"Chelsea Quinn Yarbro - Un Bel Di" - читать интересную книгу автора (Yarbro Chelsea Quinn)

impossible to take advantage of them. They know their own order." His confusion led him to a further
mistake, and he showed his primary hands as he shifted position.

Irritated, Navbe wondered how many more insults he would have to endure at the hands of Ambassador
Lesh. He savagely desired to humiliate his host, but he wanted information more, so he forced himself to
respond with calculated ease: "Certainly, to see the Papi is to want to protect them from abuse. They
must be greatly in your debt."

"Not at all," Lesh said hastily, looking wretched.

Navbe flung back both pair of arms in his best offensive manner. "You must not fear me, Ambassador
Lesh. Surely you know the Judiciate would not have allowed me to come here if they had found any real
basis to the scandal. But such talk, especially about High officials, is dangerous. I have willingly elected to
leave Jan to come here in order to allow the tale to be forgotten."

The Ambassador twitched uncertainly. He had heard tales of the Undersecretary's strange perversions
but was loath to ask about them. Even to admit he had heard the rumors would be more shame than he
would deliberately bring on himself.

"Come, come, you must not be afraid. You have heard something of me caught alone with the children of
Sub-council Hariv. No, you needn't deny it. The grosser strata, disobeying every Janif law, have
repeated the story, elaborating and embellishing it, if the versions I have heard are indicative. That I have
been allowed to see the children is true, and I am fully aware of the honor done me in this, but how, in a
High House, would I have obtained that access to the completely sequestered offspring of such an
official? Only think of the obstacles and be reasonable." It had been difficult to get to them, but Navbe
was well aware that the task was not as difficult as the public had been led to believe.

The Ambassador knew about the guarding of High children, and he wavered. "They did speak of bribes
and extortion …" It was a terrible breach of courtesy even to mention it, but he was too deeply involved
to deny his knowledge.

The Undersecretary bit out a laugh. "What man of Sub-council Hariv's stature would have such servants
around him? He would never tolerate so low a status to enter his House. How do high status servants
behave? Bribes are out of the question." That much, at least, was correct.

"I hadn't considered …"

Navbe remembered how very long it had taken for him to find his accomplice, one who shared his need
to use the young bodies for cruel pleasure. How delicate the maneuvering had been, and how quickly the
problem had been solved when he had discovered the night handservant to be addicted to Unjy. Then it
had been easy. All the careful searching, the obtuse questioning, the days of painstaking effort had been
worth it. He could recall the tearing of the flesh when his antlers touched it, the smell of the soft inner
tissues when he fingered them …

"Yes, I had not thought of that. With such talk rife in the lower strata, the honor of high status servants
would be impugned. It is no wonder you chose to disassociate yourself from such improper conduct."

"So you see," Navbe said expansively if vaguely.

The Ambassador was painfully relieved. He settled back in the soft cushions and offered the