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

"May I assume this has something to do with the recent conquests that
our forces have made in that sad and disorganized land?"

"You may." Charliss was enjoying this little conversation.

"in fact, the situation with Hardorn offers you a unique opportunity to
prove yourself to me. With that situation you may prove conclusively
that you are worthy of the Wolf Crown."

Tremane's eyes widened, and his hands trembled, just for a moment.

"If the Emperor would be kind enough to inform his servant how this
could be done-?" Tremane replied delicately.

The Emperor smiled thinly.

"First, let me impart to you a few bits of privileged information.
Immediately prior to the collapse of the Hardornen palace-and I mean
that quite precisely our envoy returned to us from King Ancar's court
by means of a Gate. He did not have a great deal of information to
offer, however, since he arrived with a knife buried in his heart, a
rather lovely throwing dagger, which I happen to have here now."

He removed the knife from a sheath beneath his sleeve, and passed it to
Tremane, who examined it closely, and started visibly when he saw the
device carved into the pommel-nut.

"This is the royal crest of the Kingdom of Valdemar," Tremane stated
flatly, passing the blade back to the Emperor, who returned it to the
sheath. Charliss nodded, pleased that Tremane had actually recognized
it.

"Indeed. And one wonders how such a blade could possibly have been
where it was." He allowed one eyebrow to rise.

"There is a trifle more; we had an intimate agent working to rid us of
Ancar, an agent that had once worked independently in Valdemar. This
agent is now rather conspicuously missing."

The agent in question had been a sorceress by the name of
Hulda-Charliss never could recall the rest of her name. He did not
particularly mourn her loss; she had been very ambitious, and he had
foreseen a time when he might expect her value as an agent to be
exceeded by her liabilities. That she was missing could mean any one
of several things, but it did not much matter whether she had fled or
died; the result would be the same.

Tremane's brow wrinkled in thought.