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."And once I'm confirmed as the new marquis andfuture duke," he said softly, looking directly into her eyes, "I could make you the future duchess."It took a moment for the full implication of his words to sink into her misery-numbed mind.Then shelooked more closely at his face.He was not Pias, but the family resemblance was strong.He was farfrom unattractive, and if she squinted long enough she could forget the slight differences.Tas bent over to kiss her.She knew one slight moment of further uncertainty, then gave herself in to thesituation.Reaching her arms up around his shoulders, she pulled him down on top of her and returned thekiss with all the frustrated passion she had felt for his brother.The next day Pias and Yvette strove hard to put all the unpleasantness of the past twenty-four hours outof their minds.They stayed completely away from the rest of the Bavol family, hoping that events wouldbe forgotten and that the anger and resentment would cool in their absence.It was a forlorn hope, andboth knew it, but neither said a word about it.During the morning, Pias showed Yvette around the estate, with a special tour of the elaborate gardens.Yvette was fascinated by the redness of all the vegetation.Because the radiation curve from Newforest'ssun peaked in the infrared portion of the spectrum, the local variety of chlorophyll-which allowed thenative plants to use this light as their food and energy source-reflected light at a lower frequency.Itseemed strange at first to see so many multicolored flowers atop red stems and sprouting red leaves, butYvette had seen many strange sights in her travels around the galaxy so far, and quickly accustomedherself to it.Pias took great delight in naming all the flowers and explaining to her some of their peculiarcharacteristics."The red color is one of the main reasons why I love Earth roses so much," he explained.While he hadbeen traveling through the Empire on his quest, he had made it his custom to wear a fresh red rose everyday, either in his hat brim or on his sleeve."It's something unmistakably Earthly, and yet its color capturesthe quintessence of my home planet.I once tried to have the gardeners plant rose bushes here in ourgarden, but the gravity and the strange sunlight were too much for them and they never grew properly."He sighed wistfully."Things I love just don't seem to transplant well to Newforest." And then he changedthe subject abruptly.Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.htmlAfter consuming the delightful picnic lunch Yuri had packed for them, Pias took Yvette into the capitalcity of Garridan for an afternoon of shopping and sightseeing.There were no museums or architecturalwonders to visit, but Yvette took immense interest in seeing the shops of the local craftsmen.Newforestwas still so sparsely settled a world that it had no heavy industry; virtually all the local goods werehandmade.Yvette spent a fascinating hour watching a glassblower work at her trade.She visited thelocal weavers and admired their cloth and rugs.A potter offered to give her a free lesson in ceramics,and Yvette sculpted a slightly off-kilter pot; the man nodded politely to her, but Yvette was sure hewould probably remold it once she had left.She had spent so much time on the more populated, moreprogressive planets that she had forgotten how much tranquillity could exist on the simpler ones.Pias was recognized everywhere they went.Word of his return had spread throughout the city, andeveryone seemed to greet him like a long-lost relative.If there had been any news of trouble among theduke's family, it had not filtered down to the populace.The ordinary people of Newforest loved Pias,even if his relatives did not.The pair returned to the Bavol manor to find a large number of private copters sitting in the frontcourtyard.Pias recognized most of the heraldic devices on the sides which marked the vehicles asbelonging to some of the most important nobles on the planet.Perhaps at that moment he had somenotion of what was about to happen; but if the idea crossed his mind, he kept it entirely to himself.Yvette, too, noted the abundance of nobility, but she resolved not to say anything unless Pias first broughtthe subject up.They had their dinner privately, alone together in Pias's room, and as they ate they could hear the arrivalof still more copters.Pias began feeling very jittery.After dinner he showed off his collection ofbookreels, but his eyes kept wandering to the door, as though expecting someone to come at anymoment.Finally his fears were confirmed.Two of his uncles came into the room without knocking and stood toeither side of the doorway."Pias Bavol," one said, "you are summoned to the kriss."Pias gave a slight shudder, then closed his eyes and nodded slowly."Khorosho, IT be down in a fewminutes.""You'll come with us now."Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.htmlPias looked for a moment as though he'd explode with anger; then suddenly that look vanished, to bereplaced by an expression of resignation.As he started to walk toward his two uncles, Yvette grabbedhis arm."What's the kriss?" she asked."It means `the law.' It's a throwback to the old tribal system of justice, where the elders-or, in thepresent case, the nobles-sit in judgment of some offender.It's a trial for the violation of tribal tradition.""But what have you done that's so wrong?" Yvette persisted.She looked at the two men standing by thedoor, but they gave her no indication."I'm not precisely sure, though I can make a few guesses.Tas will come up with some interestingcharges, I'm sure.I can see his not-so-subtle hand behind all of this."As he again moved toward the door, Yvette said, "Let me come with you.This is partly because of me,I know it."Pias shook his head."The kriss is for men only another old tribal throwback.And even if women wereallowed, they'd still bar you; you're a stranger, an outsider, and therefore unwelcome.This is something Ihave to face for myself.Wait here for me."Yvette wanted to ask him what this tribunal could do to him if it decided against him; but he and his twouncles were out the door so quickly that the question died unborn on her lips.It couldn't be too bad or hewould have put up a fight, she was sure of that.So the only thing left for her was to do as he'd suggested,wait here for his return.Minutes dragged by- for her like years.She tried to interest herself in one of Pias's bookreels, but noneof them seemed worthwhile at the moment.She paced the room, staring out the window at the darknessbeyond and trying to make sense out of everything that had happened since she and Pias had arrived onNewforest.She wished she were fighting ten of Lady A's most ferocious minions-anything seemedpreferable to facing this unmitigated torture.The upper floor of the house seemed deserted.Every time a board creaked or the house made someminor settling noise she would jump up and run to the door hoping to see her fianc returning.All of herfinely tuned senses were on alert, awaiting some sign that he was coming back to her unharmed [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]