"Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman - Rose of the Prophet 02 - The Paladin of the Night" - читать интересную книгу автора (Weis Margaret)

without him, she drove the blade into her own fair body and dropped dead at
his feet. The otherтАФjealous that the red-haired wife should reach him first in
the Realm of Our CodтАФdrew a dagger she had hidden beneath her gown and stabbed
herself. Both are the daughters of Sultans in my land. I bear them back to be
buried with honor in the tomb of their husband."
His head whirling from his glimpse of the beauty of the women, combined with a
story of such tragedy and romance, the Captain wondered what to do. A Prince
of Simdari, a friend of both the Emperor and the Amir, the body of this young
man should be rights be escorted into the city. The Sultan would never forgive
his Captain if, on his yearly visit to the court of Khandar, he was asked by
the Emperor if he had received the funeral cortege of the Calif with honor and
the Sultan was forced to reply that he knew nothing of any such cortege. In
addition, was the Captain to deny his SultanтАФ who was always on the verge of
perishing from boredomтАФthe opportunity of meeting exotic guests, of hearing
this sad tale of war and love and self-sacrifice?
The only metal the Captain had to set against all this glittering gold was
plain, solid ironтАФan instinctive feeling of dislike and distrust for this Auda
ibn Jad. Still pondering the matter, the Captain turned to find his lieutenant
hovering at his elbow, the leader of the goums standing at his side.
"We have completed die search of the caravan, sir," the lieutenant reported,
"with the exception of those." He pointed at the litters.
The leader of the goums gave a shocked yelp that was answered swiftly and
sternly in their own language by Auda ibn Jad. Even so, the leader of the
goums continued to talk volubly until Auda silenced him with a sharp, angry
command. Red-faced and ashamed, the gaum slunk away like a whipped dog. Auda,
pale with fury, yet with his temper under control, turned to the Captain.
"Forgive the outburst, sitli. My man forgot himself. It will
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WEIS AND HICKMAN
not happen again. You mentioned searching the corpses. By all means, please
proceed."
"What was all that about, Effendft" the Captain asked suspiciously.
"Please, Captain. It was nothing."
"I insist on knowingтАФ"
"If you must." Auda ibn Jad appeared faintly embarrassed. "The priests of our
God have placed a curse upon these bodies. Any who disturb their rest will die
a most horrible death, their souls sent to serve the Calif and his wives in
heaven." Ibn Jad lowered his voice to a confidential whisper. "Accept my
apologies, Captain. Kiber, the leader of my goumsтАФwhile he is a good
soldierтАФis a superstitious peasant. I beg you to pay no heed to him. Search
the bodies."
"I will," said the Captain harshly.
Turning to his lieutenant to issue the order, the Captain saw by the carefully
impassive, frozen expression on the soldier's face that he had heard ibn Jad's
words quite clearly. The Captain opened his mouth. The lieutenant gave him a
pleading look.
Angrily, the Captain marched over to the body of the Calif. "May Quar protect
me from the unknown evil," he said loudly, reaching forth his hand to search
the mattress upon which the corpse rested. Any number of objects could be
concealed in it, or beneath the silken sheet that covered the lower half of