"Pierce, Tamora - The Circle Opens 01 - Magic Steps" - читать интересную книгу автора (Pierce Tamora)

their horses up on either side of Vedris. Two more rode next to Sandry: they had
been assigned to her since her arrival at Duke's Citadel and had proved
themselves to be quiet, quick shadows.
The duke raised a hand, and all of his group halted. The fat man came forward
until he stood just ten feet away and bowed low, his palms pressed together
before his face. His guards also bowed, though not so low that they lost sight
of the duke's protectors.
"Good morning, Rokat," the duke said. His velvety voice had gone very cold.
"May the gods be praised, your grace!" said the fat man, straightening. "It is a
grand thing, to see you among your people once more." Now that he was closer,
Sandry could tell that he wore a jeweled pin in the neat green folds of his
turban and that his clothes were made of the finest silk that money could buy.
His plump hands glit tered with rings, all gold and most sporting a gem. After
living with a smith for four years, she could also tell the bodyguards' weapons
were very good and bore signs of earnest use.
"It was unnecessary for you to leave your counting- house to give me these
felicitations," the duke replied.
"But I had to express my joy," replied the manЧRokat, the duke had called himЧas
he bowed again. "Seeing you is reassurance that the peace and law of your realm
will continue to be kept. Seeing you, those of us who shelter in this safe
harbor know we need fear no withdrawal of protection."
"Is there any reason I would consider such a withdrawal?" inquired the duke,
leaning on his saddle horn.
"Never, your grace," said the fat man. "Never. I hope to see you again soon.
Congratulations on your restored health!"
He waddled back to Rokat House. One of his guards sprang forward to open the
door; the other two closed in swiftly behind him, guarding his back. Only when
the quartet had gone inside Rokat House did Sandry feel a relaxing among the
soldiers around her.
"Let us continue," Duke Vedris announced. The guards who had flanked her and her
uncle fell back into their normal formation, and they resumed their ride.
"Who was that?" Sandry wanted to know.
"Rokat," the sergeant growled behind them, and spat.
"Jamar Rokat," Vedris said, nodding to a maid who was opening a set of shutters
nearby. "Head of Rokat House here in Summersea. They hold the monopoly on the
myrrh trade and import other items. They behave within my borders, but elsewhere
they are little better than pirates. They know I will have none of the killing
and thievery they use as common coin, and they dare not lose permission to enter
our harbor."
"Is this Jamar as bad as the rest of his family?" Sandry wanted to know. There
had been something about the fat man's brown eyes, a nervousness, that made her
curious.
The duke rubbed his shaved head. "When Jamar Rokat was but twenty years old and
living in Janaal, he was courting a young girl of great beauty and fortune.
Somehow the word got out that the girls father was considering another man, one
who had offered more gold in the marriage settlement. Jamar entered his rival's
house and with a silk cord strangled the man, his father, and his grandfather.
He desired to make the point that competing with any Rokat was a fatal
exercise."
Sandry shuddered.