Greg Bear Songs of Earth 01 The Infinity Concerto

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poetry, but as dance. He knew that the Maln had gone to great lengths to
discourage the transmission of a Song of Power to the humans, when they
realized what humans would be able io do with it

not just drive the remaining Sidhe from Earth, but re-unite the Realm and
Earth. First the Maln sabotaged their own early schemes by sending a person
from Par lock to Coleridge. When Clarkham came along with his plan to brirg
power to himself by realizing a Song, he knew he had to have a great human
artist enact the design. Emma Livry was his first choice. The Maln discovered
him, however, and before she could dance in his ballet, they& arranged her
accident
."
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"Why didn't they just kill Clarkham?"
"He was much too strong."
"But humans aren't supposed to be capable of working strong magic!"
"Only now do you question Clarkham's character and abilities?"
Michael ignored the gently barbed inquiry. "What did they do to her?"
"She was wearing untreated tarlatan. She wished her costume to be pure white,
without the dinge of flame retardants. She was waiting backstage. All the Maln
had to do was increase the length of a gas jet when she fluffed her dress. She
became a pillar of fire, like a butterfly caught in a candle. She ran across
the stage, and the flames ate the wind. Poor butterfly& " The Ban lowered her
eyes. "For eight months she lingered in agony. She was so dedicated to the
idea of art, such a pure individual, that she invited pantomimists to come
look at her writhing, the better to understand the reality of pain."
Michael made a face and shook his head.
"You are disgusted?"
"That's very bizarre."
"Perhaps to someone with incomplete understanding. But a Sidhe understands.
There is nothing but the
Song, and all things are the Song. Finally, even the Maln relented, and we
were allowed to take her away from the pain. We left a changeling in her
place, to die for her, and we healed her, on the' condition that
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Bear, Greg - Songs of Earth and Power Vol. 1 - The Infinity Concerto she never
leave Inyas Trai. She never has. We cherish her. Even Tar ax has been known to
visit, to watch her dance, and Tarax hates your kind with a bitter passion."
The Ban lifted her hands from the table and stood.
"Does that mean I'm in danger?"
She said nothing, merely gazed at him, through him, to more important problems
beyond. "You are a pawn," she said. "In the midst of great forces involved in
age-long struggle. You are better equipped than most, but you are still
ignorant, and it is not my place to inform you." She looked at him tenderly.
"Though you come to my bosom, and remember me in dreams, and know me for what
I have been to your kind in ages past, I have my limitations, too. I cannot
protect you beyond the dictates of the geas ofAdonna
."
Nikolai touched Michael on the shoulder. "No lollypoddling," he said. "You
look disturbed. Something wrong?"
Michael shook his head. "No. Not yet."
Chapter Thirty-Three
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The stepping stone where their pilgrimage would begin lay on the north side of
the history grove. No one accompanied Michael and Nikolai as they walked
through the grove. Nikolai wore heavy clothes to protect him against the
upcoming cold; Michael's clothes were considerably lighter.
Arborals tending the trees stood in the shadows of their charges, male and
female both green and naked.
They watched but said nothing as the pair passed. "I rather like them,"
Nikolai said. "They do their work, bother no one, never complain and stay
faithful to the Ban. I could live here among them and be quite happy."
"Why don't you just stay in the city?" Michael asked.
"Ah, that's another matter. The city is full of tension. Most of the time the
males hide in their woods, or hunt in the hills around the Irall. Then there
is peace here. But the males return for their
Kaeli
, and then the Ban must be vigilant to keep her humans and Breeds from being
hunted out and taken away."
"But Tarax watched Emma Livry dance!"
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"Tarax, friend, does not know about you and me. Emma he may tolerate, so long
as his power is matched by the Ban's but the Ban can do nothing to protect
us if we are found."
"So Emma and Marie receive special treatment -How did Marie come here?"
"She has always been here, tending Emma. I have never asked." Nikolai looked
at Michael sternly.
"Perhaps you shouldn't, either."
"Are you upset with me?" Michael asked. The stepping stone was visible through
a thin stretch of saplings too young for the history groves.
Greg Sear
Nikolai took a deep breath. "No. Envious, perhaps. Worried. You are& high
profile. They seem to dote on you, as they have never doted on me."
"Yet the Ban won't protect me, any more than she'll protect you."
"I have never spoken with the Ban," Nikolai said. "Not that I recall. And you
have. Those who attract the
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Bear, Greg - Songs of Earth and Power Vol. 1 - The Infinity Concerto attention
of the Sidhe face two possible fates. The first is imprisonment, perhaps
degradation. Emma is imprisoned, but not degraded, at least not in any way we
understand or that she will ever know. She dances; as she says, she is like a
flower in a conservatory. I think she enjoys being the flower, being able to
concentrate on dance. I would not enjoy that. The Sidhe tolerate me, enjoy me,
but they are not attracted to me."
"What's the second possible fate?"
"I don't know," Nikolai said. "Perhaps what happened to Clarkham."
"Is he human?"
Nikolai lifted an eyebrow. "You seem to know more about him than I do."
"I don't know everything. He's been alive for a very long time, and he seems
to know a lot about magic."
Nikolai sighed. "Well, for this journey at least, let us travel with light
hearts. The Ban has approved, and there is little that will happen on a
journey the Ban watches over."
"Nikolai, do you remember what the Ban looks like?"
"No." The stepping stone was deserted, merely a dark flat boulder resting on a [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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