The brazier blazed unevenly, but brightly. A bunch of some herbs fell there, the fire greedily licked them off for a moment, turning green. Next to the brazier lay a small open book, the pages covered in small handwriting, some complex symbols drawn in strange reddish-brown paint.“Amar ta si riam…” Larana said softly but clearly, coming up to the fire and quickly running her dagger over her open palm. - Ani ta ri!Her hands are trembling with excitement, making the cut deeper than she expected. The councilor's daughter winces in pain.Drops of blood fell on the coals, hissing at once. The flame roared, howled. The girl fell on her knees in front of him, listening to the indistinct rumble until she began to distinguish some words.-Who are you? asked an old creaky voice.Thrown into the heat. Larana did not fully believe that it would work, but it did! A pulse throbbed in his temples, and his hands went cold.“The one who needs revenge,” the girl replied, hoping that she would be hear
“How glad I am,” Deya laughed happily, exposing her face to the rays of the sun. They hardly warmed, but it was still nice. The days were quite warm, sometimes during the day the snow even became sticky, and the children built entire snowy cities out of it, sculpted outlandish animals and monsters.The brothers walked side by side, Aznar supported his wife by the elbow: Deya was so wrapped in silver furs that she was afraid to fall. And yet she was immensely happy that she persuaded her husbands to go for a walk. The weather was wonderful.The city lived its own life, people scurried around, paying little attention to them: not everyone knew the rulers by sight. Deya kept her eyes on the man next to the loaded wagon, who picked up his five-year-old son in his arms and threw him up, immediately catching: the boy squealed, laughed out loud. The princess smiled. Bery looked at his wife, and also smiled, as if enchanted. Aznar looked at both of them and felt how light and joyful it was in
Taaldor. Royal PalaceThere was a polite knock on the door. Marisa instantly opened her eyes, waking up. The witch carefully got out of bed, trying not to wake the king. Ulgar slept on his stomach, his arms outstretched and taking up most of the huge bed.Marisa put on a light brocade robe and stepped into the adjacent room, gently closing the bedroom door.There a servant was waiting for her, holding an envelope of brown thick paper on a silver tray.-What happened? The witch wrapped her dressing gown tighter around her chest, hiding her nightgown.- A message for the king.-Let me. The king is still sleeping.The witch took the letter and looked at the servant. His face seemed familiar to her.- Endy? - the woman suddenly realized. - Didn't recognize you."No wonder," the man raised his head, looking at the witch back. “I didn’t think I would see the poor witch I found in Sharaam, very close to the throne of Taaldor.- Are you sorry? Marisa asked as she opened the message.Endy sigh
Lana slowly put on her dress, pulled off the lacing on her chest. She straightened her heavy hair, throwing it over her back.Amtar watched her, stroking his chin. The man lay on the bed, free, relaxed. He was completely naked and did not even try to cover himself. But his gaze was strange, Lara still could not understand him. All the time it seemed that she was treading on very thin ice. One wrong move - and the icy water will absorb, drag you into a deadly whirlpool.Larana walked over to the table on which the mirror stood, adjusted her high collar so that the fresh bruise on her neck could not be seen. She reached for a glass of sweet wine.Suddenly, the floor trembled perceptibly, the dishes on the table tinkled alarmingly, and the chandelier with magical lamps swayed. The glass swayed dangerously and tipped over, spilling its contents. Larana snatched her hand back to save her sleeve and turned around.Amtar abruptly jumped to his feet, all gathered, listening. Somewhere in the
In the morning, Bery almost despaired. Barely waking up, Deya demanded to take her with him on a search. And no arguments that it is dangerous, and that it is generally better for a pregnant woman to stay at home and not worry so much, did not work on her. Almost got into a fight. Bery was in a hurry and angry, Deya stood her ground with iron confidence. Both were already on their nerves, and time was running out.- Okay, - Markat got angry. – Guardians!Two werewolves entered the room, guarding the chambers.- Go with the search party. Your task is to protect the mistress, not to step aside from her. Do not lower your gaze. Do you care about your heads?The men in black uniforms nodded in unison.“That’s great,” the man breathed out tiredly. “Deya, what are you doing to me?”The girl approached him, trustingly clung to him, rubbed her nose against his shoulder.- I should be there.-Good. Let's not waste time.The cabin that brought the search party to the city stopped much higher th
Aznar did not come to his senses for a long time. Atara took care of him, applied some kind of ointment, put incense burners with healing herbs next to him, treated Markat with magic. Dea helped her as much as she could. She was tormented by anxiety. She saw that Bery also did not find a place for himself. He was worried, now and then walked up and down the room, went to the window and looked down at the city for a long time, to where the rescue work was still going on.Deamara didn't ask, but guessed what he was thinking. About the losses brought by the avalanche. About the victims, about the missing crops and stocks. And about the discontent of those who survived. She herself constantly thought about it. Those bad rumors that Laran spread among her friends, and which had long since penetrated the city, now received the worst confirmation. Now even those who didn't believe would think it was her fault.The Markats are a cruel and wild people, my father said. They are dangerous, they
Trouble reigned in the streets of the city. People huddled in flocks, armed with sticks, spears and torches and shouting "Down with the witch!" and "For old Emberg!" attacked entire detachments of guards in black and silver uniforms. Some defeated others with varying degrees of success. Most often, the brawl quickly turned into an indiscriminate dump. In some places, especially desperate ones set fire to barns and warehouses. Their roofs were thatched, not tiled, and they caught fire almost instantly. Now black smoke rose from the buildings. Gray ash fell from above, like snow in the dark. Those who did not want to fight hid in the houses, firmly closing the shutters and barricading the doors. Together with the rebels, the marauders also woke up: several shops had already been looted.The battle, like a fire, spread to the castle. Several detachments of rebels staged a bloody massacre on the first floor, traitors were among their own: many of the guards were killed quickly and vilely,
The cells were located on the lower floors of the castle, going deep into the thickness of the mountain. Heat breathed in the stone walls, it was always dry and warm here. Nothing to do with the usual damp casemates, in which they died from diseases, rotted alive. The chambers themselves, hollowed out in stone, had rounded shapes and were closed with gratings with massive strong rods, so that not a single markat would break.Larana was sitting on a stone bench with her legs folded and hunched over. She was still wearing men's clothing, badly damaged in the fight. The wounds gradually healed, the itching and pain passed, but she did not care. She did not feel her body, her thoughts being far away.Aznar did not like to come down here. Here it seemed that the walls were crushing, suffocating and did not allow to breathe normally. And if you remember what a monstrous thickness of rock separates from the sunlight, hangs over your head, it becomes completely sickening.He walked over to La