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. He looked up at Axor, who d risen from his chair. We can make tomorrow s trip some other day, and you can ask your mother to orderSem to accompany us, to make sure he doesn t try back out of his promise to come along. ***Sem usually washed the dishes at the end of every meal not because anyone had toldhim he had to, but because he regarded it as one of his duties in the household.But tonightPhillipa announced that the women would assume this chore. Anyone who cooked such a good dinner deserves to rest. So instead of returning to the kitchen, Sem was left with Alf, who suggested they gooutside for a walk. These spring nights are too wonderful to waste indoors, Alf said. I love the smell ofthe earth waking up after winter.You can almost hear the new shoots working their way upthrough the soil. Sem was certain his father had drawn him away from the cottage because there wassomething he wanted to tell him, but they d walked a distance before Alf uttered another word,and when he finally spoke, it was nothing Sem expected. Your sisters are wise in the way they treat Axor.I was watching them at dinner.Theyallow him to flirt with them, but they know it means nothing.He s a handsome young man, butnot the man for them, and they realize that.And so, when I bring the prince here I don t fear he llturn my daughters heads.They may have problems, but Axor isn t one of them. You, on the other hand, I worry about.What is it exactly you feel for Axor? Tell mehonestly, Sem.Nothing you say will change the way I think about you. I want him to be my friend, Father. And is that all? What else could there be? Sem was glad it was dark.If his father had seen his face he d have known he wasn ttelling the truth.But did Alf expect his son to tell him that his favorite memory of Axor was theafternoon that began with fondling his dick behind a tree? Axor had wanted someone to make him feel like a man.But Sem had wanted something else.He d wanted to show Axor that he wasas much a man as he was, and he d done exactly that.Still, it was difficult for Sem to look at the prince without imagining doing it again.Axorneeded him he was sure of that.He was long past the age of sexual experimentation, and yetthat early encounter defined something important about their relationship.But it would havebeen impossible to explain why that was so to Alf.His father knew about many things, but heknew nothing about sex.Even his own daughters made fun of his peculiar views of the world.Could being Alf s son explain why Sem himself wasn t like any other human being he d everknown? You ve answered my question, Alf said. Although it s a question I shouldn t haveasked in the first place.But you remind me so much of what I once was and how I once feltabout someone very much like your friend Axor in appearance at least.For a moment at dinnerit was like looking back at myself a very long time ago. Sem wasn t sure whether he was supposed to follow up on this sometimes his fatherdropped hints about the past, but when Sem pursued them he changed the subject.Still, tonightAlf was reaching out to him in a new way. Will you tell me about that, Father? Sem asked. Yes, I think I want to tell you about it. Yet, having said that, Alf was quiet again for a long time.But Sem knew it was best tokeep silent.Another question could break the spell. You know about the Valley of Women, Alf eventually began, and how the boys usedto be raised in groups like animals, it now seems, but then it appeared natural.Only one of usquestioned the way we were treated and the fate before us. It was Jon, wasn t it? Yes you ve heard his name, then? Phillipa told me how you befriended him when he was accused of the Emperor s death. She told you that? I would have thought they d have kept it from you. Why would they do that? Because most people believe Jon was a traitor.And they think my taking him to staywith me after his trial is a black spot on my record.If Falco were still alive, he d give you anearful.He wanted Jon drawn and quartered. But Jon was your friend, wasn t he? That s exactly it.He was my friend, and I ve never loved anyone else the same way.Ilove you, Sem; and I love Linnea and Sally, but it s not the same.It may be that when you reyoung, people make a stronger impression on your life than they can after you ve passed acertain age.But, whatever the reason, Jon became a part of me, and without him my life hasnever been the same.It probably sounds funny, but I think about him every day not for a longtime.But something is bound to happen that brings Jon to mind, and there he is for a moment,and then I go about my business and turn my thought to other things. So what he s meant when he s talked about friendship hasn t been friendship at all.Hadhis father really had a love life after all? And with the man who betrayed Zoë s husband! Jonmay not have been a traitor in some judicial sense, but surely he d turned against the Emperor. What happened to Jon¾after he was banished, I mean? He lives in Kar. How do you know that? The Empress has spies.They used to think he was a danger, so they reported every stephe took, until it became clear that his doings were harmless.But it required more than a decadeto reach that conclusion.You can t imagine how carefully they followed the minute details of hislife, even when any idiot could have seen that they had no bearing on Bent Lake. What does he do in Kar? This would be his last question [ Pobierz caÅ‚ość w formacie PDF ]
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. He looked up at Axor, who d risen from his chair. We can make tomorrow s trip some other day, and you can ask your mother to orderSem to accompany us, to make sure he doesn t try back out of his promise to come along. ***Sem usually washed the dishes at the end of every meal not because anyone had toldhim he had to, but because he regarded it as one of his duties in the household.But tonightPhillipa announced that the women would assume this chore. Anyone who cooked such a good dinner deserves to rest. So instead of returning to the kitchen, Sem was left with Alf, who suggested they gooutside for a walk. These spring nights are too wonderful to waste indoors, Alf said. I love the smell ofthe earth waking up after winter.You can almost hear the new shoots working their way upthrough the soil. Sem was certain his father had drawn him away from the cottage because there wassomething he wanted to tell him, but they d walked a distance before Alf uttered another word,and when he finally spoke, it was nothing Sem expected. Your sisters are wise in the way they treat Axor.I was watching them at dinner.Theyallow him to flirt with them, but they know it means nothing.He s a handsome young man, butnot the man for them, and they realize that.And so, when I bring the prince here I don t fear he llturn my daughters heads.They may have problems, but Axor isn t one of them. You, on the other hand, I worry about.What is it exactly you feel for Axor? Tell mehonestly, Sem.Nothing you say will change the way I think about you. I want him to be my friend, Father. And is that all? What else could there be? Sem was glad it was dark.If his father had seen his face he d have known he wasn ttelling the truth.But did Alf expect his son to tell him that his favorite memory of Axor was theafternoon that began with fondling his dick behind a tree? Axor had wanted someone to make him feel like a man.But Sem had wanted something else.He d wanted to show Axor that he wasas much a man as he was, and he d done exactly that.Still, it was difficult for Sem to look at the prince without imagining doing it again.Axorneeded him he was sure of that.He was long past the age of sexual experimentation, and yetthat early encounter defined something important about their relationship.But it would havebeen impossible to explain why that was so to Alf.His father knew about many things, but heknew nothing about sex.Even his own daughters made fun of his peculiar views of the world.Could being Alf s son explain why Sem himself wasn t like any other human being he d everknown? You ve answered my question, Alf said. Although it s a question I shouldn t haveasked in the first place.But you remind me so much of what I once was and how I once feltabout someone very much like your friend Axor in appearance at least.For a moment at dinnerit was like looking back at myself a very long time ago. Sem wasn t sure whether he was supposed to follow up on this sometimes his fatherdropped hints about the past, but when Sem pursued them he changed the subject.Still, tonightAlf was reaching out to him in a new way. Will you tell me about that, Father? Sem asked. Yes, I think I want to tell you about it. Yet, having said that, Alf was quiet again for a long time.But Sem knew it was best tokeep silent.Another question could break the spell. You know about the Valley of Women, Alf eventually began, and how the boys usedto be raised in groups like animals, it now seems, but then it appeared natural.Only one of usquestioned the way we were treated and the fate before us. It was Jon, wasn t it? Yes you ve heard his name, then? Phillipa told me how you befriended him when he was accused of the Emperor s death. She told you that? I would have thought they d have kept it from you. Why would they do that? Because most people believe Jon was a traitor.And they think my taking him to staywith me after his trial is a black spot on my record.If Falco were still alive, he d give you anearful.He wanted Jon drawn and quartered. But Jon was your friend, wasn t he? That s exactly it.He was my friend, and I ve never loved anyone else the same way.Ilove you, Sem; and I love Linnea and Sally, but it s not the same.It may be that when you reyoung, people make a stronger impression on your life than they can after you ve passed acertain age.But, whatever the reason, Jon became a part of me, and without him my life hasnever been the same.It probably sounds funny, but I think about him every day not for a longtime.But something is bound to happen that brings Jon to mind, and there he is for a moment,and then I go about my business and turn my thought to other things. So what he s meant when he s talked about friendship hasn t been friendship at all.Hadhis father really had a love life after all? And with the man who betrayed Zoë s husband! Jonmay not have been a traitor in some judicial sense, but surely he d turned against the Emperor. What happened to Jon¾after he was banished, I mean? He lives in Kar. How do you know that? The Empress has spies.They used to think he was a danger, so they reported every stephe took, until it became clear that his doings were harmless.But it required more than a decadeto reach that conclusion.You can t imagine how carefully they followed the minute details of hislife, even when any idiot could have seen that they had no bearing on Bent Lake. What does he do in Kar? This would be his last question [ Pobierz caÅ‚ość w formacie PDF ]