style="font-size:15px;"> “Post and Bank,” added Igmer.
“Yes,” agreed Kors, without showing that the word Bank was not too familiar to blacks, “and it is also necessary to close the city for entry and exit.”
“Nik, will you close the Portal?” Asked Lis, he looked now somehow confused, and it was so unlike him.
“Yes,” said Nik, “I'll block it.”
“There is more than one Portal in the Ore City,” Igmer said, and Lis turned pale.
“Nik, we need to find and close all the Portals,” Lis said, and there was clearly an alarm in his voice.
“Mmm,” Nikto thought a little, “I’ll start with what is in the palace, and then I'll try to come up with something.”
“All portals of the city are interconnected,” said Igmer, “there is a special key-password, and I know it. If you understand the operation of the Portals, I will give it to you, and from here you will use the password to open the exit to another Portal, seal it and open the next one. In this way, through the main Portal in Kudmer’s Palace, you will seal all the Portals associated with it in the city and surroundings.”
“Nik is very good at working with Portals,” Lis said, and there was a little confidence in his voice.
“Yes, I see,” said Igmer, his face continued to remain the same impassive, and it was not clear whether he answered sincerely or it was sarcasm.
“While Nik is doing this, I think I will have time to write letters to the heads of the seven main families of the city,” Kors decided to close the topic of Portals. “The heads of families should come to bow, demonstrate to us their submission and give the symbolic key to the city.”
“I did it in advance,” said Lis’ father, “after Kudmer announced to me that he was going to go beyond the wall, I had not the slightest doubt about your victory. Therefore, I wrote many letters, and also to the heads of families. My name will be a good reason for them to come. Besides, I know red etiquette and some subtleties. Each family has its own primary color, and I wrote letters for them on the appropriate paper, red, orange, yellow and so on. This will endear them to you, they will understand that you are not invaders or outsiders. Pressure is not the most advantageous option in this case, but it would be appropriate to enlist their support and location. So my courier is just waiting for an order.”
And Kors looked intently at Igmer, who, watching him, perfectly caught this look and smiled again with the edges of his lips, but a little stronger.
“And I also think,” with an effort, but continued Kors, “that now it will not be a war, but politics, and I understand politics, and therefore it is necessary to write as many more leaflets as possible about independence and the sale of diamonds. And let Tol’s artist draw pictures for commoners, draw as he can intelligibly: an ugly fat red from the Upper World and poor miners who give him diamonds, and their thin emaciated children in rags are standing nearby and crying!”
Igmer chuckled, shaking his head.
“There is a printing house in Ore town. It can print flyers, newspapers and orders. There are artists there too.”
“It is wonderful!” Kors didn’t give up. “It is necessary to outline the basic rules of the new order, prescribe punishments and fines, and also hang them all over the city. And hang a couple of dissenters in the square. I also consider it necessary to introduce a curfew.”
“Yes,” said Lis.
“Then get to work! And let's gather in the main hall of the palace in two hours for a final discussion. By this time, I will try to sketch out some basic theses.”
“The palace has a special conference room for such events,” said Igmer.
“Do I have to attend?” Zaf asked somehow without much enthusiasm.
“Yes!”
“No.”
Kors and Nikto spoke simultaneously, and Zaf froze, not knowing what to do now.
“I’ll give them everything they need,” Nik said. “They are warriors, not politicians.”
“And me too,” Lis said barely audibly, somehow sadly, but no one paid attention to his words.
“Okay, Nik, after all, they’re under your command, do as you see fit,” said Kors. “I don’t mind at all.”
“I, too, will not embarrass your commanding staff with my presence at the meeting,” said Igmer, “I am still a stranger to them. Will Zagpeace Gesaria be there?”
“Yes.”
“I’d better start mailing letters and visit the head of the purple house in person.”
Igmer went to the table and took a sheet of paper, wrote something on it:
“Here is the address of the printing house,” he handed the sheet to Kors, “Ore town is big, but I hope your people will not get lost, after all, this is a city, not swamps.”
And Kors, swallowing the mockery, silently took the sheet.
22
Free will
Kors, Nikto and Arel settled together in the luxurious apartments of the Rainbow Palace.
They now had a huge living room, dining room, several bedrooms and bathrooms. However, Kors was accustomed to luxury, and Nikto and Arel seemed indifferent to everything. They perceived the objects around them exclusively from a functional point of view, without paying any attention to aesthetics.
“Nik, eat,” said Kors and pushed the plate towards him. They were sitting at a set table, and Nik was still sleepy, because Kors woke him up and pulled him out of bed, and Arel stayed to sleep.
“I don’t want to, I can’t eat a morsel in the morning.”
“It's two o'clock in the afternoon.”
“I don’t want.”
“Please. Well, please me!”
“Vitor…”
And, since Nik didn’t take the cutlery in his hands and didn’t touch the food, Kors moved his chair closer to him, and, taking a fork, pricked a piece from the plate on it, handed it to Nik:
“Open your mouth, take it.”
Nik turned away:
“I’m sick even from the very sight of this food, and don’t stick that damn fork in my face! I'm afraid of it!”
They
