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excruciatingly lame the older man was; one of the men came, deferentially, to
assist Kennard, who accepted the man s arm with good grace. Only a little
tightening of his jaw showed Jeff Kerwin what Kennard really thought of
accepting the man s help. Taniquel scrambled down the ladder, looking sleepy
and cross; she said something to Auster with a scowl and they stood talking
together in an undertone. Kerwin wondered if they were married, or lovers;
they had a sort of easy intimacy that he associated only with long-term
couples. Then she looked up at Kerwin, shaking her head.
 There s blood on your mouth. Have you and Auster been fighting already?
There was a teasing malice in her voice; she tilted her head to one side,
looking first at one of them and then the other. Auster glowered.
 An accident and a misunderstanding, Kennard said quietly.
 Terranan, Auster muttered.
 How can you expect him to be anything else? And whose fault is it that he
knows nothing of our laws? Kennard asked. Then he pointed, drawing
Kerwin s gaze with the gesture.
 There it lies; the Tower of Arilinn.
It rose upright, squat, and yet, on closer look, incredibly high, fashioned of
some brown and glareless stone. The sight seemed to stir in Kerwin some
buried déjà vu again, as he looked at the Tower rising against the sky, and he
said, his voice shaky,  Have I have I been here before, sir?
Kennard shook his head.  No, I don t think so, he said.  Perhaps the matrix
I just don t know. Does it seem so familiar to you? He laid his hand briefly on
Kerwin s shoulder a gesture that surprised the younger man, in view of the
taboo that seemed to surround a random touch among these people. Kennard
withdrew his hand quickly, and said,  It is not the oldest, or even the most
powerful of the Comyn Towers. But for a hundred generations and more our
Keepers have worked the Arilinn Tower in an unbroken succession of Comyn
blood alone.
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r r
 And, said Auster behind them,  with the hundred and first we bring the son
of a Terran and of a renegade leronis here!
Taniquel turned on him fiercely. She said,  Are you going to question the
word of Elorie of Arilinn?
Kerwin swung angrily on Auster. He had taken enough from him already;
now the man had started on his parents! The son of a Terran and a renegade
leronis&
Kennard s deep voice was harsh:
 Auster, that s enough; I said it before we came here, and I will say it for the
last time. The man is not responsible for his parents or their fancied sins. And
Cleindori, I remind you, was my foster-sister, and my Keeper, and if you
speak of her again in that tone, you will answer, not to her son, but to me!
Auster hung his head and muttered something; it sounded like an apology.
Taniquel came to Kerwin s side and said,  Let s get inside, not stand around
on the airfield all day!
Kerwin felt curious eyes on him as he crossed the field. The air was damp and
cold, and it crossed his mind that it would be pleasant to get under a roof, and
get warm, and relax, and that he would very much like a bath, and a drink,
and some supper hell breakfast! Anyhow, he d been up all night.
 All in good time, Kennard said, and Kerwin jumped, realizing he would
have to get used to that trick Kennard had of reading his thoughts.  First, I m
afraid, you ll have to meet the others here; naturally we re anxious to know all
about you, especially those of us who haven t had a chance to meet you face to
face yet.
Kerwin wiped at the blood still oozing from his lip. He wished they d let him
clean up before thrusting him into the presence of strangers. He had not yet
learned that telepaths seldom paid any attention to what a man looked like on
the outside. He walked across the bricked-in quadrangle of a building that
looked like a barracks, and through a long passageway barred with a wooden
gate. A familiar smell told him that horses were stabled nearby. Only as they
neared the Tower did he become aware of the way in which the clean sweep of
its architecture was marred by the cluster of low buildings around its foot.
They went across two more outer courtyards, and finally reached a carven
archway across which shimmered a thin, rainbow mist.
Here Kennard paused momentarily, saying to Kerwin,  No living human,
except those of pure and unbroken Comyn blood, has ever crossed this Veil.
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r r
Kerwin shrugged. He felt he should be impressed or something, but he was
running low on surprise. He was both tired and hungry, he hadn t slept in
forty-eight hours, and it made him nervous to realize that they were all, even
Auster, watching to see what he would say or do when faced with this. He said
irritably,  What is this, a test? My hat s fresh out of rabbits, and anyway,
you re writing the script. Do we go this way?
They kept on waiting, so he braced himself and stepped through the trembling
rainbow.
It felt faintly electric, like a thousand pins and needles, as if his whole body
were a foot that had gone to sleep, and when he looked back he could not see
the others except as the vaguest of shadows. Suddenly he began to shake; had [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]