"04 - Emperor and Clown 1.0" - читать интересную книгу автора (Duncan Dave)

How frail was beauty! How fleeting!
Gone now. Gone! Hideous, scabbing wounds! Shocked, stunned, Kade staggered back
and tumbled into her chair. She stared up at Inosolan in shivering, impotent
horror.
"The pain is bearable," Inosolan said. "I can live with that."
But the marriage ... Oh, Gods! The marriage?
"He still cannot touch a woman," Inosolan said bitterly. "Not even his wife."
The room seemed to blur, and Kade wasn't sure if that meant she was about to
faint or if her eyes were just flooded with tears. "What can we do?" She had not
dreamed that things could get worse, but they had-Inosolan condemned to a chaste
marriage, doomed to lose even Azak's one-sided love, for he would surely turn
against a woman he craved and could never possess.
"There is only one thing we can do," Inosolan said in a futile attempt to sound
calm. "What we tried to do before-we must go and seek occult aid."
"Master Rap?"
"No, not He is only an adept. It will take a full sorcerer to cancel a spell."
"Sorcerer?" Kade was too horrified to think properly.
"The Four, the wardens. A curse set upon a monarch is political sorcery, so they
should be willing to remove it. And heal my face, I hope."
Kade took a few deep breaths, but her brain was dead as flagstones. "Well, I
have always enjoyed sailing, and a visit to Hub at last-"
"No."
"No?"
"You are not coming. He will not allow it. I have come to say farewell, Aunt.
And Gods bless." The usually musical voice was flat and cold as a winter pond.
"And ... and thank you for everything."
"But when?"
Somewhere a door creaked, and boots clacked slowly on the tiles in the corridor.
Kade struggled to rise and failed.
Inosolan came and bent to kiss her cheek. "It will be days before the court
realizes he is gone," she whispered quickly. "Officially we shall be touring the
countryside. That will hold for a week or two. After that ... well, the Gods
will provide. And Prince Kar, of course, will be in charge here."
Hub? "You can't go veiled in Hub!"
"I can't not!"
Oh, Holy Balance! May the Good preserve us--Inosolan had lost everything now,
even her beauty. The boots were almost at the door. Only one man had unimpeded
access to any room in the palace. "Remember Rap," Inosolan breathed. "Do what
you can. He'll be safe with Azak gone, I'm sure. There is a fast ship," she
added, a little louder, "headed west, and a carriage waits. He thinks we can
just reach Qoble before the passes close. Wish me luck, Aunt. Wish us luck?"
"But the war?" Kadolan cried. "Isn't the Impire massing troops in Ullacarn?"
Zark was about to be invaded. A djinn sultan journeying to the enemy's capital
...
"Just one more risk to take," Inosolan said brightly. "It will be a most
interesting journey. Gods be with you, Aunt. We'll be all right. We'll be back
by spring-my husband and I ... look after yourself."
The door swung open, and a tall shadow stood there, its jewels faintly shining.
"Gods be with you both," Kade said, and watched Inosolan glide silently away,
like a wraith, following Azak into the darkness.