by the chamber of the lord’s wife, I was long delayed. Leonora talked with a slender girl – a teenager, most likely a poor relative. Something in their conversation made me stop.
«Who gave you this book?» asked the girl.
«The necromancer from Lara,» answered Leonora. «He came here several times.»
«And he, though, is good?» In a thin voice, curiosity sounded. «Usually all necromancers are so old and evil.»
«In this case it is an exception. He is very pleasant in appearance, but he has such an ugly scar on his throat.
«And what kind of scar?»
«Yes, it seems like from claws,» Leonora shrugged, expressing complete misunderstanding. «But the book is interesting. Over the years, the bards, and scientists also whisper secretly about some destroyed power. The fact that one of the three heirs got mixed up with the sorcerer and destroyed himself and the whole country.»
«Why did he get mixed up with the sorcerer?» asked the girl again. «I read this legend, but I almost did not understand anything.»
«It seems that he gave up his soul for a beautiful face or for something else. Most likely, he was irresistible, but because of him, so many people died.»
«Or maybe he himself still did not die, maybe the story had a completely different end, which no one suspects.»
«Anyway, we and even this necromancer can only guess what happened in fact. We read too much scary legends. Of course, I can understand that this prince immediately became your idol, but even if he did not die then, he would still be dead now.»
«But maybe he still escaped and still wanders on earth under a different name and other appearance?»
Leonora did know the answer.
«You’re right, child,» I thought silently, leaning against the door, and in this moment a fragile blond girl, as if hearing me, staggered and fainted. The inquisitive reader was motionless, like a doll, which was dropped on the floor.
Leonora, with a cry, rushed to her ward and could not see how the golden shadow quickly sliding in the opened window, forever leaves the fortress.
Shortly before the onset of midnight, I returned to Lara and wandered aimlessly in the streets, with difficulty holding away from the desire to catch the first oncoming and tell him all the history of my life from beginning to end. A desire to at least someone recognized the truth, and not empty fictions were so strong that I almost delayed a frightened messenger, but in the end, I made way, passing a frightened boy. More passersby I did not meet. The street was empty, nor dancing people, no carnival masks, only Percy, as if grew up from under the ground at the porch of the nearest house.
Percy was pleased with the fact that he managed to collect tribute with most of those whom he diplomatically called my vassals and admirers. After his appearance, it was already impossible to bother. In the company of a friendly elf, it was difficult to feel all abandoned and unhappy. Percy without silence cracked about where he hid everything and that no one except us could find it. He waited for the praise with hope, and I tried to say something in approval.
«When you need to find servants among people, it will not be so difficult to do,» as if by the way he noticed. «Sorry for the audacity, but I observed and noticed that it was worth only to call and mortals would be ready for everything for you. Of course, it is impossible to leave them alive after they fulfill the instructions.»
Vincent also said that he has servants among pirates, smugglers and other villains.
«What do you mean, Percy?» I immediately asked.
«Well, perhaps you will want to invite to yourself a minstrel or…» he shrugged. «Many of us often used mortals in their games and their plans. Sometimes it brought success. But with your power, such a petty cunning, perhaps, will be superfluous.»
Percy blushed a little, embarrassed by his own sincerity, and I thought that my power is quite doubtful, and even if you want to call poets or musicians to yourself, then there will be no place to invite them. I was no longer at home. Since the royal castle has burned down on fire, I was deprived of home, called the dudgeon of Rothbart somehow did not turn the tongue. Even now following at random the meridian of life, I remained just a traveler. Even now, we have nowhere to spend the night. For the elf, of course, it was possible not to worry, with his flexible thin body and abilities to take off on any height and feel comfortable anywhere, he could have spent the night even in the hollow of an old oak. I was more accustomed to comfort. Remembering the message of Vincent that smugglers’ boats will wait for his accomplice, I immediately pulled an elf for myself to the nearest pier. We quickly overcame the city gate and the mouth of the river, then got to the rocky coast and next to a small, inconspicuous bay, we noticed a dozen tiny lights in the night, which as fireflies looped over water. The splash was heard. There was a crazy plan in my head. The idea was justified by tracing the boats and their owners, it was possible to say for sure that near this place they found a safe shelter.
«Let’s go for me!» I ordered Percy, it would be more precisely to say «fly,» because we hide behind the smugglers on top of the rocky ridge and now we had quickly to jump down, so that our raincoats shot down in the wind, like two multicolored wings. The man would certainly turn his neck, jumping down from such steepness, but Percy only laughed, enjoying the freedom of flight.
«Do you want to drive out these guys from their cozy cave?» he asked.
«The cave will fit for us. Can you gather brushwood for a fire?»
Percy took off his cap and elegantly bowed as soon as we stepped on the bottom of the cave, littered with bales of valuable products. He was happy from the fact that his Mr. is also not against mischief. It was much more interesting to serve the playful demon, than the gloomy hunchback.
However, the witnesses of this scene did not laugh. The smugglers dropped their bales and froze at the entrance of the cave. Such a strong effect could not allow them even the emergence of a whole regiment of the soldiers. Their confusion could be understood. After all, not every day you manage to see an elf with pointed ears, red eyes and such a mood, as if he was ready to destroy all the caves and stony ridges on a mile around. Maybe, I made a greater impression on them, with a sword flushing in the dark, with a cloak, like a black wing and a certain invisible force, which began to put pressure on them with multi-tone severity. It was difficult to say who scared them more the owner or the servant, but after a few moments most of the people preferred to escape and only someone in a low voice sent the curse «frightened fools and a false fellow.»
I learned the accomplice of Vincent even without a mask, but did not detain him. The black figure disappeared in the night, after the rest. Now, it was no longer important. The cave for all night belonged to us.
Percy very quickly returned with twigs, the fire began to rise in the midst of the cave and he asked incredulously:
«Can we really relax?»
«Choose yourself any bale with fabrics and sleep on them,» I allowed graciously. «In the morning, we will be busy, but now you can drink any wine if you like it.»
Percy examined bottles and barrels stood in one of the distant corners, and I, feeling a sudden fatigue, just wrapped in a raincoat and fell asleep near
