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.Why should we not be great as we once were great? she asked him.You would have beenproud to be among us then, when our cities gleamed with polished stone and our gardensflowered in all parts of the land.My father can tell you more of these things than I can.Heknows much of the history of the People and even now he seeks to learn more, traveling indistant places, searching for knowledge of the power we once had and shamefully lost.So that explained where Saash s father had been and why he d gone away again.Butwhat Fila said on another occasion struck Klei more forcefully.You are one of us, Fila had told him.It should be obvious to everyone that that is thecase.The blood of the People flows in your veins.Just how this is so, I can t say.You ve told usyou don t know the name of your father, but I tell you he must have been one of the Peoplealthough of course there is also a difference between us, for, whoever he was, your father sblood was mixed with the inferior blood of the New Men, and that accounts for your physicalweakness and the paleness of your hair.But the blood of the People predominates in you, as italways will, and when the time comes for us to declare ourselves, you will be saved because ofthis gift from your father.Imagine that day, Klei, with the People victorious once more and youin their midst a brother among brothers and sisters.Klei had thanked Fila for sharing these hopes with him; privately, he d pondered herwords for a long time.Surely his father had been one of the Brotherhood, and not a Rand.Hehadn t been the only small person in the valley he was close to being the same size as Alf.And,among the younger boys, there were others with hair the color of Klei s hair.Perhaps they werehis brothers.But, more important, what had Fila meant by the time coming when the Peoplewould declare themselves? And why, when that happened, would he need to be saved?Like the other People, Fila was given to inventing stories.Perhaps that was what she wasdoing when she spoke to him inventing an imaginary tale in which the supposition that Klei sfather had been a Rand would play some role.On the other hand, she d said nothing more on thesubject since that one conversation and the stories of the Rand were usually long andcomplicated.If Fila had been story telling, then, for some reason, she d broken off the tale assoon as she d begun it.Then, suddenly, everything fell into place.Word came from the mainland that agreenstone harvester had allowed himself to be taken captive by the one of the New Men whocalled themselves The Brotherhood.The Rand used the term allowed himself, because theycouldn t imagine it any other way, but Klei knew that men, with the right preparation, couldindeed capture one of the Rand.They were human beings, weren t they? And even the Randcould be careless.He told this to Saash and Saash agreed.They haven t looked carefully at the New Men; even if they ve seen them, it s only beenin the distance.They ve grown used to thinking of them as animals with a little intelligence anda great deal of wickedness, yet still animals nonetheless.But it s always dangerous tounderestimate your adversary.What will you do? Klei asked.Of course we must find a way to rescue the man they ve captured.How we ll go aboutdoing that hasn t been decided, but I fear you and I will have some role to play you, becauseyou know the ways of the New Men; I, because I know you so well.And it s not only theBrotherhood we must deal with.What you ve told us about the Chosen can only mean that theytoo will someday prove dangerous to us.Even now, their encampment blocks our route to theEast.But Klei was not thinking about either the Brotherhood or the Chosen.Do you know me well? He asked Saash.Not as much as I d like to.I never want to stop learning about you; Klei, and this journeywe must take together will enable me to learn even more [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]