"Tracy Falbe - The Rys Chronicles 03 - Judgment Rising" - читать интересную книгу автора (Falbe Tracy)

You used to make much sport of Veta.тАЭ

Swirling his wine in its fine crystal glass, Sandin said, тАЬYes, I did. Lord Kwan should have never
commissioned someone censured by the imperium and I never kept that opinion secret.тАЭ

тАЬWell, my Lord, Veta proved your judgment correct that night. Remember how he challenged you to
a duel and cited the Galmonlay tradition?тАЭ Carfu recalled.

Sandin chuckled lightly, savoring the memory of how he had made Veta lose his temper.

тАЬIt was strange how he disappeared that night. You know, my Lord, I heard a rumor once that he
was still alive,тАЭ Carfu said.

Trying to sound casual, Sandin responded, тАЬSoldiers brought back many tales from the west.
Perhaps you should compare notes with Lady Triesto. Gossip comes easily to her ears.тАЭ

Haley wiped her mouth with a napkin while trying to judge her husbandтАЩs mood. She knew he did
not like this subject and she decided to be evasive. тАЬI believe you told me that he was reported
missing in action,тАЭ she said.

тАЬPerhaps Lord Kwan made him disappear,тАЭ Carfu theorized suggestively. тАЬThe Hordemaster was
terribly angry with him.тАЭ

тАЬYes, you could say that Lord Kwan made him disappear,тАЭ Sandin growled. He loathed how Kwan
had been lenient with Veta for deserting, and Sandin hated even more that he had to be complicit
in the lie for the sake of KwanтАЩs honor. Sandin knew that Veta was somewhere in the Wilderness,
doing the Gods knew what. Churning with resentment that his old rival was alive, Sandin hoped
that once he reached the Wilderness he could ferret out his renegade countryman. This time Sandin
would have total authority and he intended to punish Veta if he got the chance. Out past the
fringes of civilization, if Veta met the fate he deserved, then few would know what actually
happened and KwanтАЩs honor would not be blemished.

When the guests had finished the exquisite meal, Sandin gave a speech about making the
Wilderness safe for settlement and creating a great legacy for the Empire. Along with enthusiastic
applause, the Lord General received many flattering toasts afterward.

The music began again and the guests assembled for a dance. Sandin indulged his wife with
several dances, holding her hand while they precisely stepped to the music in the formal routine of
the ruling class. Surrounded by dancers in silk and jewels moving together with the complex music,
Sandin soaked up the moment. This was Atrophane, the greatest society in the world. Wealthy,
beautiful, immersed in the arts, and sophisticated at statecraft, the Atrophane deserved the
Wilderness and he would give it to them.

That evening he rode home with Haley in a closed coach, enjoying the privacy after the intensely
public day. A cool coastal breeze was coming up the Phol River delta from the Gulf of Beldet and
Sandin leaned toward the window for the fresh air. The lights of Cros spread out before him as the
coach lumbered up the hill to Clan PromentroтАЩs capital city palace. A quarter moon glinted on the
dark band that marked the Phol, where waited the boat that Sandin would soon take to
Phemnalang.