"Shirley Meier & S. M. Stirling - Fifth Millenium 05 - Shadow's Son" - читать интересную книгу автора (Meier Shirley)

The Benai is probably acting as conduit for funds. The Benai Saekrberk was considerably more
than the central abbey-temple of the Honey-Giving OneтАФonly Brahvnikians would worship a bear,
and a fat bear at thatтАФand the closest thing Brahvniki had to a government. It was also the largest
deposit bank on this end of the MitvalтАФArkan Sea, he reminded himself. Six months ago, Arko had had
a powerful enough presence in Brahvniki to gain entrance to the Benai for inspection tours. The
inspector, a military type from the Arkan embassy guard, had always come back three sheets to the wind
on the BenaiтАЩs famous distillate, cursing the Benaiat Ivahn as a senile dodderer and a crashing bore; but
at least heтАЩd got in. Then the Yeolis had taken back the nearest seaport, Selina, and now the Benai,
politely but effectively, said no.
And Arko had done things to offend some of the most powerful private citizens of Brahvniki.
Matthas had two reasons to curse Edremmas Forin, one of the two Arkans whoтАЩd worked their way
onto the Pretroi, the Brahvnikian council of merchant princes, and also happened to be his, MatthasтАЩs,
spy boss. How could he be so stupid as to stand up in council and spout that verse of the Thanish
goatherd song about diddling girl-children to Mikhail Farsight, considering how rich, the little
Zak bastard is, how Zak feel about kin, and how many daughters he has. The whole city had heard
about it, making Mikhail an enemy of Arko for life.
The other reason to curse Edremmas: he was dead. Not that the two were unrelated; heтАЩd been
killed on the street, in broad daylight, by an assassin good enough to cut him almost in half. Mikhail and
all four daughters had just happened to be passing by, and the assassin had just happened to commit
suicide while in the BenaiтАЩs custody, so no one could ever prove whoтАЩd hired him. And so I have to
break in a new boss. A Mahid this time, Eforas Mahid, oh joy. Who because he got blown off
course, but mostly because of those slow-as-constipation paper-shuffling donkeys in the Marble
Palace, has taken six fikken months to get here. Not that I wasnтАЩt running things all right, but
fessas riff-raff like me arenтАЩt qualified to request Imperial funding. His payroll was half promises,
right now. Thank Celestialis the rubber price went upтАФ
Matthas pulled out the latest note from his agent in the Slaf Hikarme. тАЬMegan Whitlock and ShkaiтАЩra
Farshot will be arriving on the rebuilt Zingas Vetri soon after the spring breakup.тАЭ Ice was still solid on
the upper Brezhan; that meant a half-month hence, halfway between equinox and summer solstice. тАЬThis
office was instructed to arrange for a draft of 1,500 silver Dragonclaws from the Benai Saekrberk to the
liquid capital account.тАЭ Not exactly tavern-wenching moneyтАФand yes, it would be wenching, for those
two.
It had worried him for a while, that kinfolk of Mikhail and the like up the river in FтАЩtalezon had even
greater resources. Involvement against Arko from that quarter, if it werenтАЩt in place already, would be
disastrous. This Whitlock was thick as thieves with all the other Zak big fish here, and was known to
have a grudge against Arko. She and her mate-in-the-ultimate-perversity ShkaiтАЩra (who could even
conceive what two women did in bed?) were the hands-on type, adventurers. Ten-to-one theyтАЩre the
FтАЩtalezon connection, or at least part of it, or at least cognizant of it.
Their coming was an opportunity, he saw. Out-of-town merchants were less well-protected than
resident ones, and these two had a reputation for taking risks and keeping low company, even by local
standards. Knotted Worm regulars, when here. He glanced with a smile at another of the objects in his
secret drawer: a glass vial of clear liquid. How much the Empire had gained in its history, by the total
honesty this Imperator of drugs elicited. ThatтАЩs what I love about this job, he thought. I donтАЩt just
have to ferret out information. I get intrigued.
But this required aid from his superior, the Mahid.
Eforas, old boy, he thought that night, creeping by midnight to the embassy for his appointment, you
are about to have the pearls of my wisdom thrown before you.

All Mahid looked the same. It wasnтАЩt only that they were a clan or always wore blackтАФonyxine,
they called it, a glorified term for blackтАФor had sworn the same oath, that of ultimate loyalty to the
Imperator of Arko, whatever he asked. They all seemed to have the same mind, too. It was like the