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olive-brown skin was tanned and weathered even darker, and seamed and corded
with a warrior's muscles and a warrior's collection of scars. His head was
shaved completely bare above the eyebrows, except for a long, black pigtail
caught up in a silver ring. The emperor's bare skull gleamed so brightly that
Blade had a moment's ludicrous thought that it might be waxed to give it that
high polish.
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Against one side of the throne leaned a long, curved sword in a jeweled
scabbard, within easy reach of the Emperor's right hand. Against the other
side leaned three short throwing spears with razor-sharp, silvered heads and
red tassels on the butts. Three daggers were stuck in the Emperor's sash. He
looked well equipped to deal with any armed opponent, ready to turn from
emperor to warrior in the blink of an eye.
In each corner of the chamber stood four of the Corps of Eunuchs, in black
tunics and red trousers.
Three of each four carried two swords apiece, one long and one short. The
fourth carried a crossbow slung across his chest. They stood as motionless as
groups of statues, no sign of life showing in any of the sixteen except for an
occasional flicker of an eyelash.
Duke Boros strode toward the throne, Tulu fell into line behind him, and Blade
brought up the rear.
Twenty feet from the throne they stopped, spread out, and prostrated
themselves on the tiles of the floor.
Blade was only seconds behind the other two men in going down on his face.
The Emperor's sharp eyes caught Blade's slight delay. A chill, harsh voice
rang out, sending echoes chasing each other around the vast chamber.
"Who is this clumsy fool who knows not the proper forms of obedience to us?
And why are you, Boros, so unwise as to bring him before us at a time when you
should make all efforts to please us?"
The duke quivered, not in fear but in an obvious effort to restrain his anger
at these lashing words.
Without raising his head he spoke quickly. His words were muffled and
distorted by his chin pressing against the tiles.
"This man is a stranger. He came to us in the borderlands, while we journeyed
toward Your
Magnificence. He told a tale of being a prince of a distant land, beyond the
Steppes."
"There is no such land. We would have known of it if there were."
"Your Magnificence, I only repeat what this man said to us the night he came
from the forest to meet us.
Have I your gracious permission to continue?"
The Emperor made a fly-shooing gesture with his left hand. "Very well. We
shall hear you out. It will be interesting to see how the House of Kudai has
come to harbor strangers who tell monstrous lies."
Both the duke and his son visibly winced at those last words. Blade suddenly
felt a sensation like a hundred thousand ants with very cold feet marching up
and down his spine. There was deadly danger in this room, danger for all three
of them. Kul-Nam was not just bloodthirsty, whimsical, and tyrannical. He was
mad or close enough to it to be a constant threat to those for whom his
lightest word or whim meant life or death.
Duke Boros had the immense courage and coolness required to get through his
whole story without stammering, hesitating, or leaving out a single detail.
When he'd finished a long silence descended on the chamber like a weight.
Blade could almost feel it pressing him against the floor until he began to
find it hard to breathe.
The silence continued. Then suddenly the Emperor clapped both hands together.
After the silence the clap sounded like a crash of thunder. Blade half
expected the walls and ceiling of the great chamber to shatter and crash down
on everyone inside.
Footsteps echoed around the chamber as four of the enuchs ran out from the far
left-hand corner. As they approached, the Emperor picked up his sword, drew
it, and laid the naked weapon across his silk-clad knees. As the eunuchs came
up, he raised the sword and pointed at Blade.
"This man is a stranger come within the Empire. He says he is a prince of
England, come to learn of the
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Empire. He lies. There can be no such land as England, therefore no princes
from it. Kill him."
Blade had only a moment to realize that he was about to die. Then he heard a
cry of surprise from Duke
Boros. The duke sprang up, dropping back onto his knees and reaching out both
hands in a begging gesture toward the Emperor. Blade saw Kul-Nam's drawn sword
swing around until its point was aimed directly at the duke. Light ran up and
down the engraved steel like fire. The four eunuchs stared now at
Blade, now at the duke, shifting their feet uneasily and keeping their hands
on their weapons.
"Your Magnificence," said the duke earnestly. "Can we ask of you that this man
live?"
As polite as his tone was, the duke's words made the four eunuchs gasp in
astonishment. Speaking to the Emperor without being spoken to first-monstrous!
Blade sensed that now Duke Boros' and Tulu's lives as well as his own hung by
a very thin and already frayed thread, one that the Emperor could snap for
good with a word or a gesture.
The Emperor jerked his head up and down three times, in a grotesque parody of
a gracious nod. "We shall hear your words, Lord of Kudai."
"Your Magnificence is gracious beyond my poor deserts."
"They are poor indeed. But speak, and we shall give you such attention as you
may deserve."
"This man is a stranger, true. He may or may not be telling the truth. But
certainly while be has been within the borders of Saram he has done nothing
against your peace, your honor, or any of your subjects.
In fact, he did not kill my fighting men Tzimon and Dzhai when he could have
done so. Thus he spared at least one good fighter for service against the
Steppemen."
The Emperor's eyebrows rose. "He spared a man he had defeated?"
"Yes, Your Magnificence."
"It would seem then that this man who calls himself Prince Blade is quite mad. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]