The Verge Of An Empire

4

The strong eat the weak in the world created by the tenkris, this is our worldview, and no one will disbelieve me of its truth. The army knocked out any illusions about the value of the life of a sentient being from the young thane, and service in the Night Guard consolidated the ability to look at this world soberly. Four years in the hot stuffy jungles of Maldiz, among hundreds of species of poisonous reptiles, in a hotbed of still unknown diseases, surrounded by enemies who secretly want to put a knife in your throat, or traitors leading you into an ambush ... And another seven years of similar madness upon returning to capital.

We conquered the Maldis, ransoming each city with a lavish blood offering to the ugly Eastern gods. The empire is always in need of new colonies, all the luxury of Starkrar is created from what we take from the provinces, we call it taxes. I will never forget the senselessness of the faces of those who died from arrows, bullets, spears, extracting these riches for Messiah. Poor Heinrich's lower jaw was torn off by a lead ball, Anoter's right eye was pierced by a bullet, and he fell down, his face was hardly injured, only the back of his head was blown out. Fisto el'Reco was shot in the thigh with a poisoned arrow on a reconnaissance mission. He was dying for two days, we did not have time to bring him to the camp. Only we with Inchival Luna kept carefully. Four years and not a single scratch.

Seven years have passed since I returned, seven years the official Maldiz has been paying heavy tribute to the colonialists, and seven years the unofficial Maldiz has been opposing the regiments of the imperial colonial army deployed to the tropics. It was a strategic mistake to raise an open rebellion, now the rebels will be hanged in huge crowns of carhedis, they have no other fate. The strong devour the weak, that's the truth. Not mine, the truth of the world created by the tenkris. It is wrong, unfair, there are too many weak people in the world for such a truth, but it is.

- Would you like to see?

- What? I asked, glad that Sebastina had distracted me from the flashback.

- Parade, master. Would you like to see?

– To a symphony of identity? Hundreds of tenkris and netankris moving and looking pretty much the same?

"So we won't see the parade," Sebastina concluded, running her feather duster over the items in the collection that I always keep in my office. All good interrogators and servants of the law in general are paranoid, and I am no exception, so weapons should always be at hand.

Why not? Perhaps the Emperor himself will host the parade, or perhaps not. But the heads of the four clans will definitely hang out on some podium. I will appear and slip a bitter pill on them, let them wince. Hmm, it also says that Stubbs sent the Emperor a statue of one of the Maldisian gods as a trophy. The clergy immediately did not like it, the customs for several days concluded the gift in their storerooms. His Majesty has reined in the archbishop, and now the statue has been placed in the museum of true arts for all to see. When the subjects have seen enough of the exhibit, it will be transported to the palace, where the statue will be located as, in fact, a trophy ... Interesting. There is no picture. This gift will be in the palace when Stubbs returns with his bloody victory. Do you want to go to the museum, Sebastina? I wonder who the general sent Jahi or Santimpra? Both gods are equally authoritative in their pantheon. Although, if this is Sankarishma, the Maldese diaspora will take to the streets. Everything has a limit.

“You have a lot to do, master. There is no time for museums.

- If you work constantly, then you won't go crazy for long. Besides, if Monsieur de Moranjac was going to go and stare at this exhibition, why am I worse?

“Did you borrow his ticket, master?”

- I stole it.

'Noble thanes don't steal, master, they borrow. In this case posthumously and without return.

I just smiled at her impeccable logic.

"Master, it's time for practice," Sebastina reminded her as she removed her broom and removed a cavalry broadsword from the wall.

- I can’t, I didn’t get enough sleep, I’m not collected, inattentive and in general ... - I immediately became lazy.

“As the maid of the el'Moria family, it is my duty to look after the safety of its members in general, and of you in particular. One of the most important guarantees of security can be recognized as the ability of my master to protect himself.

“Then with knives.

“But then swords and hand-to-hand combat. The maid adjusted the pretty pony bangs that covered the vestiges of horns and eyes that looked so much like mine.

- You're making ropes out of me. Let's go to.

“Good morning master, the sun has risen over Starkrar.

She flung open the curtains, letting the pale light whip across my face.

“Breakfast is served, a fresh issue of the Imperial Prophet is waiting. Robe?

Throwing on a dressing gown, I went down to the small refectory, where I prefer to eat in the absence of guests. Since my guests always cried like lups, I only eat there. In the small refectory, two of my other servants are waiting for the owner in a routine manner. The maid Melinda, a girl of great modesty, great diligence and great clumsiness. Due to natural shyness and innate diligence, he constantly tries to serve and justify trust, but because of excitement, he more often destroys and breaks things than ... generally does something else. I have changed six porcelain services alone in the three years that she has served me. Louie, my chef from Kartones, is a haute culinary giant who swears loudly when called that. Louis is sure that all cooking is an art, the art of feeding, destroying, so to speak, hunger, and any dish should be prepared with love,

- Good morning, my thane! the maid curtsied.

“Dob'ghoe ut'gho, monsenyogh!”

— Bon matin, Louis. What's for breakfast?

“An egg in a bag, sauce de Mayonzac, hot waffles with marmalade, black coffee,” the maid listed.

“Don’t tick your fingers in the dishes, you bastard!” Louis exclaimed angrily. “Monsenyogh, I have a heckling ultimatum!” Either me or them!

– Very interesting, who this time took your knives without asking?

I unfolded the newspaper, breathed in the smell of the black drink with pleasure, and felt for the waffle.

- Nobody! I'm talking drunk shit, monsegnogh! The chicks in my kitchen are inacceptabl [Unacceptable ( fr .).]! I pghoshu, no, I want this to pghekghat!

- Very interesting. The horse has come? Sebastina, why didn't you tell me in the first place?

“A visit from some ratling is not good enough reason for a noble thane to put off breakfast,” she replied calmly.

He is a valuable informant. The moon sees, I will be sincerely upset if someday this incredibly smart rat falls under the wheels of a carriage or a steam cart. Call him here.

Louis groaned and walked away. The poor cardboard man can't imagine how one can enjoy his cooking while looking at such an ugly creature as a lousy ratling.

“I'm going to kick G'headstone from the dogtor today, and then see how those bastards are wandering around the house!” Hey motherfucker, go!

- Good morning, my thane.

- Greetings, Skunk.

The ratling slid through the doorway like a gray lightning, stopped abruptly, looked around and approached more cautiously, keeping to the walls. He is not particularly lousy, a gray individual, three times larger than an ordinary rat, beady eyes are black, shiny, his nose is constantly in motion, his front paws do not know rest.

“I heard that two days ago, one important human in the Imperial Gardens of that… finished with the whole family…”

Already. The newspapers didn't write a word about it, Scoalt Yard was holding the news until the circumstances were clarified, but the street riff-raff found out about everything. Soon the information will reach the newspapers.

- AND? Do you know who “finished” this humanist?

“Perhaps I know… That night, when everything was revealed, you came to Tulip Street… I heard… They were looking for someone in the alleys… Then I myself… There… Suddenly, I think I’ll find something for Thane el’Moria… And that ... found!

- Curious. - I put down the paper. The horse was an extraordinarily intelligent creature and did not consider others fools, did not disturb me over trifles, and received food deservedly. – What did you find?

The ratling quickly trotted over to my chair and immediately moved back to its original place. I picked up from the carpet a gold female earring shining with small diamonds and a large emerald.

Did you find this thing...

– In the alley between the street of Tulips and Red Onyx, my thane, in the snow, among other debris.

Garbage. That's right, for a ratling, this jewel is just brilliant rubbish, no one will agree to buy it from such an insignificant creature, equated to an animal. They'd rather step on your head, break your neck, and take you away. Moreover, ratlings do not have ownership rights. By law, they must not have private property, and anything seen in the paws of a ratling can be immediately taken away by any loyal subject.

“To reward Sebastine, the Horseman, to send a request to Scoalt Yard for a particularly thorough audit of the de Moranzhac family’s household property, to rewrite all the material values ​​\u200b\u200bfound - from gold figurines, medals, awards, small-sized paintings to women's jewelry. No one knows exactly what the dead possessed, the supreme accuser was not a secular bird. But they had to have insurance policies in case of theft, de Moranzhak was robbed twice. Check the list of insured things with what is left, and identify the missing, inform all moneylenders and jewelers, underground too, I will not regret gold for the information. Check the house for burglary again, more carefully. We must go there. I think after the killers, there was also a thief. They are probably not related to each other. And I also want to know why when an important government official disappeared and didn't show up for work for four days, no one raised the question of his whereabouts? If not for our kind informant in the lane between Tulips and Red Onyx, how much longer would the family of the accuser have decayed at the dinner table?

- It can wait. Breakfast first, master.

Said uncompromisingly. I had to obey.