Waking up, Carl straightened up and looked around. It was dark all around, only the silver crescent of the waning moon peered through the window to the right. Realizing that he had fallen asleep again in the study, he unbuttoned the tight collar of his shirt, pushed aside the crumpled scrolls, and again dropped his head into his hands. Before morning, there were still several documents to go through and a dozen petitions and complaints.The already familiar heaviness that enveloped his consciousness made him wary. In a dream, he was too vulnerable: hidden memories could be pulled along with the rest, and of his own free will.Taking a deep breath, Karl suppressed the fear that rose in his soul and, driving the suspicions so far that he himself doubted his innocence, closed his eyes.The storm outside the window finally subsided, but the dawn still did not break. In the next room, Christian was sniffling loudly with his aunt, water was dripping from the tap, almost echoing the threads

Hurrying after Yakir, Liramel admired the sun glare playing in the melt water. Spring quickly came into its own, and the snow in the forest melted so quickly that the water did not have time to go into the ground.Lord Varuta did not lose hope to the last to get away from the chase that had been following them for the second day now, and all this only amused Liramel: after many months spent in the castle and its environs, she was glad to have a sip of freedom. “We'll do without supper today,” Yakir threw over his shoulder without turning around. “If we can break away, we will cross the river and turn west. We'll split up there - it's only a couple of hours to the castle, you'll go alone. I'll leave Veka to you, and I'll take them to the highway myself. “As you say,” Liramel said, picking up her pace. The footprints flashed before her eyes like diamond splashes. - My feet are wet. If I get sick, Carl will kill you. Yakir chuckled.“If Paraman finds us, they will both kill me, so on

The room was quiet and almost dark. To the side of the entrance, dimly flickering, burned a two-horned golden candelabra. Taking a torch from the wall, Paraman waited until it flared up properly, and, bypassing the stone table, approached the secret door. Two turns of the key opened a passage to a narrow dark corridor with an almost sheer stone staircase, worn out over hundreds of years. Holding the scabbard, Paraman intercepted the torch and began to rise slowly. There were still a couple of hours before dawn - it was time to take a bath and get some sleep.- Need to talk. - The voice, which was heard from the darkness, to which the light did not reach, reverberated with a booming echo from the cold walls. Paraman stopped and, reaching for a steel ring driven into a stone, inserted a torch into it.– How long have you been waiting? he asked ingratiatingly, climbing a few more steps. "No," said Carl. I decided it would be safer here.- For whom? – Not holding back a smile, Param

The evening mist was already swirling over the swamps when, riding out onto the path, Yakir spurred his horse and sent it into a gallop. It turned out to be easy to escape from the guard: as a boy, he climbed the local forests and swamps up and down and knew every tree in his lands. Nature itself became his school, and practically everything that Yakir knew and was able to do was experienced from personal experience. Bending down so as not to hit the birch branches with his head, he patted the horse's withers and looked around. Flames of torches, already visible in the falling twilight, flashed south of the path. With a sharp cry, a bird fluttered overhead, then another. The stallion snorted loudly and pulled the reins. Dismounting, Yakir took him by the bridle and pulled him along, leading him into the thicket. Morning conversation with Liramel did not go out of my head. Yakir saw that she was not indifferent - Lirdan's daughter was still too young and inexperienced to hide

In the afternoon, after giving Movron the last instructions regarding the rest of the students, Karl recalled from duty several officers whom he trusted more than those appointed by Paraman, and ordered them to lay down the carriage. For the first time in his regency, he, along with his sister and brother, left the walls of the White Castle for two weeks. Since the visit to Lausens was unofficial and no social events were planned, as a pretext, Charles voiced the most convenient version to the Council: to complete the training, Liramel had to personally inspect the tax records of the fiefdom. For several months he himself had been openly looking for an opportunity to check his cousin's internal documentation thoroughly and with passion. Karl had long realized that he was dishonest about contributions to the Family Treasury, and the analysis of the reports filed since that time, how the fiefdom passed to him officially, finally convinced him of the validity of suspicions. There was no