"Mage Storms 01 - Storm Warning" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lackey Mercedes)

Tremane's hands trembled, and Charliss noted that he had turned just a
little pale. How long would it take for word to spread of Tremane's
new position? Probably less than an hour.

"What of Valdemar, my Emperor?" he asked, his voice steady, even if
his hands were not.

"What of Valdemar?" Charliss repeated.

"Well, I don't expect you to conquer it as well. It will be enough to
bring Hardorn under our banner. However, if during that process you
discover a way to insinuate an agent into Valdemar, all the better. If
you take your conquests past the Hardorn border and actually into
Valdemar, better still. I simply warn you of Valdemar because it is a
strange place and I cannot predict how it will measure this situation
nor what it will do. Valdemar can wait; Hardorn is what concerns me
now. We must conquer it, now that we have begun, or our other client
states will see that we have failed and may become difficult to deal
with in our perceived moment of weakness."

"And if I succeed in bringing Hardorn into the Empire?"

Tremane persisted.

"Then you will be confirmed in the succession, and I will begin the
process of the formal training," Charliss told him.

"And at the end of ten years, I will retire, and you will have Throne,
Crown. and Empire."

Tremane's eyes lit, and his lips twitched into a tight, excited smile.
Then he sobered.

"If I do not succeed, however, I assume I shall resume nothing more
than the rule of my Duchy.

Charliss examined his immaculately groomed hands, gazing into the topaz
eyes of the wolf's-head ring he wore, a ring whose wolf mask had been
cast from the same molds as the central wolf of the Wolf Crown. The
eyes gazed steadily at him, and as he often did, Charliss fancied he
saw a hint of life in them. Hunger. An avidity, not that of the
starving beast, but of the prosperous and powerful.

"There is no shortage of suitable candidates for the Throne," he
replied casually, tilting the ring for a better view into the burning
yellow eyes.

"If you should happen to survive your failure, I would advise you to
retire directly to your Duchy. The next candidate that I would
consider if you failed would be Baron Melles."