"David Drake - Belisarius 2 - In The Heart Of Darkness" - читать интересную книгу автора (Drake David)

The Kushans would make short work of any thief or intruder. As he made his
slow way back to his tent, Holkar smiled. Darkness had now fallen, but he
could sense the keen scrutiny of the Kushan guards.
Almost as keen as their curiosity, he thought, chuckling. But they keep their
curiosity to themselves. When Kungas commands, his men obey. The Kushans,
also, ask no questions.
Holkar glanced over to the huge pavilion which belonged to Prince Eon. About
nothing, Holkar suspected, were the Kushan guards more curious than that tent.
Although he was not certain, he thought that the Kushan commander already knew
the secret within that tent. Knew it, and knew his duty, and had decided to
ignore that duty, for reasons which Holkar could only surmise. The Kushan
commander's face was impossible to read, ever. But Holkar thought he knew the
man's soul.
Dadaji Holkar himself, for that matter, had been told nothing. Nor had he ever
entered Prince Eon's pavilion. But he was an acutely observant man, and he had
come to know his new master well. Holkar was certain that inside that tent
rested the person of Shakuntala, the only survivor of the Satavahana dynasty,
the former rulers of conquered Andhra.
Like everyone in India -- the tale had spread like wildfire -- Holkar knew
that the famed Maratha chieftain Raghunath Rao had rescued Shakuntala from her
Malwa captors months ago. But where all others thought she had escaped with
Rao, Holkar was certain that she had been hidden away by Belisarius and his
Ethiopian allies. Disguised as one of Prince Eon's many concubines.
Again, he smiled. It was exactly the sort of cunning maneuver that his master
would relish. Feint and counter-feint. Strike from an angle, never directly.
Confuse and misdirect. In some manner, Holkar suspected, Belisarius had even
been responsible for the replacement of Shakuntala's Kushan guards by priests
and torturers. The same Kushan guards who now served as Belisarius' own escort
had earlier been Shakuntala's guardians. Holkar had seen enough of them, over
the past months, to realize that not even Raghunath Rao would have been able
to penetrate their security.
He paused for a moment, considering the tent. A faint sneer came to his face.
The Malwa would pay him a fortune for his knowledge. But Holkar never even
considered the possibility of treachery. He was devoted to Belisarius as much
as he hated the Malwa. And besides, like Raghunath Rao, he was a Maratha
himself. The Princess Shakuntala -- the Empress, now -- was the rightful ruler
of Majarashtra. She was his own legitimate monarch, and, with a mental bow,
Dadaji Holkar acknowledged that suzerainty.
He resumed his progress toward Belisarius' tent. A little smile came to his
face. Like many intelligent, well-educated men, Dadaji Holkar had a fine sense
of historical irony. So he found his fierce loyalty to the memory of Andhra
amusing, in its own way.
When the Satavahana dynasty had been at the peak of their power, the Marathas
had been the most unruly of their subjects. Never, since its incorporation
into Andhra, had Majarashtra risen in outright rebellion. But the Satavahanas
had always been careful to rule the Great Country with a light hand. Now that
all of Andhra was under the Malwa heel, the Marathas had become the most
fervent partisans of the former dynasty. None more so than Dadaji Holkar.
A sudden bright flash on the horizon drew his gaze. Holkar halted, stared.
Moments later, the sound of the cannonade rolled over the encampment.