"Lawrence Watt-Evans - Ethshar 7 - Night of Madness" - читать интересную книгу автора (Watt-Evans Lawrence)

the responsibility of Clurim, Lord of the Household-and, not incidentally, one of the overlord's younger
brothers? Or was there some other, lesser official whose job description specifically included handling
such things as seeing that the canal was cleaned?

Hanner couldn't remember. He was a resident of the Palace and a hereditary noble, so he was
acquainted with most of the city's officials and functionaries, but right now he could not think who was
responsible for the regular purification of theGrand Canal .

Uncle Faran would know, of course; the simplest thing for Hanner to do would be to mention it to him.
In fact, the chances were good that Lord Faran had already noticed the stench, and that the magicians
who would perform the purification spells were already on their way. After all, Faran's windows, like all
the windows in the Palace, overlooked the canal.

That did assume, of course, that Lord Faran hadn't allowed himself to be so distracted by other matters
that he was ignoring his surroundings and leaving such minor mundane details unattended. Hanner
certainlyhoped his uncle wasn't shirking his duties while he once again pursued his obsession-or rather
while he waited for Hanner to pursue it.

Ethshar could ill afford to have Lord Faran, chief advisor to Lord Azrad the Sedentary, neglecting his
duties, since the overlord had long since turned most of the city's day-to-day administration over to his
chief advisor.

Hanner picked up his pace again, trotting across the bridge without a glance at the stonework, barely
nodding at the guards on either side.

"Who comes ..." one began, lifting his ceremonial spear; then he recognized Lord Hanner and let the
spear fall back into place.
 In the palace entryway Hanner had to stop and wait impatiently while the additional guards there went
through their rigmarole of signs and countersigns before opening the door. The captain watched his men,
but remarked, "A pleasure to see you, Lord Hanner."

Hanner did not deign to reply, though he did wave an acknowledgment. He had spent the entire day
roaming the city and talking to strangers, at his uncle's orders, and he really did not want to talk to
anyone else just now-not that the captain, a man named Vengar, was another stranger; he was the
commander of the guard detachment inside the Palace, and Hanner had known him slightly when Vengar
was still a lieutenant, since before Hanner himself was old enough for breeches.

At last the soldiers inside acknowledged that the person requesting admission wasn't an invader and
swung open the heavy, iron-bound doors. "Thank you," Hanner said as he hurried past them into the
central hallway.

That passage was twenty feet wide and twenty-five feet high, floored with tessellated marble and hung
with rich tapestries, and it led directly to the ornately worked golden doors of the overlord's main
audience chamber. Hanner barely even glanced at that display of grandeur; instead he immediately turned
right and stepped through a small wooden door into one of Lord Clurim's offices. There he merely waved
to the clerk at the desk before proceeding on through, emerging into a narrow corridor and heading for
his own family's quarters.

Had Lord Clurim been present Hanner would have mentioned the smell, but he knew from unhappy
experience that telling the clerk would result not in a prompt cleaning, but in assorted messages