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The Verge Of An Empire 50
- I'll be brief. As you may know, a victorious parade of regiments of the colonial army will soon take place, after which the banners of the defeated rebels will be laid at the imperial tribune. My hosts, the Emperor himself in particular, want this glorious event to go off without a hitch. In connection with this, I sent away from the city many of your ... hmm ... soldiers. But I'm not so naive as to believe that they have all been removed. Before I make my proposal, I would like to thank the audience for ... cooperation. And for the fact that you did not try to kill each other, despite the fact that there are heads of competing ... organizations here. In particular, I want to thank Mr. Oscar Bainley for coming here voluntarily today, even though my people could not find him.The sounded name sharply cooled the emotional background, strengthened and nurtured the flowers of sincere fear. They began to turn around, looked at each other with even greater suspicion, tried to peer into th
The Verge Of An Empire 51
I counted many familiar faces, pleasant and not so pleasant. Basically not so much. In addition to members of the imperial family, such prominent statesmen as the Supreme Chancellor of the Parliament, the Supreme State Prosecutor were invited to the podium; yes, there are many supreme in our system of power; gentlemen from the Orst-Malda trading company, dressed up luxuriously and tastelessly, several high-ranking military men, including the head of the capital's military district. The well-born representatives of all four clans gathered next to the supreme overlord, the heads of the most important services, such as, for example, the head of Skoalt Yard. I do not know many of the elite guests personally, which does not prevent me from knowing a lot about them exactly. About some even everything. Of course, the Silver Sentinels were also nearby, four of them. It is strange to see Carnyris el'Calyps next to him, but not his brother. The impeccable thane is missing, he was not invited. N
The Verge Of An Empire 52
- For nothing ... Only by fulfilling a duty ...I put my left hand under the blow, choking with rage, and slashed at the neck of one of the three remaining enemies. A terrible pain pierced my stomach.- I'm here, master!Sebastina grabbed the last two and jerked them aside, and I, dropping my sword, rushed to the helm. Although rushed, it is loudly said! I had a dagger sticking out of my stomach, my left hand was not cut off only by a miracle, and I was very, very hurt ... and scared! However, fear breeds anger in tenkris, and anger gives us the strength to fight! I grabbed the captain by the shoulder and pulled him off the shiny wooden wheel, threw him on the dashboard, grabbed him by the throat! Looking into his emotionless fish eyes, I squeezed my fingers tighter.“Behold my wrath!” Behold the wrath, creature! – not remembering myself, I yelled, and his body arched.My emotions, my rage flowed into him like a stormy river, and if I'm right, he must now feel hot knives piercing his
The Verge Of An Empire 53
From everything it turned out that the two-faced thane did not want to miss the opportunity and raised my dead body to the banner of the fight against the so-called disease that corrodes Mescia from the inside. My spies have reported to me that el'Zornaza attended the funeral and personally offered his condolences to the old cobra."Brian el'Moria, son of the Southern Clan, Supreme Interrogator of the Night Watch, Lord Keeper of the Night of the Great Mesk Empire, rests on a stone bed today! Having passed the path of life in battles, he will be sung in great honor and great glory! And the empire mourns him!” - these words sounded over a stone slab with a body wrapped in a silvery cloth, which everyone considered mine. The slab was immersed in the ground and covered with earth according to the custom of the Mesk tenkris. None of the relatives, of course, hinted at plunging the body into the cold darkness of the family crypt. Then el'Zornaza said a few words about how he would find and
The Verge Of An Empire 54
- Quiet. The house is full of my people. Do something stupid and we'll kill everyone. Every single one, we don't need any witnesses. Now step back carefully. Be careful, el'Calypsa.The impeccable dance did not think to do stupid things, he reacted to what was happening in cold blood. So we entered his office, large, excellently and tastefully furnished. The only decoration in it was a silver shield with the coat of arms of the el'Kalipsa family, all other items had a purely working use.- Close the door and keep an eye on the situation. I must speak with the thane of el'Kalips in private.The door closed.“So, my thane, you can sit down.“In this house, I give out such permits, not you.- In this room I have a revolver in my hand. However, you can stand if you like.- What did you come here for? Except weapons and killers, of course.“They are not murderers, and I… Although, of course, they are murderers. Got excited. And I came today to ask you. There are suspicions, very dirty and
The Verge Of An Empire 55
Are you ready, Sebastina?Always, master.- Let's go.Hooded low, limping and leaning on a cane, I stepped out into a filthy patio and walked through the narrow streets of Little Zankog, hung with red paishoan lanterns hanging from the arched corners of pagoda roofs. Unlike most other areas of Starkrar, life in Little Zankog never stops at night. Noisy short people with a characteristic crease above the upper eyelid walk everywhere, bargaining loudly and tastefully.We walked to the canal. Arrived ahead of schedule, so I took the liberty of sitting in the noodle shop. I involuntarily remembered the explosion that had deprived me of my legs for a while. Silly, of course, but it seemed to me that after the next portion of noodles, something equally painful and unpleasant would await me again. It's not that stupid though.- It's time.We headed towards the warehouses, but suddenly I felt a prick of something unusual, something ... It was as if I had swallowed a small sea urchin, and it b
The Verge Of An Empire 56
There were thousands...“Millions,” Simon corrected.I did not feel how he approached, how he squatted down, how he took a handful of dust into his terrible five.- There were times when mountains of bodies lay on these streets, and the stench was such that it could kill. But that was a long time ago, a very long time ago. The corpses turned to dust, the memory of them buried under the weight of years.- What's happened?You will understand if you want.I wanted and understood everything.- Let's go. Offers.We continued to move around the craters, concave holes in the body of the roads in the places of destroyed houses. Up close, it turned out that the dead city was not so well preserved. From above, I did not notice large-scale destruction, but, going down, I saw the ruins.Simon led us to a building that I would call... I don't even know, a palace, a cathedral. Once it was white, with a beautiful capital of columns and a majestic dome that these columns supported, but now the right
The Verge Of An Empire 57
- And I would give to hear the old man.- Do you have enough information?- Few.“You found Lady Atran's pendants in a locked room with three hundred invited guests without a full search in three minutes.“Don’t confuse that stupidity with a matter of national importance. Lady Atran's companion dabbled in laughing stones, dabbled tightly, as evidenced by the blue spots under his eyes, which he tried to hide with makeup. Minor shaking of the hands and dehydration indicated that he was starting to break down. Do you remember what he asked the footman when they brought him a sparkling wine?- Water.- Exactly. No wine will quench your thirst like pure cold water. And this guy liked alcohol. In the end, his emotional background betrayed him."Hmm, I wonder where he is now?"- This thief? Hammers a stone in hard labor. Or suffocated.– No, our mask lover, from whom you hid in the afterlife! Do you think he now knows you're alive?“If he really has such power over the Zheshzuls, as they sai