Marion Zimmer Bradley - Darkover 18 by The Bloody Sun

Author:The Bloody Sun
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2011-11-23T12:49:51+00:00

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Chapter Nine: Challenge to Arilinn

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Riding down in the shaft, between Taniquel and Elorie, Kerwin was still shaken by the backlash of that contact with Elorie. What had Kennard called his gift? Empath—gifted with the power of sensing the emotions of others. He had accepted, intellectually, that this was true; had tested it a little under laboratory conditions and among the circle. Now, for the first time, it had hit him deep, on the level of his guts, and he felt it and knew it.

He didn’t know where they were going. He followed the others. But they went down through the Veil and outside, and into a building near the Tower, that Jeff had never seen before. It was a long, narrow, silk-hung hall, and somewhere a ceremonial gong rang out as they filed into the room. There were a few spectators in the seats, and before them, at a long table, were half a dozen men.

They were prosperous looking men, most of them middle aged and more, wearing Darkovan dress in the fashion of the cities. They waited silently while Elorie was announced and took the central chair. The Tower circle seated themselves quietly around Elorie, not speaking.

It was Danvan of Hastur who spoke, at last.

“You are the men who call yourselves the Pan-Darkovan Syndicate?”

One of the men, a heavy-set and swarthy man with fierce eyes, bowed.

“Valdrin of Carthon, z’par servu, my lords and ladies,” he confirmed. “By your leave I will speak for all.”

“Let me review the situation,” said Hastur. “You have formed a league—”

“To encourage the growth of manufacturing and trade on Darkover, in the Domains and beyond,” Valdrin said. “I hardly need to tell you the political situation—the Terrans and their foothold on our world. The Comyn and the Council, saving your presence, Lord Hastur, have tried to ignore the Terran presence here and its implications for trade—”

Hastur said quietly, “That is not precisely the situation.”

“I won’t bandy words with you, vai dom,” said Valdrin, respectfully but impatiently too. “The facts are these: In view of our agreements with the Terrans, we have an opportunity we’ve never had before, to bring the Domains out of our Dark Ages. Times change. Like it or not, the Terrans are here to stay. Darkover is being swept into the Empire. We can pretend they’re not there, refuse to trade with them, ignore their offers of trade, and keep them locked up inside their Trade Cities, but the barriers we put up will come tumbling down in another generation, maybe two at most. I’ve seen it happening on other worlds.”

Kerwin remembered what the Legate had said, that they left governments alone, but that the people saw what the Terran Empire had to give, and started demanding to come into it. It’s almost a mathematical formula—you can predict the thing.

Valdrin of Carthon was saying the same thing, quite passionately.

“In short, Lord Hastur, we protest the decision of Comyn Council; we want some of the advantages that come with

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