[cergyn]

Вот разговор c Лихо:

Скрытый текст:

Likho: I saw you speaking with Na'ane this morning. What did you discuss?
Kian: She was telling me about some herbs she needs. I promised her we'd keep our eyes open.

Likho: She's been acting strange since you arrived, not like herself at all. Is there something going on between the two of you?

Kian: I can assure you there's not. I have no interest in Na'ane. Or in any woman. Not in...that way.

Likho: How do you deal with it?

Kian: Deal with what?

Likho: With who you are. What you are. How you— How you feel about...You know.

Kian: You Dol-Azadi... Dol-Intiqua. You see how are men and women are divided in our society, and you condemn us for something you do not understand.

Likho: What I meant--

Kian: I know. There are some rules that cannot be broken. A soldier can't bed a priestess. If they're caught, it's exile for the woman...and death for the man. A Sister can bed another priestess. She can also take a civilian lover as long as she's...discrete. A pregnant sister loses her robes. And a soldier can lie with another soldier. For some it's a passing phase. For others, convenience. Soldiers become officers, or they leave the service, begin a civilian career. Marry, have children...For the rest of us...Our society does not condemn us. In the eyes of the Goddess, it makes us no less worthy. It's simply how we were born. You only see us Azadi as bigoted and reactionary. And in our treatment of magicals...perhaps we are. We are. We have our reasons for fearing magicals. Not good ones, but still. We have no reason to fear men who love men, or women who love women, and so we do not condemn them or persecute them. I don't have to 'deal' with anything, Likho. I am who I am, and no one has ever thought less of me because of it.

Likho: We're alike, you and I.

Kian: In...what way?

Likho: In many ways. We understand the need to do the things others would balk at. Pain and blood...what we do isn't pretty, but it must be done to keep others safe. And we are the only ones willing to do it.

Kian: Once I started down that path again, it felt...natural.