Bradley, Marion Zimmer - Novel 19 by The Ruins of Isis (v2.1) Read Free Book Online Page B

Cendri
blinked again. How could she possibly do any dispassionate work on the Builder
ruins when she found them an object of religious worship—a worship which,
judging from Miranda's expression, fell just short of idolatry!
                 Frankly,
she didn't care all that much whether the Builder ruins ever got explored or
not. That, of course, was Dai's prime concern; as for Cendri herself, the
longer the exploration of the ruins was delayed by the deathwatch on the dying
High Matriarch, the longer it would give her to explore and make notes on the
fascinating and supposedly impossible society of the Matriarchate.
                 The
vehicle was stopping before a building somewhat taller than the ones inside the
city walls. The Lady Miranda said, "Here is the Residence of my mother,
the Pro-Matriarch Vaniya. Welcome, Scholar Dame. You must not be
frightened," she added earnestly, "even though it is built with an
upper story, we are so near to We-were-guided that the ground never shakes
here, and you are as safe on the second floor as in the arms of the
Goddess."
                 Now I wonder, Cendri thought, is this an observed
seismic phenomenon, or is it an article of faith, because of the supposed
love and concern of the hypothetical "Builders"? She could not
ask; she would simply have to take her chances. After all, earthquakes could
strike anywhere, on almost any world, and she had never been afraid of living
on an upper story; her small apartment on University was on the eighteenth tier
of a huge residence complex, and she had never given even the most fleeting
thought to earthquakes before this. She assured Miranda seriously that she was
not afraid, and Miranda smiled.
                 "And
I am not afraid of all the threatened dangers from the Unity, Scholar
Dame."
                 Cendri
had been on the verge of alighting from the vehicle; she stopped, her hand on the door-latch. She said in amazement, "The dangers of the
Unity? What, I must ask, could we possibly have that
is dangerous to you?"
                 "War,"
said Miranda, and her face was suddenly grave. "It is a historical fact,
Scholar Dame, that every society where men were
allowed to rule has been destroyed from within by wars, because of the competitive,
aggressive nature of the male animal. It is this, I think, that they
fear."
                 Cendri
blinked at Miranda and said, "But our society—the Unity—is flourishing
undestroyed, after more than five hundred years of peace, Lady Miranda. I
cannot understand your logic at all."
                 The
lady Miranda looked confused.
                 "I told you I didn't understand politics. You must talk to my mother about
it. Come," she said, leaning across Cendri and opening the door-latch,
"let me welcome you to our home, Scholar Dame."
                Cendri, moving her cramped knees
carefully, got out of the car, watching Dal, equally stiff and cramped, and
scowling as if he had had an unpleasant trip, getting out of the front along
with the hauled-out baggage.
                 I
have a lot to tell him. How long will it be before we are alone
to talk? I don't dare to speak to him in public here! She
smiled at Dal, trying to encourage him, but he avoided her eyes; and Cendri's
heart sank.
                 This
was the beginning of the most complex and difficult assignment she had ever had;
her first work as an independent professional, not a student. And she wasn't
even free to concentrate on it, because all her emotional energy was taken up
with worrying about Dai's feelings! It was justified, she could sympathize with
Dal completely, but still, she could not help resenting the drain on her
energy!
                 A
short flight of steps—the first she had seen on Isis, except at the elaborate
Residence and Temple of the High Matriarch—led up to the front door; the room
into which