[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.„I do not want you to fear me.‟ He paused.„I am told you are a scholar of history.A teacher?‟„Yes.‟„Do you know what I looked like?‟6Barbara was afraid, though the man she was afraid of was the one who was insane and believed himself to be a historical figure.She certainly wasn‟t afraid of a monarch dead for two thousand years.She had been doubly afraid when he had her brought to his bedchamber, but the fear had been knocked aside by baffle-ment when he asked his question.She didn‟t understand what he meant at first.„Do you know what I - Qin Shi Huangdi - looked like?‟For an instant, Barbara thought she saw anguish in his expression and heard yearning in his voice.„I don‟t remember,‟ he said.„Well, I‟m not sure.I know more about European and South American cultures.But I remember seeing a portrait of the First Emperor in a book once.He was quite a large man.‟ She hesitated.„You mean fat.‟„I imagine palace food for the Emperor is richer than for his subjects.‟„Continue, gwailo’, he said quietly.„He looked severe, unforgiving.He had a longish black beard.‟The man‟s fingers reached up to his own white whiskers.„It‟s ironic,‟ the abbot - Barbara didn‟t know what his real name was, but it was unlikely to be Qin - said.„A foreigner knowing more about me than my own subjects.‟ He frowned.„Of course, it is a spy‟s job to know such things.‟„We are not spies.‟„Yet you come to me with fine words, trying to draw my secrets from me.‟„You kidnapped us, remember?‟ Barbara said pointedly.„You have friends.I wish them to do something for me.‟Barbara felt a slight relief.At least it was not lust that was driving him.„Then I can complete my work here.‟„Work? Raiding towns, killing.Do you love war so much?‟she demanded.„Does it make you feel like a big man to raze a town, or order people to work or to fight or to die?‟„Yes,‟ he said sharply, and somehow the sharpness told Barbara that he was lying.„That‟s the best thing in life.‟„“The greatest pleasure is to vanquish your enemies and chase them before you,”„ Barbara said.„“To rob them of their wealth and see those dear to them bathed in tears, to ride their horses and clasp to your bosom their wives and daughters.” That‟s what Genghis Khan said.‟The abbot left her then and walked out on to the hillside.The sun was sinking, casting a honeyed light across the dusty path and enriching the woodland shadows.If he closed his eyes he fancied he could feel the trees, as if some emanation from them was pressing against him.He could hear his people moving around, attending to their duties and serving him with their loyalty.Something spread up from his spine and out across his shoulders, enveloping his chest.It felt like the softest fur -sensual, warm, comforting.He vaguely remembered it from long, long ago.It was the best thing in life.These were his woods, his trees, his country and his people.If anything other than his love for them could bring him that spreading happiness, he had yet to find it.Kei-Ying, Iron Bridge Three and Major Chesterton pored over the military maps in Chesterton‟s office.With a practical military problem to solve, Chesterton was able to push the mystery of his duplicated self to the back of his mind.„From what.Mr Iron Bridge has said I think it‟s clear that this abbot and his followers have been coming south for a while.‟„How can we find out where they came from?‟ Kei-Ying asked.„We can retrace the advances of the battle lines.They may have tried to disguise their origins by flanking manoeuvres, but if we have a chronology of which places were attacked -or persuaded to join their cause - we should be able to track them back.‟„Good,‟ Iron Bridge snapped.„Then let‟s get on with it, shall we?‟Ian paced around the main hall at Po Chi Lam, unable to settle.If only there was something he could do, a place he could go.„Cheng,‟ he said.„You met this abbot person.Can‟t you tell us where?‟„It was aboard a junk.It moves around.I don‟t know where it would be now.‟„Can‟t we put the word out to these Tigers of yours and have them look for it.‟„We‟re foreign to you, not stupid, Chesterton.Of course we‟ve done that.‟Ian resented Cheng‟s tone, but knew it was deserved.„I‟m sorry.It‟s just.‟„Barbara is your woman.I understand.‟„Ha!‟ the Doctor exclaimed, attracting Ian‟s attention.He looked from his sheet of calculations to a map from Kei-Ying‟s study, „I should estimate the focal point will be there,‟he stabbed a finger on to the map, „somewhere in Shaanxi province.‟ His lips thinned.„Very near to Xianyang.‟„Focal point?‟ Ian asked.„I‟ll show you,‟ the Doctor said.Qin Shi Huangdi was the only name he knew himself by.The face that stared back at him from the mirror had undoubtedly had a different name, but he had no idea what it might be.In the mirror he saw Zhao step into the room behind him and kneel.„My Lord.‟ Zhao lowered his eyes to the floor, respectfully.The muscle-bound frame that knelt no doubt also had a different name, as had the lean body of Gao.Qin wondered whether either of them had any inkling of what those names were.„Yes, General,‟ Qin acknowledged.„The caravan to Xianyang is in operation, my Lord.‟„Good.We can return there shortly.‟„What about the gwailo women?‟„Bring the tall, dark-haired one with us.‟Zhao hesitated, and Qin could feel his indecision.„My Lord, she is a historian and teacher.Your orders are to leave none such alive.‟Qin looked down at his hands and studied them, trying to remember whether they were similar to, or different from, the hands he used to have.„And she will die when I have extracted from her all that I wish to know.She comes with us.‟„And the girl?‟„Who?‟ The image of a younger gwailo girl came belatedly into his mind.Another.traveller? As if it mattered whether she was living in China or just visiting.She was nothing.„Zhao may kill her at his leisure.‟„It shall be done,‟ the abbot knew this as certainly as if Zhao had made the promise aloud [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]