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9

I don't sin against the truth, but I don't tell the whole truth either. Yes, the thin girl, who was rudely turned out of the basket onto the stone slabs by the soldiers of the City Watch, was frightened. Almost fatal. But for a moment, letting in other people's feelings, I felt something that was much worse than fear. Despair. Complete and impenetrable.

When a person is afraid of something, it makes him act, one way or another. Hide. Run. Fight, after all. But when desperation comes... Not the kind that throws people onto the battlefield in a final attack, no. Despair from the realization of the futility of actions. Whatever. Despair, the cold of which makes all the muscles go numb, and you can only look doomedly at what is happening, waiting for the scythe of death to get to your neck ... The girl was sick with just such despair. And the baby in her arms did not experience other feelings and did not know other thoughts, except for hunger, which he loudly declared all the way to the Watch post.

Still, there is no need for Whig to know ALL my impressions. It won’t help the case, but I don’t want to turn inside out again. Even on paper, in the mean words of the protocol of detention.

— What about the other?

The question was asked in the same tone that only emphasizes the importance: deliberately indifferent.

I thought and said:

- Not.

- Sure?

- Well-u-u-u-u...

Whig took a bronze bell off the table and rang it. Less than a quarter of a minute later, two soldiers entered the office, accompanying the culprit of the commotion that tore the Re-Amiter from the bed of his sick daughter.

Fragile, that's right. But not as small as it seemed at first: the top of her head would reach my chin. White-haired. The skin is pale to yellowness, and the veins on the hands, clutching the bag with the baby, seem green. Eyes… Black. Absolutely. Or maybe just the pupils are dilated to the limit. Yes, and what's the difference? I can’t go through life together with this girl - why am I looking at it? And for the future: I am writing another chapter of my glorious activity. Hero! Ha! The child was caught. Even two. Now they will give me a medal for this. Large and wooden. As the main fighter with children. Because even though they are khes, they are, first of all, minors. And my rude intervention in the tender childish consciousness could lead to ... And it did: look with what horror the girl looks askance at me. Even at a direct glance it is not solved.

What do you say, Dan? Vig nervously taps his fingers on the table.

I do not answer, focusing on sensations.

Yes, let's see. Or rather, sniff.

Fish. Of course, where would we be without her? We discard. Dry grass. There must have been straw in the hold. Milk. Warm and sweet. Mother's milk? No, it's more like an animal. Most likely goat. And rightly so: the most useful for kids. How about deeper? Under a heap strayed from the outside? Peace and serenity. A crystal thread of the fragrance of innocent wildflowers. This is all about the baby, but what about our older child?

The fear hasn't gone away. Despair... became a little weaker. According to the principle: if you do not immediately decide, you see, it will cost. No, honey, there are suspended sentences. But in your case… Hhag! Still, dan re-amitter is right: I drank too much yesterday. And he drank heavily. And drinking not only makes my blood hot, but also dulls its beneficial properties. Not for long, but right now I feel almost nothing. So, on the very edge of perception. And on it ... Or it seems to me? Sweetness. A little sickening. No, it comes from a baby: they are all saturated with a similar aroma. However…

The look of black eyes burned my face more than the summer sun at its zenith.

Well, why are you looking like that?! What for? Don't drown me in your despair, dear!

Startled, as if she heard my mental scream, the girl averted her eyes, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

- So? Vig asks impatiently.

- I'm not complaining.

- Sure?

- Yes.

All the same, there is nothing but hopelessness in my soul now. And I can’t admit that my condition is too weakly consistent with the “working” one. Ashamed.

Will you sign the protocol?

- Yes. If you'll excuse me, I'll go to the Island tomorrow.

- Will wait.

A casual wave of the hand, and the convoy leaves. Together with children. Now they will be transferred to the Orphanage or sent out of town, to one of the estates, where they will gladly accept ... Yes, a new workforce. And what? The youngest will have a quite decent childhood, and the eldest will be able to receive a decent wage for her work. And everyone will be happy. Except me, because I've wasted a whole morning doing something as simple as feeding a cat! And which of us is then an unreasonable animal?

“You should rest,” Vig advises.

- BUT?

Even the blood rushed to my face.

- So noticeable?

— Alas.

- Well ... I'm going to rest. But first I have to try to find a couple of Cumbrians, and the shops must be empty already!

- Maybe they are empty, but ... - They wink at me. "We've set aside a few fish for you." Anyway, the goods were confiscated, so why should the good disappear?

- You are a true friend! Let me kiss you!

“An amusing display of friendship,” Vig squints, discreetly leaving the surface of the table between himself and me.

But when did such trifles stop the heir of the Ra Gro family? And I, throwing in the air the sheets of paper covered with writing, already slide the fifth point along the polished wood to my goal, but I don’t have time: the re-amer deftly avoids the greedy grip of my fingers and strictly reminds from the threshold:

— By noon tomorrow, dan, in my office!

Bravo salute in response:

“Definitely, Dan!”

sleepy street,

last third of the morning watch

A basket of fish pulls the hand away, but this heaviness, although not very pleasant, helps to believe that the morning was not lived in vain. Moreover, I had a chance to live until the next morning, and not die a heroic death in an unequal struggle with a hungry wild beast, which ... Let me quicken my pace.

Tu-knock! A bunch of drops scattered over my hat - it was a gust of wind that shook the branches of the myrena, and they, joyfully freeing themselves from the load left by the night rain, hastened to drop it on me. Little joy, of course, but I'm not offended, because water is the most mysterious substance in the world. And the most expensive. It is impossible to live without water, but even with it, life sometimes becomes unbearable...

A few hundred years ago, in the place where Antrea is now languidly spread on the hills, there was nothing. That is, nothing that would look like a settlement: only a river, a swampy floodplain, shady groves and a fearless beast. The Lavuola Valley could still retain its virgin appearance, if not for the eternal desire of people to enrich themselves. The fact is that the coast of the Rainbow Sea in the Western Shem is very inhospitable: sheer cliffs or treacherous swamps stretching for tens of miles. And also - reefs that do not allow ships to approach the shore without sad consequences for the ship's hull, cargo and crew. You can drive caravans from the Southern Shem to the Western Shem in a roundabout way - bypassing the mountain ranges, along the banks of the Sin, through the desert of Ed-Darhi, past the Bitter Land and the Elven Lanes. In fact, some merchants do just that. But Omnipotent Mother, what a long time it is! If the goods are perishable, you should not start trading at all. Yes, and everything else ... The longer the path, the more lovers meet on it to profit from other people's property, isn't it? A different route was needed. And he was found.

Long and careful reconnaissance of the coast established: there is a fairly large bay, the approaches to which are free from reefs and other obstacles. A bay into which a river flows, quite suitable for navigation. And it was necessary to happen such a coincidence that one of its tributaries reaches the inhabited provinces of the Western Shem, directly piercing Rinnever. The captain who commanded the reconnaissance detachment was not a fool. In addition, he was a devoted servant of his master, and less than a day after receiving the latest data certifying the discovery made, they learned about him. Favorites. Heads of several clans who equipped the expedition. A new land with new opportunities - what could be more tempting? Before such a temptation, the fear of losing what has been acquired and the habit of familiar places fade. And so, secretly from the king, the "great migration of peoples" began.

At first there were few of them: a handful of nobles, guardsmen who swore allegiance to them, a few servants (who dared to follow the masters), slaves (who, of course, no one asked), and mercenaries - where would we be without them, these desperate heads ready to climb to the demon's mouth (or even to another, more secret place), if they pay well for it. Then a craftsman appeared who took up the construction of piers, embankments, bridges, citadels and buildings simply intended for housing. It took more than one decade for Antrea to be born and grow stronger, but the inhabitants of the new city were lucky to spend these years without fear of attack from outside. And when the fortress walls took off to the proper height, it became too late to fight for the Lavuola valley. True, not everyone immediately understood this, and from time to time the city was subjected to sieges from the sea. Two hundred years ago after another attempt by the king of the Western Shem to bring Antreya to her knees, the walls of the forts gaped with failures ... But time passes, experience accumulates, minds brighten, and smart people come to power. His Majesty Tevaren the Cautious was a clever man. He quickly realized that the enmity with the city-state is a disastrous business, and proposed a deal: Antrea from now on and forever and ever gets independence, and the Four Shems are a convenient transit point. The head of the City Council, daneke Larita, agreed to the conditions (having negotiated, of course, a few more nice privileges in addition to those indicated) and ... She was unanimously proclaimed the sovereign. Queen Antreya. Since then, it has been customary that a woman always ascends the throne of the city-state, although many men consider this custom shameful. However, I do not agree with them, and there are reasons for that. If Her Majesty Larita was even a little like my mother or the now ruling Ruala, I can honestly admit that the townspeople could not have made a better choice. Rarely in any male person there is so much strength, stamina, perseverance and tender, but strict love for his ward. And then, after all, no one undertakes to challenge the primacy of women in the management of the hearth, and the state differs from the estate only in size.

Antrea is a city that lives on the river, around the river and at the expense of the river. It would seem that everything is fine: trade is flourishing, the defense is combat-ready, the meadows of the valley are fertile, the spurs of Rinnever reliably protect from the northern winds and unscrupulous neighbors - grace, and nothing more! However, in every, even the sweetest fairy tale, there is always at least one villain. In order for the heroes to have someone to fight and on whose corpse to plant their foot, for example. Villainy revealed itself in Antreya. What is most curious, the source of evil has become ... yes, yes, the same river! Originating in the mountains, on its way it passed through layers of rock containing grains of ore of a very interesting metal, which ... But first things first.

Two moons can usually be seen above the Four Shems. Milky-white Ka-Yi climbs into the sky every night, and once a month appears in all the glory of a full moon. Golden Ka-Yor visits her younger sister quite rarely - once every six months for several days, and the rest of the time she playfully winks at her from the very horizon. But there is another moon - Black Ka-Yen, which can be seen in the sky once every few years, and even then only when it closes a handful of stars with its mourning trail. I don’t know who and how many centuries ago called the metal found in the depths of the mountains “lunar silver”, but he did not suspect that he was right three times. Because there are three varieties of strange metal - white, yellow and black. I won’t talk about their beneficial properties (I’m not a dwarf to go crazy with love for mining), but I can talk about harmful things a lot and hotly. Especially about the “tears of Ka-Yen”, which, dissolving in water, cause insanity in people who consume it. However, everything is not as straightforward as we would like.

For the first time, the influence of “lunar silver” was discovered only a quarter of a century after the foot of the first settler set foot in the Lavuola valley: one of the auxiliary workers on the construction of the bridge for no reason knocked out the wedges from under the boulder intended for the construction of the support. The stone rolled down and buried five people under it, deeply pressing a mess of meat and bones into the river bed. At first, they did not pay due attention to this act, even deciding that what had happened was an accident. But as the "accidents" continued, it became clear that something was wrong. The best healers and magicians were looking for a reason forcing quite peaceful and kind people to fearlessly kill their best friends and close relatives. As the saying goes, he who seeks will find. Found. On your head.

It turned out that the composition of the river water is different from that which other rivers of the Four Shems have. "Tears of Ka-Yen" does not directly threaten a person. Yes, in fact, they are not threatened at all: what business does “moon silver” care about the aspirations of mortal creatures? Absolutely none. Man's worst enemy is himself. Even unconsciously and unintentionally.

Some people can safely drink water from Lavuola all their lives and will only be healthier. And some... Some go crazy. What is it coming from? Who knows. Magicians say something about unfortunate mixings of blood. Perhaps it is. And everyone is divided in half: those for whom the "tears of Ka-Yen" are deadly, and those for whom they are completely harmless. It remains only to determine which of the halves you belong to. And this is where both the magical and medicinal arts reached a dead end. They rested their horns against the wall and yelled: what to do?! The risk of insanity may not be great, but since it was not possible to determine the violation of mental health until the murders began, a panic fear of the river began to spread with great speed among the inhabitants of Antreya. Still would, who wants to fall at the hands of an old friend or on a quiet moonlit night to strangle their own child in the cradle with their own hands? The city was on the verge of death, and no one wanted to lose what they had acquired: well, how will people leave, and the gnomes will take their place? Bargaining with these bearded dwarfs is even worse than with Maonian merchants - three skins will be torn off for carrying cargo along the river ... The thirst for profit is always strong, and when the fear of death spurs it on, the team rushes without dismantling the road and not noticing obstacles. So the City Council, clearly realizing that the problem cannot be solved on its own, decided to turn to knowledgeable people. More precisely, to non-humans. What and in what amount was paid for help then, history is silent, but some people still have to pay to this day ... For me, for example. But how will people leave, and the gnomes will take their place? Bargaining with these bearded dwarfs is even worse than with Maonian merchants - three skins will be torn off for carrying cargo along the river ... The thirst for profit is always strong, and when the fear of death spurs it on, the team rushes without dismantling the road and not noticing obstacles. So the City Council, clearly realizing that the problem cannot be solved on its own, decided to turn to knowledgeable people. More precisely, to non-humans. What and in what amount was paid for help then, history is silent, but some people still have to pay to this day ... For me, for example. But how will people leave, and the gnomes will take their place? Bargaining with these bearded dwarfs is even worse than with Maonian merchants - three skins will be torn off for carrying cargo along the river ... The thirst for profit is always strong, and when the fear of death spurs it on, the team rushes without dismantling the road and not noticing obstacles. So the City Council, clearly realizing that the problem cannot be solved on its own, decided to turn to knowledgeable people. More precisely, to non-humans. What and in what amount was paid for help then, history is silent, but some people still have to pay to this day ... For me, for example. So the City Council, clearly realizing that the problem cannot be solved on its own, decided to turn to knowledgeable people. More precisely, to non-humans. What and in what amount was paid for help then, history is silent, but some people still have to pay to this day ... For me, for example. So the City Council, clearly realizing that the problem cannot be solved on its own, decided to turn to knowledgeable people. More precisely, to non-humans. What and in what amount was paid for help then, history is silent, but some people still have to pay to this day ... For me, for example.

Of all genera, two were selected. The Ra-Gro clan and the Ra-Ell clan, who voluntarily accepted the Change. One for two. He serves and protects, She continues Him in posterity. The Secret of the Change was not entrusted to any of the participants and witnesses of those distant events, but the fact remains: the men of the Ra-Gro clan are able to determine the tendency of any person to "water madness". With a pinch, as they say. With one breath. At first, the Guardian, as they began to call him, had a lot of work. But the years passed, the population of the city changed less and less, since fresh blood was allowed into Antreya selectively and carefully, and by the time I took office, one might say, I got a dust-free service. Of course, one has to stand heavy watch for several days, but only in the midst of shipping and only if people arriving on ships intend to stay in the city for an indefinite time. That's when the services of Raiden Ra-Gro are required. And the rest of the time I devote to myself and the existing hereditary duties. Although of all of them, the most desirable and unattainable for me so far is precisely the continuation of the family. But I'm not in a hurry: everything should happen in its turn. Both parents, as they say, must enter the time of ripeness. And if I am already quite capable of working on a new Guardian, then Nais has four more years left ...

- Me-ah-ah-ah!

Oh, here I am at home, which is reported non-musically by a furry black beast, scurrying like a screw between my legs. OK OK! I'm on my way to the kitchen.