"Duncan, Dave - A Man Of His Word 02 - Faery Lands Forlorn" - читать интересную книгу автора (Duncan Dave)

spoke to him as Inos would to a wayward horse.
Azak scowled. His teeth were large and regular and very white. "You summoned
me." Again the dislike was obviously mutual.
Rasha laughed. "Well, so I did! I'd forgotten. I was feeling bitchy and wanted
some entertainment." She turned to Inos. "You've met Prince Azak, dearie?"
"He's not the sultan?"
"Oh, never! Don't believe a thing he says. He's a notorious liar. "
A jotunn would have struck her for that remark, even had the act meant suicide.
Azak almost did. His lips paled, his neck bulged, but he managed to control his
fury, just barely.
Rasha was enjoying herself. "All men are liars, my dear," she said with affected
sweetness. "Whatever they tell you, they only want one thing, and lots of it.
Don't call him `sultan' inside the palace, either-I'm trying to stamp out that
nonsense. Here's all right; nowhere else. Now come, move your little buns. " She
led the way, marching like a legionary, her vestments floating out behind her.
As she went by Azak, she reached up and tweaked his beard. He recoiled with a
choking noise.
"Wait!" Inos cried. But the sorceress kept going, weaving between the furniture.
Inos ran after, dodging overstuffed divans and bronze urns and porcelain
animals. "What about Rap? And Doctor Sagorn? And the goblin?"
She caught up with Rasha at a circular balustrade in the center of the room.
Here a grand staircase spiraled down to a lower chamber. That was why there were
no doors, of course.
"What about them? " the sorceress asked, not looking around.
"You just left them there? Left them for the imps to kill?" The sultana walked
around to the top of the stair and paused at the first step, where the way was
partly obstructed by a lifesize carving of a black panther, seemingly poised to
spring at any intruder coming up toward it.
"This is Claws, " she muttered absently, but she was studying the great
shimmering dome overhead. Or possibly she was listening to something. A small
smile played around her mouth, registering satisfaction. Then she set off down
the stairs, stroking the basalt neck in passing. "Isn't he gorgeous? I think
I'll put him on one side and the wolf on the other. "
Chasing down after her, Inos said, "It's real?"
"When I want it to be. Lucky I remembered to warn it that the Meat Man was
coming."
Inos was becoming more bewildered by the minute. "Who?"
"Azak," said the sorceress. "I've got lots of names for him, but that one really
twists his nose. It fits him, though-he's got biceps like the humps on his
camel. I'll have him show you sometime."
Halfway down, she suddenly slackened her pace, as if the urgency-whatever it
was-was over. Azak was padding down the stairs behind Inos in his kidskin
slippers. Aunt Kade was just passing the panther.
"But Rap!" Inos exclaimed. "Doctor Sagorn? You can't just leave them there for
the imps!"
Rasha continued down the stairs without replying. The lower chamber was as
overloaded with furniture as the upper had been, mostly innumerable chests and
tables of random styles. Two windows added little to the light spilling down the
central stairwell. The walls were poorly lighted, therefore, and yet cluttered
with ornate mirrors and bright tapestries barely discernible in the shadows.