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Elten Nath of Maharlad smirked.
 I am pleased you enjoyed my poor efforts, Vad. We are thinking of matching the manhound against a
chavonth.
 Capital, my dear Nath, capital. Make sure you let me know and reserve me this excellent seat.
 It shall be done.
 By Lem! cried Vad Garnath again.  This makes life worth the living!
He swore by Lem, still officially proscribed, here in this vile company. I moved down toward his seat.
He saw me.
He stared. Then he threw back his head, the sweat running down the creases, the gems brilliant in his
hair, and he laughed.
 May the all-glorious Lem witness what we have here! The Amak of Paline Valley! The poltroon! Now
that his protector, Rees the Infamous, slugs abed, this nulsh crawls to me to beg my overlordship! By
Lem! But it is a rich jest!
I said,  The Trylon Rees lies abed because he is sore wounded fighting his country s battles.
Garnath hooted at this.  Rees the lion-man, the forsworn? He ran from the battlefield, his tail between his
legs. I know! He is a coward and a thief and an abomination in my sight!
  Yet he is a man, Garnath, which you scarcely are.
 What? He surged up, astonished.
Leotes put a hand on his arm.
 I will spit him for you, Vad, if you wish it.
I stared at Leotes ti Ponthieu.
 You could try, Bravo, you could try.
 Ha! What is this? The mewling poltroon turning bantam cock? Vad Garnath couldn t believe his ears.
The clustered nobles and Horters were listening, avid to see me rush upon my death.
 It is you who are the abomination, Garnath.
 I  I am the Vad Garnath! Remember that, yetch!
 You are the yetch. I spoke in a low conversational tone, but everyone could hear.  You, Garnath the
filth, are a boaster, a nulsh, a yetch, a rast, a cramph. I stood there before him as he bloated and swelled
with anger, the dark blood rushing to his face.  And this thing you hire to kill for you, this Leotes of
infamy, he is a kleesh.
I have before remarked how this word  kleesh upsets the men of Kregen, although apparently not
affecting me.
Leotes roared at me, ugly with passion, his face a single scarlet blob. I hit him on the nose, once. I said,
 Arrange the duel as soon as you care. Vermin like you should be exterminated, along with your foul
Lem.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Death of a Bladesman
Yes, it was petty, beneath a man s dignity, selfish. But, all the same, it was damned liberating, I can tell
you.
When, at last, I ran across Casmas the Deldy, the news had outrun me.
Night hung over Ruathytu, and the Maiden with the Many Smiles and the Twins glinted golden-pink
reflections back from the ocher waters of the River Havilthytus and the black waters of the River Mak.
Lights sparkled everywhere, and the link slaves escorted their parties of Horters and nobles through the
streets. Casmas lived in the Shining Quarter, in the angle of the Walls of Kazlili and the Black River. A
slight eminence arose here, around which the walls curved, and south of the walls and outside them lay
the scattered shanty towns of the clums. The Shining Quarter lifted on its little hill, festooned with lights
and waterfalls and graveled pathways; very secluded, very rich, a haven for the most wealthy class of
Horters who were not yet nobles.
The way led from the sacred quarter westward through one of the numerous gates let into the old walls
and along a main east-west boulevard to the Kyro of the Horters. All this section of the city is laid out in
parallel streets leading from the main avenues, a concentrated series of blocks of houses and apartments
varying from the luxurious to the merely comfortable. This is the Horters quarter. It is, of course,
perfectly clear the word  quarter is used in Ruathytu to describe a section of the city and not a numerical
one fourth. The way led south from the Kyro of the Horters, where I stopped to partake of a cup of tea
in one of the ever-open tea shops, for this is a weakness of mine, and then on over the Bridge of Nalgre
the Penitent. Torchlights and cressets lit most of the way, and the blaze reflected back from the black [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]