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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
The Verge Of An Empire 58
‘My thane, we have found something.The new headquarters was a semi-basement pub on the easternmost edge of Koposhilka, where it borders the Lowlands. It is foolish, of course, to gather in a public place, but this pub, dirty, dark and greasy, has never received a worthy audience. On the other hand, there are more than enough murky personalities, and it does not seem strange to anyone that a company of four or six gentlemen in discreet clothes diligently does not attract attention to themselves.Mrs. Wayne, with some disgust, sank into the offered chair and briefly exchanged glances with Torsh. They have been together for a long time, so there is nothing strange in wordless communication. An envelope lay on the table.“We intercepted a courier on his way to the Palace of Justice with a report.– Is that how? Hope the courier didn't get hurt.Of course, I understand and accept the inevitability of accompanying losses, but I do not love them with all my heart. If you can save someone's
The Verge Of An Empire 59
- Bree, I certainly understand that you love to listen to your voice ... in the sense that you see something that we do not see, but you know what they call those who see what others do not see?“Genius, I guess.- And so too.“Come to think of it, the Maldese have a Sankarishma, a god that is kind but strict. He does not coddle his children, he punishes the disobedient without pity and mercy, a god with an outstretched hand, a god who seeks. On the other side, there is Kalvishshiani, an evil god who goes by the name of the Child Eater. He has twelve avatars, human forms, in which he walks the world, sowing evil. The Tales of the Voices of Discord says that when Kalvishshiani almost started a worldwide war by walking among people in twelve disguises and quarreling them, Sankarishma bound him with golden chains and allowed him to be in only one avatar at a time. And it so happened that Kalvishshiani could appear to people in the form of only one person, but at the same time he was forc
The Verge Of An Empire 60
- And the smell...- Will be eliminated. Come on, I want to see how it works!Still, the passion of the inventor and naturalist is the fundamental traits of his character, and they interrupt any other impulses. I ordered Tuzz to be unbound and brought to a vertical position. Two burly agents, a man and a lups, gripped him tightly, twisting their arms.“Oh, you vile creature! Bitch! Shit-eater tattered! Here, wait, wait for me! Let me just get to you, and I'll pull it so hard that you won't jump off!“Tuzz, be a smart man, shut up.“I should have thought for myself that you weren’t dead, you fucking hero of a fucking empire!” Such freaks do not die at once!Are you sure you're ready for this? Incival asked me.I took the cup from him and, firmly grasping the back of the criminal's head, pressed his muzzle into the clay mass.“Oh you…” he yelled, freeing himself."The print must be clear," Inch said excitedly, accepting the bowl.- Enough?- Yes, in a minute it will be possible to turn
The Verge Of An Empire 61
Looks speak louder than words, but looks alone were not enough for him.- Down with the Emperor! Down with his puppet Parliament and his stupid dogs he set against you! Down with slave existence! Down with Messiah! If you support me, then, I swear, no one will ever dare to look askance at you, and your pockets will never be empty! Support me, and from the bottom of the world you will rise to its top! Down with the Emperor!- Down with! - He was supported by several voices.Luckily for me, the bosses of the Night Folk were not the ones who could simply succumb to the charms of a skilled orator. They were not the ones who yelled "down" when they were required to, so the support turned out to be scanty.“Go against the Emperor,” Duts Tadpole grunted, “but he’s in a quarrel with his head!” Personally, I went from here, open the doors!“I don’t remember if I said,” the mask wearer turned to Duts, “but the conditions that I set are as follows: either with me or not at all. If you haven't fi
The Verge Of An Empire 62
"Thane el'Moria?"'Yes, Thane el'Calypsa?'– In addition to my personal involvement, you mentioned a certain special contribution. What is meant by this?- Hair.- I'm sorry, what?- Your white hair. I have long dreamed of shaving you bald, just for fun, but I never imagined that I would actually have to persuade you to do this. Do you agree? I would shave myself, but, alas, the color is not the same.- It's not a question. Do you have a razor?“They will give it to you in the next room. There is already a mirror there. So Mork?The decision was given to him with great difficulty, and this is understandable, because I forced the aviac not only to go against everything that he bravely defended, to betray everything that he sacredly believed in, but also to agree to a very dubious one from the point of view of the simplest humanity ... or aviation, deed.- Messiah above all. But then I resign.“Me too,” I nodded. - Already decided. So I ask you to start preparing. You have a night, and