Nightwings Read Free Page A

guild?"
    I conceded the point with a shrug.
    The Pilgrim said, "Why do you not come to Jorslem with me?"
    "My road lies north now. Jorslem is in the south, close by Agupt."
    "You have been to Agupt and not to Jorslem?" he said, puzzled.
    "Yes. The time was not ready for me to see Jorslem."
    "Come now. We will walk together on the road, Watcher, and we will talk of the old times and of the times to come, and I will assist you in your Watching, and you will assist me in my communions with the WilL Is it agreed?"
    It was a temptation. Before my eyes flashed the image of Jorslem the Golden, its holy buildings and shrines, its places of renewal where the old are made young, its spires, its tabernacles. Even though I am a man set in his

    ways, I was willing at the moment to abandon Roum and go with the Pilgrim to Jorslem.
    I said, "And my companions—"
    "Leave them. It is forbidden for me to travel with the guildless, and I do not wish to travel with a female. You and I, Watcher, will go to Jorslem together."
    Avluela, who had been standing to one side frowning through all this colloquy, shot me a look of sudden terror.
    "I will not abandon them," I said.
    "Then I go to Jorslem alone," said the Pilgrim. Out of his robe stretched a bony hand, the fingers long and white and steady. I touched my fingers reverently to the tips of his, and the Pilgrim said, "Let the Will give you mercy, friend Watcher. And when you reach Jorslem, search for me."
    He moved on down the road without further conversation.
    Gormon said to me, "You would have gone with him, wouldn't you?"
    "I considered it."
    "What could you find in Jorslem that isn't here? That's a holy city and so is this. Here you can rest awhile. You're in no shape for more walking now."
    "You may be right," I conceded, and with the last of my energy I strode toward the gate of Roum.
    Watchful eyes scanned us from slots in the wall. When we were at midpoint in the gate, a fat, pockmarked Sentinel with sagging jowls halted us and asked our business in Roum. I stated my guild and purpose, and he gave a snort of disgust.
    "Go elsewhere, Watcher! We need only useful men here."
    "Watching has its uses," I said mildly.
    "No doubt. No doubt." He squinted at Avluela. "Who's this? Watchers are celibates, no?"
    "She is nothing more than a traveling companion."
    The Sentinel guffawed coarsely. "It's a route you travel often, I wagerl Not that there's much to her. What is she, thirteen, fourteen? Come here, child. Let me check you for contraband." He ran his hands quickly over her, scowling as he felt her breasts, then raising an eyebrow as
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    he encountered the mounds of her wings below her shoulders. 'What's this? What's this? More in back than in front! A Flier, are you? Very dirty business, Fliers consorting with foul old Watchers." He chuckled and put his hand on Avluela's body in a way that sent Gormon starting forward in fury, murder in his fire-circled eyes. I caught him in time and grasped his wrist with all my strength, holding him back lest he ruin the three of us by an attack on the Sentinel. He tugged at me, nearly pulling me over; then he grew calm and subsided, icily watching as the fat one finished checking Avluela for "contraband."
    At length the Sentinel turned in distaste to Gormon and said, "What kind of thing are you?"
    "Guildless, your mercy," Gormon said in sharp tones. "The humble and worthless product of teratogenesis, and yet nevertheless a free man who desires entry to Roum."
    "Do we need more monsters here?"
    "I eat little and work hard."
    "You'd work harder still, if you were neutered," said the Sentinel.
    Gormon glowered. I said, "May we have entry?"
    "A moment." The Sentinel donned his thinking cap and narrowed his eyes as he transmitted a message to the memory tanks. His face tensed with the effort; then it went slack, and moments later came the reply. We could not hear the transaction at all; but from his disappointed look, it appeared evident that no reason had