"Craig Shaw Gardner - Arabian 3 - The Last Arabian Night" - читать интересную книгу автора (Gardner Craig Shaw)

"Comfort?" Omar sighed. "It is highly irregular. But, I suppose, since
there are so few left to judge propriety in this place, and in
consideration of the short period of time you will no doubt occupy the
room-well, I certainly don't see why not."

"Very good." Scheherazade offered her benefactor the most gracious
of smiles. "I thank you for your courtesy."

Seeing that the formalities had been nicely taken care of, Dunyazad
then sought fit to ask a question of Omar on her own. "Are you then
chief among the eunuchs?"

The very large fellow hesitated before answering. "May I say that I can
but aspire to that title. Were it not for certain shortcomings-" And with
that, Omar's voice dropped off discreetly, as if the whole issue were far
too painful to discuss.

"I will leave you ladies now," the elderly servant announced. "Omar will
show you to your quarters. Rest well. The king shall see you again at
sunset."

Omar nodded pleasantly. Although he probably weighed twice that of
Scheherazade and Dunyazad combined, his feet made no sound as they
glided across the polished floors. He led them quickly through the long
entry hall, which was the size of twenty houses built end-to-end, and
across one corner of the garden, which was so large that Scheherazade
could not discern the far wall. There they came to a pair of doors made
of solid gold, that measured twelve feet high by twelve feet wide.

"This is your apartment," Omar remarked as he pushed open the nearer
of the doors. "These seven rooms will be your home. I regret to inform
you that, due to the lack of staff, we have closed off the other
two-thirds of the apartment."

"This will do very nicely," Scheherazade said to the man who could
only aspire to be chief among the eunuchs. She thereupon turned to her
sister. "We must get a few hours of sleep, so that we are both ready for
this evening."

Dunyazad nodded at the wisdom of that remark as she preceded her
sister into the room. Yet Dunyazad had taken but a single step into the
room before she cried out in fright.

Scheherazade quickly walked in after her, to find her sister pointing to
the far end of the very large room. There stood a woman, wearing a
robe of dark silk, whose face was as pale as the ice shipped down
from the great mountains. The woman, upon seeing Scheherazade,
turned quickly and vanished behind a partition in the corner.