"Ann Maxwell - Fire Dancer 3 - Dancer's Illusion" - читать интересную книгу автора (Maxwell Ann)

“Yes, but they still should be happy,” whistled Rheba. “They’re goinghome .”

All of her longing for the home she had lost was in her Bre’n whistle. Kirtn’s arms
tightened around her. She had been so young; she had so few memories to comfort her.

And she was right. The illusionists did not look happy.

With a silent sigh, Kirtn pm her back on her own feet. He tried to imagine why anyone
would be reluctant to go back home after years of slavery. What he imagined did not
comfort him. At best, they might simply dislike their planet. At worst, they might have
been exited and therefore did not expect to be welcomed back.

He pushed through the disappointed people who were slowly leaving the control room.
Rheba followed, unobtrusively protected by two J/taals. On Loo, the mercenaries had
chosen her as their J/taaleri, the focus of their devotion. They continued to protect her
whenever she permitted it—and even when she did not.

“Congratulations,” said Kirtn, smiling at the illusionists. “The ship is
computingreplacements from here to Yhelle. Are there any defenses we should know
about?”

F’lTiri tried to smile: “Probably not. No one has fought with Yhelle for thousands of
years. The last people who did conquered us. They retreated five years later, babbling.”
This time he managed a true smile. “Yhelle is hard on people who expect reality to be
what it seems to be.”

“Is that what you’re doing?” said Rheba. “Practicing?”

I’sNara’s confusion showed in her voice as well as her face. “What do you mean? We’re
appearing as ourselves right now. No illusions.”

“Then why aren’t you happy?” Rheba asked bluntly. “You’re going home.”

The two illusionists looked quickly at one another. At the same instant, both of them
appeared to glow with pleasure. Rheba made an impatient gesture. She had been with
them long enough to separate their illusions from their reality ... some of the time.

“Forget it,” she snapped. “Just tell me what’s wrong.”

“Nothing,” they said in unison. “We’re just overcome with surprise,” added i’sNara.
“We never expected to go home so soon.”

Kirtn grunted. Their voices were as unhappy as their faces had been a few moments ago.
“Fssa, tell everyone to clear the control room and get ready forreplacement .”

The Fssireeme slid out of Rheba’s hair into her hands. There he underwent a series of
astonishing transformations as he made the necessary apparatus to speak a multitude of
languages simultaneously. It was not difficult for the Fssireeme. The snakes had evolved
on a hot, gigantic planet as sonic mimics, then had been genetically modified during one