"Van Lustbader, Eric - Pearl 01 The Ring of Five Dragons(eng)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Van Lustbader Eric)

"You have not stopped me from being with Giyan. Or from my friendships with Rekkk Hacilar and Hadinnn SaTrryn."
"Again, I suggest that you answer my question."
Eleusis made a point of not looking at his okummmon. He felt a certain tension in the backs of his legs and willed his body to relax. "It pleases me to be with her. It pleases her to do these things, and thus I am doubly pleased."
"And as for the Pack-Commander?"
"Does the entire Comradeship know?"
"You would not be here; you would not be regent if it did."
Eleusis let go a breath he had been holding. "Rekkk Hacilar, Hadinnn SaTrryn, and I are of a like mind when it comes to the Kundalan."
"So, then, when you claim that in all things you serve our wants and needs you are a liar."
"I am so only if you believe it, Nith Sahor."
There was a long silence. The artificial wind howled through the caverns, the artificial stirrings of the artificial raptors echoed off the artificial stone walls. Nith Sahor raised his arms and the underworlds of Corpius Segundus vanished.
"I do not believe it, regent. That is why you are Summoned before me."
Eleusis found that they were in a chamber of the Temple of Mnemonics. It was circular, high up. Through the delicately triple-arched window he could see dusk approaching, smell the familiar scents of Kundala. The walls indicated that this room had been a sanctuary, for each section of wall held a carving of one of the Five Sacred Dragons of Kundalan culture. Significantly, Nith Sahor had not covered them with V'ornn artwork. Just as significantly, the Gyrgon had kept all the original Kundalan furniture. The single V'ornn feature was a white oval cage within which sat a beautiful multicolored teyj, preening its fours wings one by one. As he moved, the bird paused in its fluffing to fix Eleusis in its golden eye.
"It is good to be back on Kundala," Eleusis said.
"Curious," Nith Sahor said. "I entertained the selfsame thought." The Gyrgon raised a hand clad in an odd metallic mesh about which many terrible myths had formed. Eleusis tried not to look at the finely worked chain mail. "Be at ease, regent. You are my guest."
Eleusis did not know whether he was more surprised to see Kundalan furniture here or by what Nith Sahor said. "Forgive me, I am at a bit of a loss. I have never been a guest of the Gyrgon before."
"Perhaps it is simply that we never told you before."
Eleusis looked up. "Is that a joke?"
"Do Gyrgon make jokes?"
"I have no idea," Eleusis admitted.
As Eleusis observed the Gyrgon, he had the distinct impression that this Summoning was going to be unique. Before, they had consisted of giving a report on current affairs, being peppered with blunt, difficult questions, being given orders to carry out, and being summarily dismissed. Bantering with a Gyrgon was distinctly new to him.
As if to give added credence to this train of thought, Nith Sahor said: "Regent, I want you to tell me about desire."
"Desire?"
"Precisely that."
Eleusis was struggling hard to keep up with the strange twists and turns of this Summoning. "I am hardly qualified to tell a Gyrgon—"
"Oh, but you are, regent. Eminently qualified." Nith Sahor fingered the wide cuff on his right wrist. "But perhaps you suspect me of being disingenuous." He raised a mailed hand to forestall Eleusis' response. "Did you know, regent, that the Gyrgon are neither male nor female?"
"Neither …" Eleusis felt as if his mouth was full of silicon.
"We are both."
"I … I did not know, Nith Sahor."
"Of course you didn't. It is a secret we Gyrgon keep to ourselves. As such, desire is… alien to all of us—at least, to almost all of us. Occasionally—very rarely—there is an unexpected and unexplained genetic mutation." Nith Sahor sat and waited for his quid pro quo. He had created a simple barter—something a Bashkir could sink his teeth into.
Eleusis was desperately trying to figure out whether the Gyrgon was telling the truth or simply prevaricating in order to get the regent to lower his guard. He realized, however, that there were many paths Nith Sahor could have taken to elicit the information he desired. The one he chose was doubtless the most astonishing. Why would a Gyrgon confess to anything so intimate? Why would a Gyrgon willingly let go of a secret? Secrets were in large part what gave the Gyrgon their mystique, their power over the other castes, great and lesser alike. Did Nith Sahor trust him that much? How was he to know?
"I assume by desire you mean my desire for Giyan."
"In a way. I meant for the Kundalan, yes."
Eleusis' keen mind realized that the Gyrgon had left out the word female. At last, a clue. He chose a beautifully fluted Kundalan ammon-wood chair and sat down.
"Are you comfortable?" Nith Sahor sat in the matching chair.
"Quite comfortable."
"As am I."
And there you had it, Eleusis realized. The reason for this Summoning. For whatever reason, the Gyrgon wished to talk candidly about the Kundalan. "Sometimes," he said, "I wish I wasn't locked up tight in Axis Tyr."
"Why is that?"
Eleusis gazed into the terrifying, enigmatic face and said to himself. To N'Luuura with it. "Too many V'ornn. Quite honestly, part of me longs to be in the Djenn Marre, to walk among the Kundalan, to learn their ways."
"Their secrets," Nith Sahor said. "We Gyrgon trade in secrets."
"Isn't that why we wander the reaches of interstellar space instead of finding a new homeworld, why we hunt down other races—so that you can absorb their secrets, in the hope that the secret to life may one day be revealed to you?"
"Your bitterness is showing like a mesh singlet on a Looorm, regent." Nith Sahor sat forward, elbows on knees, laced his fingers. "Life and death—the eternal twins. We are bound to them. You know that, don't you?"
Eleusis was forced to look away from those terrifying star-sapphire eyes. "Yes." He nearly choked on the word.
"Then you know just how important our search for freedom is, to find our way out of the labyrinth that is the universe as we know it. You see, regent, we Gyrgon can feel that the universe is not all there is. It is not enough for us. We yearn to travel beyond… well, we do not yet know beyond what. But the barriers that keep us here in the known Cosmos must fall. Do you understand our pain of confinement?"
Eleusis was in control of himself again, and he swung his gaze back. "I think I do, Nith Sahor."
"Then tell me that which I need to know."
"I am not… I'm not certain that I have answers for you. At least, none that will make sense."
"Please leave that determination to me. Speak of what is in your hearts."
"All right." Eleusis sat up straight. He had the feeling that he was on the edge of a precipice, and he fought off the knife edge of panic. "I have come to have a special feeling for the Kundalan. Undoubtedly, it stems in part from my relationship with Giyan, but as you yourself noted, that is not the end of it. Sixteen years ago, I brought her back as a trophy from a Khagggun hunting party I accompanied in the foothills of the Djenn Marre. She was nothing to me then, but quite quickly that changed."
"How did it change?"