[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
with him. Most mysterious and distressing, his disappearance.
"Yes, so it was." Krispos' voice was abstracted. One of the letters to
Rhisoulphos was from the patriarch
Gnatios. That one he had been waiting for. The other came as a complete and
unpleasant surprise. It was from Dara.
He waited until Bagradas had saluted and bowed his way out, then sat and
waited a little longer, weighing the two letters in his hand without opening
either of them. He had repeatedly warned the ecumenical patriarch not to
betray him again, and he knew all his warnings might well have been wasted.
But Dara ...
Ever since he'd taken the throne, he'd relied on her, and she'd never given Mm
any reason to doubt his trust. Yet how did a relatively short connection with
him weigh against a lifetime's devotion to her father?
He found he did not want to know, not right away. He set down the letter from
Dara and broke the seals on the one from Gnatios. It was daubed with as much
Page 148
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
wax as if it had come from the imperial chancery.
When at last he could unroll it, he held it close to a lamp to read:
"Gnatios, ecumenical patriarch of the Videssians, to the eminent and noble sir
Rhisoulphos: Greetings. As you know, I have suffered many indignities at the
hands of the peasant whose fundament currently defiles the imperial throne. I
have long believed that those of noble birth, confident in their own
excellence, can best rule the state without feeling the constant and pressing
need to interfere in the affairs of the temples.
Thus, eminent sir, should any accident, genuine or contrived, befall Krispos,
rest assured that I shall be delighted to proclaim your name from the altar at
the High Temple."
Krispos tossed the letter aside. Sure enough, Gnatios could no more turn away
from treachery than a fat man could turn away from sweetness. A fat man's
taste just made him heavier. Gnatios, though, would soon be lighter by a head,
Krispos promised himself, not without regret. But he had forgiven his
patriarch too many times already.
What of his wife? What was he to do if he found her plotting against him? He
put his hands over his face he had no idea. At last he made himself unseal the
letter. He recognized Dara's smooth-flowing script at once:
"Dara to her father: Greetings. May Phos keep you safe through all the
righting that is to come and may he give Krispos the victory. I am well,
though enormous. The midwife says second births are easier than first. The
good god grant that she be right. Phostis has another tooth, and says mama
plain as day. I wish you and Krispos could see him. Give Krispos my love and
tell him I will write to him tomorrow. Love to you as well, from your
affectionate daughter."
Ashamed of his worries, Krispos rolled up the letter. To be Avtokrator was to
be schooled in suspicion.
Had he not been suspicious, he might not have found Rhisoulphos' plot till it
found him. But to suspect his wife flayed his conscience, all the more so
since she had but written her father an innocent, friendly letter.
Fool, Krispos said to himself, would you rather have discovered she was guilty
?
He stepped out into the night. His Haloga guard stiffened to attention. "I'm
going over to Mammianos'
tent," Krispos said. The guardsman nodded and saluted.
Mammianos' guards were Videssians. They, too, saluted as Krispos came up. "I'd
like to see your master," he said. One of the guards went into the tent. He
emerged a moment later and held the flap wide.
Mammianos had a roasted chicken leg in one hand and a cup of wine in the
other. He gestured to a platter on the ground in front of him. "Plenty more
where this came from, your Majesty. Help yourself."
"Later, maybe," Krispos said. "First I want to known the latest word on
Harvas' movements."
"I talked with some scouts not a quarter of an hour ago." Mammianos paused for
another bite. "They've pushed into the woods that start north of Imbros. By
all the signs, Harvas' raiders are in full retreat. The men had that Zaidas
with them, so I don't think Harvas could have cozened them the way he did poor
Mavros."
"If they aren't making a stand in the woods, that means they have to go all
the way back to the mountain pass, doesn't it?"
"I think so, yes." Mammianos paused again, this time thoughtfully. "Once past
the woods, there's no place between here and the mountains where I'd care to
fight with footsoldiers against horse, at any rate."
"Good enough," Krispos said. "I'm going to leave the army in your hands for a
while, then maybe a week, maybe a little longer. I have to get back to
Videssos the city as fast as I can; I've had word of a plot against me."
Too late, he wonder if Mammianos was part of the conspiracy. If so, the army
Page 149
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
might not be his when he came back to it. But the fat general had certainly
had countless chances to overthrow him and had used none of them. Now he only
nodded gravely and said, "Gnatios has decided he'd sooner be
Emperor-maker than patriarch after all, has he? Or is it someone new this
time?"
"No, it's Gnatios," Krispos said. He doubted Mammianos once more, but only for
a moment. The general needed no guilty knowledge to make that guess, just the
keen political sense he'd shown as long as Krispos had known him.
Mammianos sighed. "He's just like Petronas, Gnatios is: thinks he's cleverer
than anyone else. Will you finally go and settle him for good?"
"Yes," Krispos said. "He's wriggled out of what he deserves too often, and
then gone and deserved it again. I'll ride the courier relays down to the city
and drop on him before he realizes I've come.
Meanwhile, I want you to press ahead. If Harvas has fallen back to the pass,
don't try to force your way through into Kubrat. We came to grief with that
last year. But don't let him back into Videssos, either.
With the men and mages you have, that should be no problem."
"No indeed, Majesty," Mammianos agreed. "But it's an expensive way to keep him
out, if you'll forgive my being so bold as to say so."
"I know," Krispos said. "I'm beginning to have an idea about that, but it's
not ripe yet. I'll talk more about it with you after I get back."
"As you say, Majesty." Mammianos tossed aside a bare bone.
"Now, would you care for a chunk of this bird? The white wine I have here goes
nicely with it, too. You wouldn't want to set out riding on an empty stomach,
would you?"
"No, I suppose not." Krispos ate and drank with Mammianos. Through a mouthful
of meat, he said, "I'll even sleep here through the night. Can't go far in the
darkness, anyhow."
"True, true. If you don't want anything more there, I'll finish that off for [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl szamanka888.keep.pl
with him. Most mysterious and distressing, his disappearance.
"Yes, so it was." Krispos' voice was abstracted. One of the letters to
Rhisoulphos was from the patriarch
Gnatios. That one he had been waiting for. The other came as a complete and
unpleasant surprise. It was from Dara.
He waited until Bagradas had saluted and bowed his way out, then sat and
waited a little longer, weighing the two letters in his hand without opening
either of them. He had repeatedly warned the ecumenical patriarch not to
betray him again, and he knew all his warnings might well have been wasted.
But Dara ...
Ever since he'd taken the throne, he'd relied on her, and she'd never given Mm
any reason to doubt his trust. Yet how did a relatively short connection with
him weigh against a lifetime's devotion to her father?
He found he did not want to know, not right away. He set down the letter from
Dara and broke the seals on the one from Gnatios. It was daubed with as much
Page 148
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
wax as if it had come from the imperial chancery.
When at last he could unroll it, he held it close to a lamp to read:
"Gnatios, ecumenical patriarch of the Videssians, to the eminent and noble sir
Rhisoulphos: Greetings. As you know, I have suffered many indignities at the
hands of the peasant whose fundament currently defiles the imperial throne. I
have long believed that those of noble birth, confident in their own
excellence, can best rule the state without feeling the constant and pressing
need to interfere in the affairs of the temples.
Thus, eminent sir, should any accident, genuine or contrived, befall Krispos,
rest assured that I shall be delighted to proclaim your name from the altar at
the High Temple."
Krispos tossed the letter aside. Sure enough, Gnatios could no more turn away
from treachery than a fat man could turn away from sweetness. A fat man's
taste just made him heavier. Gnatios, though, would soon be lighter by a head,
Krispos promised himself, not without regret. But he had forgiven his
patriarch too many times already.
What of his wife? What was he to do if he found her plotting against him? He
put his hands over his face he had no idea. At last he made himself unseal the
letter. He recognized Dara's smooth-flowing script at once:
"Dara to her father: Greetings. May Phos keep you safe through all the
righting that is to come and may he give Krispos the victory. I am well,
though enormous. The midwife says second births are easier than first. The
good god grant that she be right. Phostis has another tooth, and says mama
plain as day. I wish you and Krispos could see him. Give Krispos my love and
tell him I will write to him tomorrow. Love to you as well, from your
affectionate daughter."
Ashamed of his worries, Krispos rolled up the letter. To be Avtokrator was to
be schooled in suspicion.
Had he not been suspicious, he might not have found Rhisoulphos' plot till it
found him. But to suspect his wife flayed his conscience, all the more so
since she had but written her father an innocent, friendly letter.
Fool, Krispos said to himself, would you rather have discovered she was guilty
?
He stepped out into the night. His Haloga guard stiffened to attention. "I'm
going over to Mammianos'
tent," Krispos said. The guardsman nodded and saluted.
Mammianos' guards were Videssians. They, too, saluted as Krispos came up. "I'd
like to see your master," he said. One of the guards went into the tent. He
emerged a moment later and held the flap wide.
Mammianos had a roasted chicken leg in one hand and a cup of wine in the
other. He gestured to a platter on the ground in front of him. "Plenty more
where this came from, your Majesty. Help yourself."
"Later, maybe," Krispos said. "First I want to known the latest word on
Harvas' movements."
"I talked with some scouts not a quarter of an hour ago." Mammianos paused for
another bite. "They've pushed into the woods that start north of Imbros. By
all the signs, Harvas' raiders are in full retreat. The men had that Zaidas
with them, so I don't think Harvas could have cozened them the way he did poor
Mavros."
"If they aren't making a stand in the woods, that means they have to go all
the way back to the mountain pass, doesn't it?"
"I think so, yes." Mammianos paused again, this time thoughtfully. "Once past
the woods, there's no place between here and the mountains where I'd care to
fight with footsoldiers against horse, at any rate."
"Good enough," Krispos said. "I'm going to leave the army in your hands for a
while, then maybe a week, maybe a little longer. I have to get back to
Videssos the city as fast as I can; I've had word of a plot against me."
Too late, he wonder if Mammianos was part of the conspiracy. If so, the army
Page 149
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
might not be his when he came back to it. But the fat general had certainly
had countless chances to overthrow him and had used none of them. Now he only
nodded gravely and said, "Gnatios has decided he'd sooner be
Emperor-maker than patriarch after all, has he? Or is it someone new this
time?"
"No, it's Gnatios," Krispos said. He doubted Mammianos once more, but only for
a moment. The general needed no guilty knowledge to make that guess, just the
keen political sense he'd shown as long as Krispos had known him.
Mammianos sighed. "He's just like Petronas, Gnatios is: thinks he's cleverer
than anyone else. Will you finally go and settle him for good?"
"Yes," Krispos said. "He's wriggled out of what he deserves too often, and
then gone and deserved it again. I'll ride the courier relays down to the city
and drop on him before he realizes I've come.
Meanwhile, I want you to press ahead. If Harvas has fallen back to the pass,
don't try to force your way through into Kubrat. We came to grief with that
last year. But don't let him back into Videssos, either.
With the men and mages you have, that should be no problem."
"No indeed, Majesty," Mammianos agreed. "But it's an expensive way to keep him
out, if you'll forgive my being so bold as to say so."
"I know," Krispos said. "I'm beginning to have an idea about that, but it's
not ripe yet. I'll talk more about it with you after I get back."
"As you say, Majesty." Mammianos tossed aside a bare bone.
"Now, would you care for a chunk of this bird? The white wine I have here goes
nicely with it, too. You wouldn't want to set out riding on an empty stomach,
would you?"
"No, I suppose not." Krispos ate and drank with Mammianos. Through a mouthful
of meat, he said, "I'll even sleep here through the night. Can't go far in the
darkness, anyhow."
"True, true. If you don't want anything more there, I'll finish that off for [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]