?" StarGrace cocked her head, then tipped it to the other side, regarding StarLaughter
almost as a mouse she might like to gobble up. "Why?"
"So I can be left in peace to find WolfStar. Who else can do it? When I find him, we can then have
our revenge!"
StarLaughter was not finding it easy to lie to StarGrace, but she needed to do it. The last thing she
could tell the Hawkchilds was that she and WolfStar were destined to reunite in love! StarLaughter had
no intention of handing WolfStar over to the Hawkchilds for a nasty death, but for the moment she could
do with their sharp eyes, and so for the moment they would prove useful.
StarLaughter was forgetting even her desire to rescue her son in her new-found love for WolfStar.
Ah! They had been such magnificent lovers once, and would be again!
StarGrace narrowed her eyes at the emotions roiling across StarLaughter's face, and StarLaughter
only just managed to remember her need to convince the Hawkchilds of her need for a revenge on
WolfStar.
She tried to look as guileless as possible ... no easy task.
"You want time and space to find WolfStar?" StarGrace said. "He is in the Maze, surely."
"No!" StarLaughter said, her voice horribly shrill. "I looked! I did! He's gone."
She leaned forward, dropping her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "The Demons let him
escape. When they had him in their very parlour! Do you see what I mean? Why didn't they give him
to us then? Obviously we can't trust the Demons to hunt WolfStar down for us. I must do it."
 StarGrace thought, her face unreadable.
"Have I not lusted for revenge with you for the past countless thousands of years? For the Stars'
sakes, StarGrace, I want him dead as much as you do!"
"And so you want me to lie to the Demons."
"Yes. What do we owe them? Nothing. They used us and drained us. Now we are on our own.