the reward will be generous. – He opened the book somewhere in the middle, slowly leafing through thick, wonderful pages, as if made of transparent plastic or barely bending silicone. The embossed gold letters were very small but legible. The text is really very strange. It was immediately apparent that the symbols were scattered chaotically. Either they rolled into a spiral in circles, or they were arranged in straight lines, self-intersecting rows and columns at different angles. Otherwise, nothing surprising, just unfamiliar hieroglyphs.
– Survival instructions? Or the philosophy of the gods? – With irony he stretched out his hand for the book. – Whatever nonsense is written there, I like the way it is sewn. Colorfully, elegantly. We did our best. Taking the book in his hands, he patted it hard. «I’ll put it on the shelf in the throne room in my round wine rack. I will show drunken priests and governors on holidays. Are there any pictures?
Frowning with a serious face, Carney stood right in front of him.
– Hey, if you don’t need this book, pass it on to someone who is interested in it. If you knew what information is there, you would create a whole library of copies of this text.
«It’s strange that you speak Nahmout so clearly, and your friend’s accent. – With a light breath of wind, Svurt smelled her hair. He was so pleasant that he was remembered forever. – Let’s go to my nearest location. I’ll feed you well and ask you a couple of questions. If the answers satisfy me, the guards will lead you out of the city; if not, I will be your evil judge.
«Interesting suggestion,» Grul raised his hands. – Of course, let’s go.
Arriving at the royal chambers, a gray, stone structure, with a glazed mosaic roof, and jutting out sharp towers of an iron frame. They silently looked around. The damp, cold room does not delight the guests. An oval lacquered table in the middle caught the attention of the gray-haired sage. This table is built in the style of a huge egg splitting across. One half of the egg is a table, and the other, suspended from the ceiling with thick chains, is a chandelier. A glossy white table and a similar chandelier with glowing blue veins outside and kerosene lamps inside.
– Ergonomic. You have a delicate taste, – the wanderer turned again in search of a chair. – I appreciated this chip with the shell of a huge lizard. Is this one of your father’s trophies?
«Don’t talk about my father. He may have died. The room was not designed by us. The castle is as old as the world. This table has been standing here even before the beginning of time. – Selim went point-blank to the table, and the floor beneath him fell slightly. Some green thing rose with a crash right behind. It turned out to be a pull-out chair, with a pointed, petal-shaped back. Without saying anything, Carney repeated the trick, stepping on the lever tile next to her, and settled herself comfortably in the chair. A couple of minutes later, a servant rushed into the hall. Waiters set a full table by forcing it with decorative crockery. In each container, there were different dishes. Minuscule portions, about two teaspoons in size, are neatly laid out in the middle of the plates. The wine decanters were full, but the glasses were almost empty.
«Funny,» Grul took out of his pocket a round thing the size of two of his fists and, also going up to the table, rolled it straight in the direction of Svurt. He abruptly slammed the oval ball with his palm, stopping it at the very edge of the table. Then he raised it right before his eyes. There was a toy in his hand. A transparent egg, with a metal partition inside, on bearings and a pile of sand.
– What is it? – in bewilderment he twirls the trinket. Then, looking closely, his eyes slowly bulged in surprise. Inside the glass egg, across there was a partition with small holes in a circle. On the hinges, when the oval was rotated around one axis, it retained its horizontal position. Sand poured into these little crevices. It poured up and stuck to the top of the oval, as if it were magnetized. From one container to another. Also in the lower part of the box, the sand stuck to the partition, and did not lie at all at the bottom, at the bottom.
– This is a clock, – calmly speaking, the wanderer leaned on the table with both hands. – Just an hourglass. Consider this a gift. I know you will be looking for a catch, but there is none. Time inside this form goes in the opposite direction. – Svurt silently put this thing on the table and continued to look until the remaining sand completely adhered to the upper wall of the vessel. Then, he turned the egg over, and the yellow dust continued to pour from bottom to top. – This clock works in a hundred-fold frame of reference. A primitive device that contains an entire universe. An exact copy of ours.
– How can there be a universe in the sand? – Selim grimaced incredulously. – Even on a reduced scale, it cannot have such an absurd shape and composition.
– As much as you can. If you break the shell, this sand will simply fly into space and take positions in space opposite to those of matter. For us, it is not real. What you see is the broadcast of the sand dust that is actually there.
– Here are the cases. I will definitely keep this curiosity. – He got up from the chair, which abruptly slid into the stone floor and began to pace around the empty, gloomy hall, the light into which barely penetrated, through the high, but narrow and dull windows. Removing a beautiful ring from his little finger, with his own engraved surname, covered with purple diamonds in a circle, and protruding crystals that emphasize volume, he approached the girl:
– Take it, this is my gift. More modest than yours, but… he is dear to me.
– The name ring of the rulers of Shelber, – she raised the ring up to the light, aloud, slowly reading the inscription.
«I see you like wearing rings. Well, add one more to your collection and accept the offer to become my wife. – The woman smiled broadly and was surprised at the same time. Looking at her brother, she laughed out loud. He looked at her seriously, and it is clear that he too was holding back a smile.
– What’s so funny? – the young man could not resist.
– If you want to marry me, give me the ring that you have on your other hand. – Svurt raised his left hand, clenching it into a fist. On his ring finger, an even more beautiful ring flaunts. It is completely transparent, with moving shining grains inside. If you enlarge it greatly, you will notice that these are not just sparkles floating in some kind of solution, these particles had certain shapes of objects and different inscriptions.
«No,» Selim dropped his hand. – This is the ring of the great Lafar Veia, and it will remain with me forever, as I promised him. But apart from that, I can give you almost anything.
– Very grateful. I need a seed, not a husband, «she replied calmly. – My heart has been occupied by my brother for a long time, I’m sorry.
– Then why don’t you create an artificial fruit with your own capabilities? – Selim grinned, moving the dishes and sitting on the table.
– Because my DNA code, in combination with the DNA of a healthy person, can give a new perfect look, much faster than doing it by the method of selection. – Having drunk wine from two glasses at once, she carefully got up from the chair, which also automatically slid into the floor. – And I will not go anywhere from here until you help me, – Grasping the man by the neck, she pulled him off the table, she sat down in his place, she spread her legs, showing her white panties.
– Enough, – Svurt turned away. – I won’t do it here. Moreover, with him.
– It
