"Stephen Goldin - Storyteller" - читать интересную книгу автора (Goldin Stephen)

“Do you think he'd believe it after what happened?” his first wazir countered.

“No, no, I guess not,” the king said weakly.
 “Besides, Your Majesty, Prince Ahmad has but a handful of men. Marakh has one of the strongest
armies in all Parsina. Any fight against us would mean his certain death."

“But he obviously has some powerful sorcerer working for him. That whirlwind—the rukh—"

“All the more reason to maintain your strong alliance with Shammara. We'll need help from the Holy City
if we face a threat from magic."

“Shammara!” King Basir went suddenly cold at the thought of his powerful ally. “What will I do about
her? What will I tell her? How can I explain...?"

“You will explain nothing,” the wazir said. “Are you not king of Marakh, ruler of the two rivers? A king
need explain to no one. You will send her a message saying that, as agreed upon, your army attacked the
prince's party on the road and prevented them from reaching Marakh. You will prepare Princess Oma's
bridal party as quickly as possible and send her off to Ravan to marry Prince Haroun and further cement
the alliance between Marakh and Ravan. When all is completed, how can Shammara complain?"

But King Basir did not likewise underestimate Shammara's critical abilities. “What if Prince Ahmad
returns and claims his rights?” he asked.

“Then you denounce him as an impostor and deal with him accordingly. That's why you must send your
daughter to Ravan and have the marriage take place as quickly as possible. Once the union's been
consummated it will be in Shammara's best interest to have Ahmad declared a fraud. With the combined
armies of Marakh and Ravan aligned against him, Prince Ahmad would have no chance of victory—and
I'm sure he's wise enough to know that and not even try."

King Basir mused on his wazir's words. It was often true, he knew, that a good bluster could get a
monarch through the most embarrassing of circumstances. He'd lived up to his part of the bargain with
Shammara; it wasn't his fault the prince escaped. With any luck at all, Prince Ahmad would flee to distant
parts of Parsina and never be heard from again, and King Basir's word on the story would never be
challenged. And if Ahmad did show up trying to reclaim his bride and his throne, what choice did
Shammara have but to back Basir's story that the young man was just a clever impostor and the real
prince died at the hands of brigands on the road to Marakh?

“Very well,” he commanded, trying to make his voice sound authoritative. “Have my scribe prepare a
message that the prince was killed in the woods by brigands and Princess Oma, grief-stricken though she
is by the death of her fiancé, will travel to Ravan to fulfill the marriage contract by marrying Prince
Haroun. We'll send the note to Ravan by the fastest messenger, and Princess Oma's party shall follow
within a few weeks."

He paused. “We'll give Oma a full military escort, of course. Travel along the roads these days is full of
hazards, as the poor departed Prince Ahmad found out, and nothing untoward is going to happen to my
daughter on the way to her wedding."
****


One of the servants who had brought stomach-soothing pilau to the king during the council session was in