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The truemale's voice came back:
"Yes, great-aunt. It has been a comfort these past eightyweeks. I thank you for instructing me."
Shurren's mantle flashed orange.
"You instructedhim? "
"Just so, Shurren. He was perhaps my best student. Of the clan, at least. He might well have become my
best student of all, except that I was unable to visit him often. I was not welcome in the Divine Shell, you
know. My visits were infrequent and surreptitious."
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"But why?Even though he is of your clan, I do not understand why "
"Why I would waste my time instructing a foolish male?"
Ushulubang made the gesture of abject apology.
"I have forgotten. Only females and not even most of them; no, only those who follow the Way feel
sorrow at the evil of the world. The rest are dumb beasts."
Shurren's mantle rippled pinkish-brown. (A color frequently found upon Ushulubang's disciples, Indira
noted with great satisfaction.)
"I have offended you."
"Nonsense! To the contrary, Shurren, you have brought me sudden joy. Your words recall to my
memory a long forgotten episode from the days I wandered the streets of Shakutulubac in the company
of Goloku. Come, I will tell you about it."
Ushulubang and Shurren began moving away. Indira heard the sage's voice drifting back.
"It was a miserable night. The more so because Goloku had gotten drunk. Again." Indira smiled at the
sound of Shurren's shocked hoot. "Oh, yes it's quite true. Goloku was excessively fond of ashuweed.
Often made a fool of herself. This night was no different. We encountered a small pack of eumales in one
of the back alleys. Six or seven of the disgusting creatures. Beggars and thieves. Would you believe that
drunken fool invited them to spend the night in her mantle?"
Shocked hoot.
"Oh, yes it's quite true. I was appalled, of course especially when it was discovered they couldn't all
fit inside Goloku and she insisted that I accept half of them."
Shocked hoot.
"Oh, yes it's quite true. Then, no sooner . . ."
The voices became indistinct. Indira was left alone with Joseph. Joseph was watching her, with the look
he usually held in her presence. Reserve no, deep anger, held in check.
Suddenly, as she had not done in a long time, Indira smiled at Joseph. Slowly, a hesitant smile came in
return.
Maybe, thought Indira.Maybe.
It was still a faint hope, murky and uncertain. But for a woman who had felt no hope in years, it was as if
a ray of sunshine had broken through the everlasting clouds of Ishtar.
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Chapter 20
Nukurren regained consciousness the next day, and never lapsed back thereafter. Under the
ministrations of the healer demon Mariyaduloshruyush and her assistants, the wounds began to heal
quickly. Most of the assistants were demons, but two were gukuy Pilgrims from Anshac. One of them, a
former helot named Ertatu, told Nukurren than she was healing much more quickly than the demon
herself had expected.
"Mariya says you are the toughest gukuy she's ever seen," commented Ertatu, as she changed
Nukurren's poultices.
"You can say that again."
Nukurren swiveled her good eye and saw the figure of Dzhenushkunutushen standing in the entrance to
the hospital. The white demon advanced to Nukurren's side.
"How are you feeling?" he asked her. To Nukurren's surprise, he spoke in Anshaku. Very good
Anshaku. During the long trek up the Chiton, Dzhenushkunutushen and the female demon Ludumila had
spoken only Kiktu, and seemed not to comprehend Nukurren and Dhowifa when they spoke to each
other in Anshaku.
Shrewd. The demons are cunning as well as ferocious.
Nukurren made the gesture of acceptance.
"I am alive and it seems I will remain so. That is unexpected."
"I am sorry about your eye," said the demon.
"It does not matter. It is a just punishment for my sins. It is only right that I should lose an eye, in
payment for the Old Ones I helped enslave."
The demon opened his mouth, Nukurren had learned, was the name for demon beaks (except the
demons claimed their real name wasummun ) and began to speak; then fell silent.
After a pause, he said: "I would like to talk to you, but I cannot. I must return to the training field."
"You are a trainer of warriors?"
"I am the " Nukurren made him repeat the term until she could pronounce it.
Sharredzhenutumadzhoru.
She understood the meaning of the title at once.So I suspected. He is a centurion of the human
legion.As was I, before I was sent to the Motherguard.
(The actual term which Nukurren used, of course, was not "centurion." It wasgurren otoshoc , which
translates roughly as "chief troop leader." But the essence was the same as the ancient Roman term,
which, over the centuries, was duplicated in different words in different human languages. Whatever the
word, it referred to the sinew of all great armies top sergeant.)
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"You are preparing for war?" asked Nukurren. Interpreting the strange movement of the demon's face as
hesitation, suspicion, she made the gesture of indifference. Then repeated it in words, realizing that the
demon might not understand the curl of her arms.
"It does not matter to me, Dzhenushkunutushen. I am no longer a warrior, nor do I care what happens to
any realm on the Meat of the Clam. It is true that you are demons, but " The gesture of resignation.
"You can be no crueler than any gukuy."
Dzhenushkunutushen stood. "There is no reason not to tell you. We will be fighting the Utuku soon. Very
soon, I think, and we are not well prepared."
"The Kiktu have been defeated, then?"
"Destroyed completely, by all accounts."
Nukurren made the gesture of regret.
"I am grieved to hear it. Of all the peoples I encountered, the Kiktu were the best. Barbarous and crude,
but rarely evil."
"So it is said. But they are gone now. Slain in battle, or food for the Utuku."
"Go then, Sharredzhenutumadzhoru." The gesture of amusement. "I would not wish to see you in the
bellies of the Utuku."
Dzhenushkunutushen turned away, saying: "Any Utuku who bites me will die horribly." [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]