LE Modesitt Recluce 06 Fall of Angels (v1.5)

[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

each time. You re only half Sybran. You could handle the heat and thick air.
So could Weryl. He s young& but I couldn t. She shrugged. It s not bad here,
though, and it s getting better. I m glad Blynnal came.
Weryl made a stretching motion, as if to reach out to Nylan. Nylan took the
small hand and let Weryl s fingers curl around his.
Oooohhh&
He likes you. Istril shifted the boy onto her other knee, closer to
Nylan.
I d hope so.
What are you going to do?
Right now, I m trying to figure out a faster way to forge arrowheads. We
need a lot of them. If I can solve that problem, I might go to work on
planning and building a sawmill&
In time, Nylan finally stood.
I understand, Nylan, if you don t want to spend too much time with me. But
keep stopping to see Weryl. Istril s face was calm, somewhere between content
and resigned.
I will. What else can I do? he thought. They are my children. Why& why
did you do this to me? Why did I refuse to see what was happening? Because it
was easier? He forced a smile, which softened as Weryl gooed again.
Either Istril or Siret would have been warmer to him than Ryba, and Siret
really wasn t that interested-or so she said-in any man. Yet he never even
considered them-because he was still bound in the officer-marine separation?
And Ayrlyn, crying in the night?
Again, nothing was quite what it seemed on the surface, even with people.
He supposed people still thought he and Ryba slept together. That was another
problem they hadn t resolved-or he hadn t. Surprisingly, Ryba hadn t pushed.
What else did she know?
He snorted once, ironically, as he started up the steps to the fifth level.
Wasn t that always the way it was? Ryba knowing, and not saying, and Nylan the
great mage, bewildered and struggling. He snorted again.
In the dimness of the fifth level, Ellysia was practicing, puffing, with
Saryn, Hryessa, and Ydrall. Nylan eased around the sparring and toward the
section of storage shelves above the unused weapons laser. He scooped the
parts he had taken from the lander and roughly bent into shape into a worn
leather bag that had been some poor raider s purse.
Then he headed back down to the lower level. As he passed the third level,
he saw Siret rocking Kyalynn to sleep. Dephnay, on her knee, looked wide
awake. Nylan found Relyn in the space off the kitchen, laboriously smoothing
what looked to be a wooden tray.
That looks good, observed the smith-engineer.
I said I d help her. She s too quiet. Relyn looked up. Blynnal. She
won t ask for anything.
Some people won t. She s improved the food a lot.
Relyn grinned. Sometimes, I get a little extra.
I haven t forgotten my promise, Nylan said, taking out the pieces of
metal. Like everything around here, it s taking longer. If you ll come here,
I d like to measure these. I ll probably have to hot-hammer-or whatever they
call it- these together, but I wanted to check the fit first.
Relyn extended his hook.
Nylan slipped the pieces in place, then nodded toward the knife. I need to
see how tight it should be.
Page 218
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
As tight as you can make it, Mage.
The knife slid into the makeshift clamp easily, too easily. Nylan studied
the construction, then took his own knife and scratched where the changes
should be.
We ll try again.
You do not admit failure, do you?
Nylan laughed, harshly. Life is trial, and error. Those who succeed are
those who survive their failures and keep trying. So far, I ve been lucky.
Relyn looked back at the tray. It is not luck-that I know. You understand
how the world works. He smiled wryly. I hope to learn that, too.
You probably know more about that than I do, admitted Nylan.
Never, Mage. You refuse to accept how much you do know.
That s all, Nylan said, uneasy with Relyn s words. Now, I have to make
it work, and then forge scores and scores of arrowheads.
You will, promised Relyn.
I hope so. Nylan wished he were as sure as the young man from Carpa, but
when he returned to the smithy, he carried the pieces for Relyn s clamp.
Huldran was waiting, and they loaded more of the charcoal into the forge.
XC
ZELDYAN EASES HERSELF into the armchair facing the alcove where the lady
Ellindyja embroiders.
You do me honor, Lady, offers Ellindyja.
You are the Lady of Lornth, responds Zeldyan easily.
No longer. That is your position, now, but you are most kind to recall my [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

Podstrony