"Vance, Jack - Gaean Reach - Demon Princes 03 - The Palace of Love" - читать интересную книгу автора (Vance Jack)

Edelrod made a sour grimace "Foregoing all personal gain, I
might arrange matters for some trifling sum-two hundred SVU
or thereabout"

"The information is of no great value I am leaving tomorrow
for Kadaing, where my old friend Master Venefice Coudirou can
settle everything for me "

Edelrod raised his eyebrows and allowed his eyes to bulge
"Why then, this alters all' You should have mentioned your con-
nection with Coudirou I believe the Guild-master will accept sub-
stantially less than his previous demand "

"You know my top figure," said Gersen.

"Very well," sighed Edelrod "The interview may be conducted
later this afternoon In the meantime what are your wishes^ Would
you care to explore the countryside5 The weather is fine, the woods
are ablaze with flowers, sultnes, pop-barks, there is a well-drained
path "

Alusz Iphigenia, who had been restless, rose to her feet Edelrod
led them along a path which crossed a brackish river and plunged
into the forest.

The vegetation was a typical Sarkovy melange trees, shrubs,
cycads, bubble-shells, grasses of a hundred varieties The high fo-

546 THP DEMON PRINCES

hage was for the most part black and brown, with occasional
splotches of red; below were purples, greens, pale blues. Edelrod
enlivened the stroll with a discussion of various plants beside the
way. He indicated a small gray fungus. "Here is the source oftwi-
tus, an excellent selective poison, fatal only if ingested twice within
a week. It ranks in this respect with mervan, which migrates harm-
lessly to the skin, and becomes a lethal principle only upon exposure
to direct sunlight. I have known persons who fearing mervan kept
to their tents for days on end."

They came to a little clearing. Edelrod looked sharply in all
directions. "I have no overt enemies, but several people have died
here recently . . . Today all seems well. Notice this tree growing to
the side." He pointed to a slender white-barked sapling with round
yellow leaves. "Some call it the coin-tree, others the good-for-
nought. It is completely inoffensive, either as a primary or an op-
erative. You might ingest the whole of it leaves, bark, pith, roots,
and note nothing other than a sluggishness of digestion. Recently
one of our venefices became irritated at such insipidity. He made