"Marco,.John.-.Tyrants.And.Kings.3.-.Saints.Of.The.Sword" - читать интересную книгу автора (Marco John)

in his empathic fugue, and let time slip into something
meaningless. His mother was dying, here in the castle they had
usurped from Richius Vantran, in a place she hated because it
wasn't home. Her hand went from burning hot to vaguely warm, and
there was no death rattle or visions of God. There was only
emptiness.

His mother was dead.

Alazrian carefully laid down her hand, then wiped his tears with his
shirt sleeve.

"I'll go to the Black City," he promised. "I'll find out what I am."
Part One
ONE

D akel the Inquisitor danced across the marble floor, his satin
robes alive with candlelight. A dozen candelabra tossed shadows
around him, making him look taller than his six feet. In his hand was
a gilded scroll, which he declined to read until the most dramatic
moment. His ebony hair writhed around his shoulders as he moved
with practiced grace before the hundred gathered eyes, and his
voice filled the chamber. The crowd was silent as he spoke, their
gazes alternating between his compelling countenance and the
man on the dais. Dakel pointed an accusing finger at the man as he
spoke.

"I have charges, citizens of Nar," he declared. "Appalling evidence
of the duke's crimes." He held up the scroll for effect. "Enough to
shock you good people, I'm sure."

From his chair atop the marble dais, Duke Angoris of Dragon's
Beak stared in horror at the Inquisitor, his face a sickly white. He
had already endured half an hour of Dakel's rhetoric, and the
barrage was taking its toll. He licked his lips constantly, anxious for
a glass of water that was conspicuously kept from him. He looked
about to faint.

"Now, I'm not a man of vendettas," the Inquisitor declared. "You all
know me. I'm a humble servant of the emperor. All I seek is
justice."

There was skeptical chuckling from the crowd. Dakel took it good-
naturedly.

" 'Tis true," he said. "Justice is the sole commandment of this
court. So I don't read these charges with any relish or malice. I
read them with great regret for the duke's offenses. Through the
things he has done, we are all diminished."