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.Working out what to write was far more difficult.He stared at the paper for a long time, while Everet sat patiently on the other side of theroom.Half an hour had passed before Ori was able to carry the sealed envelope across to theraven. Thank you, sir.The other shifter said nothing as he reached out and took the message from him.On theinside of Everet s wrist was the neatly tattooed raven s mark.Ori looked quickly away from it, but even after the other man had left the suite, theimage of the identifier was still fresh in his mind.Looking down at his own wrist, he re-traced the line of the duck s mark that his masterhad painted on him once before.He had no idea what a swan s identifier looked like.He had nointerest in finding out.Covering his right wrist with his opposite hand he fought down the wave of panic thatthe idea brought with it.He was never going to have that kind of mark on his skin.He was going to be marked as a duck.That s what his master wanted, that s what he was.Out of the corner of his eye, Ori caught sight of his reflection in the mirror in the lobby, andlooked quickly away from it.He was going to be a big white duck.And he knew exactly how aduck lived while he was in the nest.He d simply go back to that life until his master was willingto come back and fetch him.Simply having a plan caused some of his panic to fade away, replaced by a pathetic excusefor the safety he felt when he was with his master.Pushing open the door once more, he didn t give the servant lurking in the hallway timeto hold it for him or offer him any other kind of service.He strode past him, only vaguely awareof the other avian trailing after him as he rushed down one set of stairs, then another, headingstraight toward the kitchens.Heads turned to watch him go, but men also stepped back to clear his way.A flock ofcrows making their way into the dining room scattered at the very sight of him hurling himselfdown the corridor.Ori paid them no attention.Striding into the kitchen, he caught sight of thechef on the other side of the room.A moment later he was at the older man s side.The gull turned toward him.He was about to speak when he stopped himself short.Heoffered Ori a deep bow. Sire  Do you have any work for me, sir? Ori cut in.Part of him knew that interrupting the notoriously bad tempered gull was risking awhipping.There was a section of him that would have welcomed the punishment as a familiarlandmark in a world that had tilted on its axis, tipping everything that was important off itssurface.Maybe there was even a piece of him that would have welcomed the chance that enoughexternal pain might have taken his mind off that which already flared deep inside him.The gull looked past him to the servants that surrounded them.The kitchen was eerilysilent, everyone was staring at them, waiting for the chef s reaction.Ori swallowed down the instinct to beg, even though he knew he d give in to iteventually, if that was what it took.The chef looked down. May I offer my humble apologies for the way you were treatedbefore your true nature was revealed, sire.Ori shook his head. You& I&  He looked across the room, to the sinks he d worked atfor so many weeks.Another servant stood in his place, wearing the same scant uniform.Therewas no room for Ori there anymore.The duckling& the swan took a step back.The servant from outside his door stood close behind him, he didn t retreat in time toavoid the collision.Spinning around, stumbling away from him too, Ori fled from the kitchens.The flock ofcrows were lurking around the entry to the dining area now.The two falcons who d stopped tospeak to Raynard were walking out of one of the meeting rooms further down the corridor.Theyall turned to gaze at Ori.Looking from one group of men to the other, Ori tried to think, tried to make his mindfunction so he could work out what his master would want him to do now.He knew what kind of service both the crows and the falcons would want from him, thatit might be the only kind of service a swan was thought capable of.He closed his eyes for amoment, as the idea of servicing any man but his master cut deep inside him, threatening to tearsomething out of his very soul. Sire?Hamilton.Ori felt the eagle approach and step to his side. You re tired after the ceremony.You should rest now.The way he said it almost made Ori think it was what his master would want him to dotoo.Part of what he had written on his note to Raynard came back to the center of his mind.Hemight not have his master close at hand, but he had his orders.He could still follow them to thebest of his ability.Ori nodded his assent. Yes, sir. He should rest now.That was what his master would want him to do.Turningaway from both the falcons and the crows, he let Hamilton guide him back to the suite of rooms.As he found himself alone in the bedroom, Ori lay down on the overly soft mattress andcovered his eyes with his hand.His head still ached.His whole body was a mass of pain, and theworst of it all radiated out from inside his mind.* * * *Raynard took no notice of the doorbell.It wasn t going to be Ori, and he had little interestin seeing anyone else.It rang again, then again, and again.Standing by the little bar set in the corner of the library, Raynard stared down at thedecanters.The amber liquid called to him through the lead crystal.One of the three was ever soslightly different to the others a replacement tracked down by his submissive after theduckling s lack of co-ordination laid waste to its predecessor.Raynard ran his fingers over the faceted glass.It sparkled, just like everything else Ori hadturned his attention to while he was under his care&His care& the hawk shook his head.The younger man would have been far better offwithout that kind of care.He closed his eyes.The doorbell rang again.In another version of the world, Ori would have answered it forhim.Memories flooded back of the last time he d been unable to do so.Pushing himself awayfrom the bar, Raynard strode through the hallway and wrenched open the front door, if only tomake the blasted ringing stop.Everet stood on the door step.He silently offered him an envelope.Raynard stared at the rich cream paper.The coat of arms belonging to the nest wasembossed on the flap.Of course, the elders weren t going to be pleased with what had passed between a hawkand their new swan, either.He took the envelope and nodded his dismissal to the younger man,unable to raise the inclination to speak.He was about to slam the door when the raven stopped him short. Would you like me to wait for a response, sir?Holding back a sigh, Raynard left the door open as he turned away from the younger manand tore open the letter.The moment he saw the handwriting, he knew it was no summons from the elders.He dseen pages and pages filled with those same neat letters, line after line of the same words repeatedover and again.Ori.For a full minute, that was all that really sunk in.It was from Ori.Raynard reached out tosteady himself against the banister.Slowly lowering himself to sit on the third stair, he forced hismind to take in the words before him.Sir,I don t know what the elders saw during the ceremony [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]