"Van Lustbader, Eric - Pearl 01 The Ring of Five Dragons(eng)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Van Lustbader Eric)

Kurgan waited until the other poured the liquor into Kundalan-made goblets and handed one to him.
"To our enemies!" Kinnnus Morcha cried. "May destruction possess their houses!"
They downed their numaaadis, and Kurgan had to control his throat from closing up. As the intolerable fire spread into the first of his three stomachs, he said: "Speaking of enemies, how goes the search for the new regent?"
Kinnnus Morcha's head swiveled like a predator's. "Foolish child! If you have even half a brain, you will not call Annon Ashera that in front of your father."
"But that's what Annon is, right? The new regent. Heir to the Ashera Dynasty."
"Only until we catch him and carry his head on a pike through the streets of Axis Tyr."
Kurgan went and refilled his goblet, spread himself comfortably into a gigantic V'ornn chair.
"One drink and no more," the Line-General stated. "I have to see to the search."
"The search, the search." Kurgan put his feet up, crossed one black boot over another. "The search, Line-General, is not going well."
Kinnnus Morcha slammed the goblet down with such force it shattered. "That is none of your affair."
"Possibly not," Kurgan said, taking a sip of the numaaadis. "But it ought to be."
"Arrogant pup!"
"Arrogance? Is it arrogance that I can tell you how to find the new regent?"
Kinnnus Morcha snorted. "I was a fool to let you have even a sip of numaaadis. It has gone straight to your head." He strode to the doorway. "I have no more time to waste with—"
"But I do know where he is."
The Khagggun looked down at him derisively. "Why should I believe you?"
Kurgan shrugged. "Because I have seen him."
"You what!"
"And he is not alone." Kurgan grinned again. "Contrary to your boast to my father, not all of Annon's friends are lying in a pool of blood."
"If this is truth, I demand that you—!"
"Line-General, you will pardon me for saying this, but you are in no position to demand anything of me." He got up, poured numaaadis into another goblet, handed it to Kinnnus Morcha. He gestured languidly. "Have a seat, and we will talk."
The Line-General looked as if both his hearts were going to explode at once. "Are you insane?"
"You should consider being more polite, Line-General." Kurgan sat down opposite the other, "As you Khagggun would say, I've just risen in the ranks."
"What is this—extortion?"
"Nothing of the kind, Line-General. I have something you need, and you have something I want." Kurgan shrugged. "It's a deal, pure and simple."
Kinnnus Morcha eyed him suspiciously. "Has your father put you up to this? Is this some sort of test?"
"My father is blissfully, drunkenly ignorant of this meeting. And I intend to keep it that way." All at once, Kurgan leaned forward. "You see, he may think of you as his errand boy, but I see your true worth."
"You do? You are only—what—fifteen sidereal cycles old."
"My chronological age is irrelevant. I have gone through the Channeling. I know things. I can sense them when others beat about the bushes in the darkness." His eyes sparked. "What I am proposing, Line-General, is an alliance. I want to be your adjutant."
Kinnnus Morcha's mouth nearly dropped open. "Quite apart from the absurdity of the notion, I already have an adjutant."
"I know. His name is—what?" Kurgan snapped his fingers.
"Pack-Commander Rekkk Hacilar."
Kurgan nodded. "Ah yes, the renowned hero Rekkk Hacilar—intelligent, resourceful, ruthless, and—"
"And what?" Kinnnus Morcha's eyes narrowed.
"Well…" Kurgan looked down at his curled fingers. "There is a rumor … a disturbing rumor that Rekkk Hacilar was in league with Eleusis Ashera: that, like regent, the Pack-Commander has a soft spot in his heart for the Kundalan."
Kinnnus Morcha's canny eyes locked on Kurgan. "Information of this nature is rarely available to one so young. How come you by it?"
"I am like a Khagggun in this, Line-General. I do not reveal my sources."
Kinnnus Morcha sat back and steepled his fingers. "What to make of you, Kurgan Stogggul? Are you clever or simply arrogant?"
Kurgan remained silent. He knew when to keep his mouth shut.
"The truth is…" Kinnnus Morcha paused, threw his arms wide. "The truth that will not leave this room is that I have had Pack-Commander Hacilar under surveillance for some time. Transferring First-Captain Olnnn Rydddlin to the pack was on my command, though I took pains that it should not appear so. Olnnn Rydddlin is my Khagggun, hearts and soul. His assignment is to observe—"
"To spy, you mean."
Kinnnus Morcha shrugged. "To a Khagggun, the two words are interchangeable. I have also kept Rekkk Hacilar's pack raiding in the west, where we have a less complete picture of the resistance cells, where he might feel more free to express his alleged predilections concerning the Kundalan."
"Has he betrayed himself?"
"Not yet. Olnnn Rydddlin says that he is exceedingly careful." Kinnnus Morcha turned his hands over as if emptying them of sand. "Perhaps, after all, the rumor is false. We all have enemies. Advancement breeds jealousy in those passed over."
Kurgan held the Line-General's gaze as carefully as he would hold a female's hand. "I say get rid of him before he does something traitorous."
Kinnnus Morcha's head shot forward, and his yellow teeth glistened in the fusion-lamp light. "You are a trollish little thing, aren't you?"
Kurgan let his breath out slowly in order to keep himself from choking on his fear of Morcha. "Do not make the mistake of underestimating me, Line-General. I may be young, but I know who I am."
Kinnnus Morcha, still on point, surveyed the other. "I know what you are—you are Bashkir. You could not be my adjutant even if I desired it."
"Please understand, Line-General, I also know what I want."
Those teeth glistened. "Tell me why I should care."