"Kate Elliott - Jaran 3 - His Conquering Sword" - читать интересную книгу автора (Elliott Kate)

A discreet distance beyond the awning of Tess's tent stood the ever-present guards, these a trio who
had ridden in with Ilya, Aleksi had seen him arrive with a larger train and then dismiss most of them.
Bakhtiian had gone into his tent alone.
"Oh, I saw Veselov leave camp," Aleksi lied in a casual voice. It wasn't true, of course. But Aleksi
knew when to trust his instincts. Better that no one else realize where Veselov actually was.
"Thank the gods," murmured Sonia on a heartfelt sigh, and she gave Aleksi a sisterly kiss on the
cheek and returned, presumably lighter in spirit, to her own tent.
It made Aleksi feel sick at heart, to lie to her like that, but he had learned long ago that orphans,
outcasts, and all outsiders could not always live by the truth, though they might wish to. He trusted Tess
to know what she was doing, just as she trusted him to protect her. No greater bond existed than love
sealed by trust.
Aleksi touched his saber hilt and glanced up at the stars again. He wondered if Tess had not become
like a weaver whose threads grow tangled: If the damage is not straightened and repaired soon enough,
the cloth is ruined. Wind brushed him, sighing through camp. Songs drifted to him on the breeze, a
distant campfire flared and, closer, a horse neighed, calling out a challenge. Above, in the night sky, the
campfires of Mother Sun's tribe burned on, too numerous to count, too distant to smell even the faintest
aroma of smoke or flame from their burning.
"We come from a world like this world," Dr. Hierakis had said, "except its sun is one of those stars."
Could there possibly be another Mother Sun out there, giving her light to an altogether different tribe of
children? He shook his head impatiently. How could it be true? How could it not be true? And what, by
the gods, did Tess think she was doing, anyway? Did she truly understand what trouble there would be if
it was discovered that Bakhtiian and Veselov had met together, secretly, even with her serving as an
intermediary?
He cast one last glance at the silent tent and then began to walk the edge of camp again.


CHAPTER TWO

Ilya lay in elegant disarray beside her, breathing deeply, even in sleep marked by a harmonious
attitude that drew the eye to him. A soft gloom suffused the lent. The lantern burned steadily, but its
light did little more than blur the edges of every object in the chamber.
Vasil was one such object: the light burnished his hair and accentuated the planes of his handsome
face. He lay on his side with his eyes shut, but Tess knew he was only pretending to be asleep.
Somehow, not surprisingly, she had ended up between the two men. She traced her fingers up his bare
arm to his shoulder.
"Vasil," she whispered, so as not to wake Ilya, "you have to leave."
He did not open his eyes. "If you were a jaran woman," he said, no louder than her, "you would have
repudiated him, and never ever done such a thing as this. What is it like in the land where you come
from?"
"In the land where I come from, there are marriages like this."
His eyes snapped open. He looked at her suspiciously. "Two men and a woman?"
"Yes, and sometimes two women and a man, sometimes two of each. It's not common, but it exists."
"Gods," said Vasil. He smiled. "Ilya must conquer this country."

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"No," said Tess, musing. "It's a long way away."
"I never heard of such a thing in Jeds," said Ilya.