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.""But how? By whom?""That is the mystery of the moment.Believe me when I tell you that my operatives are working very hard on that subject right now."Simona nodded, she could just imagine.Visiting with the Emperor in private, teaching him another language, she had glimpsed some of the workings of his realm and she understood that as Master of the Hand of Aeswiren, he was a different person from the gentle grey grizzled man she dealt with."May I tell Nuza of this?""You may.And I hope I will be able to tell her myself, very soon.Well"—he grinned faintly—"I will try and tell her myself.I think you will have to be on hand during my first attempts.""Nuza has said that she would like to meet you in person.She has performed for you so many times and yet only glimpsed your silhouette in the gallery above.""Well, I want to make a good impression when we meet."Simona smiled now.Aeswiren's constant wry self-deprecation was so at odds with the official face of the Emperor that it still amazed her sometimes."Nuza has also said that she will try and learn some Shashti soon.When I told her how well you were doing at learning the language of the Land, she changed her mind about things.She wants to understand us better.""Ah, well, she will have her work cut out for her there, because we don't understand ourselves very well and we've been at it for thousands of years."CHAPTER THIRTY-ONEA dozen men from the noblest families of Shasht were present in the gloomy space for the most extraordinary meeting they had ever attended.Crammed at the back of the Blanteer family mortuary and sworn to secrecy by Janbur Gsekk, they stared at the slim figure they had come to meet.Naked to the waist, the figure stood before them, exhibiting soft fur from skull to navel, except for a small region around the mouth, nose, and eyes.It was an astonishing mixture for the nobles to absorb—soft grey fur and huge white eyebrows, a muscular body and a quiet voice speaking good Shashti!"My name is Thru Gillo.I come from a land on the other side of the world.I was brought here as a captive.I come to you for your help in stopping a grave injustice."Their jaws dropped at the sound of Shashti from the creature's mouth.The Erv of Dinak had slipped off the stone he'd been sitting on and landed on his behind with a thump and a cry."I have fought the army of Shasht many times.I have seen the men of Shasht defeated in battle, and I have seen them victorious.I saw this at the battle of Dronned, where we slew more than a thousand men.I saw the men beaten again at the Sow's Head Hill.We made them run that day, although it was a close thing.The men have taught us well.Now we, too, can make war."The nobles simply stared at him.All of this had been kept secret.What battles had been lost? Until the frigate Cloud arrived back with the first load of captives, there had been little news about the expedition since the day, years before, when the great fleet had sailed away from Shasht."Your priests declare my people are an 'abomination.' They say we must be destroyed.They say that we are no more than animals and that we are incapable of speech.They say that only men, your kind, is given the benediction of the heavens.Only your kind are loved by your God.As you can tell, your priests are wrong about one thing at least.I speak your language.If we had the time, I would try and teach you mine."He paused.The nobles stirred after a moment."Upon my soul, the creature speaks very well!" murmured Rotty Uspich."Extraordinary.For a moment I thought it was a trained animal.But it isn't?" The Baron of Chelo was struggling to accept what he'd just heard."Whoever would've dreamed this was possible," said someone else."Well, I don't see how the priests can justify what they've been saying.They're clearly lying about these, uh, people.""Are you sure they're people? I mean."Janbur stood and raised his hands."My friends, let our visitor speak.You will learn everything you need to know.The most important truth is that the priests have lied outright about many things."With some nervous snorts and grimaces, the nobles resumed their earlier attitudes.Janbur turned to Thru.Now for the second revelation."My friend, we will return to the question of your people's identity in a moment.But I wonder if you would tell the assembled company what you saw inside the pyramid of the Great God."Thru described the scene: he and the other mots brought into the great hall by the Gold Tops, then the gong and the appearance of the mysterious figure in the high box."Did you see his face?" said the Erv of Blanteer when he had finished."No.It was hidden in shadow."The nobles looked to one another.So it had been described before [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]