"Vance, Jack - Alastor 2 - Trullion-2262" - читать интересную книгу автора (Vance Jack)

Vang Drosset held up his clenched hand. The girl closed her mouth and grimly began to clean the
birds. Vang Drosset turned back to Glinnes, a hard smile on his face. "That was not a kind act,"
he said. "Did you not enjoy the knife games?" "Not particularly," said Glumes. He brought out
his own new knife, and pulling the Trevanyi knife from the target, sliced off a shaving as if he
were paring a withe. The Drossets stared in fascination. Glinnes sheathed the knife.
.'Zanzamar: a town at the far eastern tip of Cape Sunrise.
**urush: derogatory Trevanyish cant for a Trill.
*** spag: state of rut; hence spageen: individual in such a condition.
"The common land is only a mile down Ilfish Water," said Glinnes. "You can camp there to no
one's detriment." "We came here from the Common," cried Duissane. "The spageen Shira invited us;
isn't that good enough for you? Glinnes could not comprehend the basis for Shira's generosity. "I
thought it was Glay you traveled with." Vang Drosset made another gesture. Duissane turned on her
heel and took the birds to a serving table. "Tomorrow we go our way," said Vang Drosset in a
plangent, fateful voice. "Forlostwenna* is on us, in any event: we are ready for departure."
Vang Drosset spat into the dirt. "It's Fanscherade which is on him. He's now too good for us."
"Too good for you as well," muttered Harving. Fanscherade? The word meant nothing, but he would
solicit no instruction from the Drossets. He spoke a word of farewell and turned away. As he
crossed the field, six pairs of eyes stung his back. He was relieved to pass beyond the range of a
thrown knife.
Chapter 5
* * *
Avness was the name of that pale hour immediately before sunset: a sad quiet time when all color
seemed to have drained from the world, and the landscape revealed no dimensions other than those
suggested by receding planes of ever paler haze. Avness, like dawn, was a time unsympathetic to

the Trill temperament; the Trills had no taste for melancholy reverie.
Glinnes found the house empty upon his return both Glay and Marucha had departed. Glinnes was
plunged into a state of gloom. He went out on the verandah and looked toward the Drosset tents,
half of a mind to call them over for a fare-
*Forlostwenna: a word from the Trevanyi jargon-an urgent mood compelling departure; more immediate
than the general term "wanderlust."
well feast-or more particularly Duissane, beyond dispute a fascinating creature, bad temper and
all. Glinnes pictured her as she might look in a kindly mood . . . Duissane would enliven any
occasion . . . An absurd idea. Vang Drosset would cut his heart out at the mere suspicion.
Glinnes went back into the house and poured himself a draught of wine. He opened the larder and
considered the sparse contents. How different from the open-hearted bounty he remembered from the
happy old times! He heard the gurgle and hiss of a prow cutting water. Going out onto the
verandah, Glinnes watched the approaching boat. It contained not Marucha, whom he expected, but a
thin long-armed man with narrow shoulders and sharp elbows, in a suit of dark brown and blue
velvet cut after that fashion favored by the aristocrats. Wispy brown hair hung almost to his
shoulders; his face was mild and gentle, with a hint of impish mischief in the cast of his eyes
and the quirk of his mouth. Glinnes recognized Janno Akadie the mentor, whom he remembered as
voluble, facetious, at times mordant or even malicious, and never at a loss for an epigram, an
allusion, a profundity, which impressed many but irked Jut Hulden.
Glinnes walked down to the dock and, catching the mooring line, made the boat fast to the
bollard. Jumping nimbly ashore, Akadie gave Glinnes an effusive greeting. "I heard you were home
and couldn't rest till I saw you. A pleasure having you back among us!" Glinnes gave polite
acknowledgment to the compliments, and Akadie nodded more cordially than ever. "I fear we've had
changes since your departure-perhaps not all of them to your liking."
"I really haven't had time to make up my mind," said Glinnes cautiously, but Akadie paid no