The Mist and the Lightning. Part 10

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Arel passed the message on. Karina saw that the picture depicted beautiful tall houses, all in patterns and decorations, painted in light pastel colors: pink, yellow, blue. The trees were green. There was a fountain. Smartly dressed people were walking around. It was written in gold lettering at the top: “Congratulations! We wish you happiness!” And at the bottom, smaller – the name of the street.

“It looks like Upper,” said Karina in surprise. “These postcards with the beautiful streets of the Upper Town are sold at fairs and bookstores.”

“This is our Rat Dead End,” Arel said. “It’s on postcards now too.”

“No, Arel, this is no longer Rat Dead End,” said Lis, grinning. “Read the street name. Now it is Asa street.”

And his grin came out bitter.

“What does it mean?” Karina didn’t understand. And jealousy sounded in her voice. “Why was the street named after her?!”

Lis was silent, and Karina turned to Arel:

“What for does Tol forgive him?”

Arel nodded towards Lis:

“Let him tell you.”

“Do you have any pretensions to me now?” Lis said defiantly, he tensed, and his face became angry.

“What are you saying,” Arel said indifferently. “Nobody gives a shit.”

Lis looked at Nikto.

And Nikto smiled at him, he held a postcard in his hands and looked at the smart Lower. And he smiled.

“Let’s write to Tol, let him take as many soldiers as possible and come here for a honeymoon. It will be an unforgettable honeymoon trip, he will love it!” Nikto said.

“I’ll write a letter to my father,” Karina suddenly interrupted their blissful state. “I will explain the situation and ask to help you. To send everyone who stayed with him too.”

Arel looked at her in surprise:

“But…”

“I want to contribute to the common cause. Arel, is this a common cause? I'm on the team, right? And I sit and do nothing!”

“Karina! For the fact that you didn’t give up Lis at the trial and pulled Nik out of the cell, for this I will be grateful to you for the rest of my life!” Arel said quite sincerely, and she felt very good from these words.

“This is Nik…” She hesitated. “It was he who taught me not to give up and bring things to the end.”

Karina thought that even if Lis did something to Asa (and it looked like it was), she didn’t care about it. Surely this aggressive and arrogant creature itself asked for it. And yet, when they were alone in the room, she could not resist and asked:

“So what happened to Asa?”

And Lis looked at her, straight in the eyes, without a shadow of embarrassment or remorse, and answered with a challenge:

“I killed her.”

“Oh! Wow! But why?”

“She talked too much shit.”

“Yes, that's for sure. Well, since Tol has forgiven you, it means that he himself understands that Asa provoked you.”

“Yes. And so it was. She provoked me. I wouldn't do that now. I was just… at that moment acting under the influence of emotion.” Some unspoken bitterness was reflected on his face, and he stubbornly shook his head so sharply that the bells tinkled. “And this bitch… she laughed at me, she brought me out.”

He ran his hands over his face as if tired, and smoothed his hair.

“Dumb unclean! She messed up the banks of the river?” Karina said, repeating Arel’s expression. The prince spoke like this when one of his servants did not follow the order well. “There she goes! How did you kill her?”

“With a knife. In the chest.”

Karina came up, hugging him, embracing him:

“Let her go to hell! You did everything right.”

Lis hugged her too.

“Just, you know,” he said very frankly, “I felt so offended. Tol told everyone how you asked him about me. And how he told you about the fact that they humiliated me, put a shameful strip with bells on my face. I realized that you know about it. Imagined how you made fun of me with Tol.”

“Fun?! I was shocked by his story! It didn't make me laugh at all.”

“And they laughed. And Asa laughed. I asked them to stop, but they continued. I asked twice in an amicable way. I said, “Tol, tell her to shut up.” But he laughed and said: “She will do what she wants!”

Karina felt cold inside, because she knew, knew and felt that this conversation with Tol would sooner or later emerge and not end with good. She knew and still asked him about Lis. She shouldn't have asked about Lis! And she is indirectly to blame for Asa’s death.”

“Forgive me, please,” she whispered. “You always suffer because of me.”

She involuntarily squeezed his crippled right hand. Squeezing, she brought it to her face, pressing against her cheek. She began to kiss her fingers. He didn’t take it away.

“Why did they cut off your finger?”

Lis easily pulled his hand without the little finger out of her palm, looked indifferently at the crippled hand.

“I failed the whole military operation when you left me and ran away. I was tried. Military tribunal. Sentence.”

Karina cried:

“You will never forgive me!”

“Fuck, I have forgiven you long ago! A was a fool myself.” He smiled. “I shouldn't have fallen in love with you so much and then suffered so much.”

“I was not happy even for a minute when I ran away, I realized that I had made a terrible mistake and I couldn’t forget you! I love you!”

“I know. You didn’t love me, you loved the commander of the Reds, Sigmer. And now I'm a slave, a jerk for fun.”

“Are you really a fool?! You are the most beautiful in the world, I love you, I love you and will never stop loving you. You are not nothing! You are the smartest and the best!”

“Of course,” Lis shook his head.

“Do you think I love you because Nik promotes you and promised to make you king?”

“No.”

“I loved you when I knew nothing about it. I loved it anyway! I don't care if you are a commander or a slave.”

She stroked his bright hair, smoothing out unruly wavy strands. He was very handsome, in fact, with beautiful features, and the remnants of the dye hid a thin scar from the shameful strip under the eyes and on the bridge of the nose. He didn’t pull away, and she pressed closer and closer to him, she was seized by such tenderness for him, such love. Karina approached him and gently blew into his ear. He shuddered, closing his ear, and then abruptly grabbed her, knocking her over onto her back, pressing, hanging from above, catching her lips. She hugged him with all her passion. They felt very good together.

Chapter five. The arrival of Verniy

The noise in the street, in the courtyard, was getting stronger. Lis looked up from plans to build barracks.

“What's that there late at night?

“This is my loyal khabir,” Nikto said slowly, as if listening, and his face lit up. “My Ver!” he jumped up, hurrying to the exit, and friends rushed after him.

A truly pompous action appeared to their gaze: an army was crawling up the hill where the mansion stood, like a dense black snake, led by his unclean Verniy, as always completely closed from the eyes of people by leather clothes and a helmet in the form of a dog's head. The peasants, the militias, all the slaves and residents of the Estate also fled. And they looked at this army with indescribable horror and delight.

Nikto roused himself:

“My horse!” He went to meet the army as fast as the limp would allow. And the horse – the Unclean Power – which was being led without a rider, tied, growled, flaring its nostrils, danced, snorting, a large shiver ran through its body. Verniy quickly untied him, allowing him to gallop forward. And the horse rushed to Nikto standing in the middle of the road. At a trot he ran up to the owner, stopping, enduring waves of trembling and excitement, gently touched his black muzzle to the outstretched hand, burying his nose in his palm. Nikto pressed his hand to his face, and then, no longer tormenting, because standing now so calmly for this unclean horse was simply an unbearable ordeal, Nikto jumped on him, and the horse, sensing the rider, his master, danced under him, stunning neighing, from which peasant children and girls screeched in fright. They looked with their eyes from a bowl at how the Son of the Devil pranks on his horse, smiling, and his scar in the gloom was like a black stripe.

Nikto drove up to the porch, looking down happily at the stunned friends.

“Does anyone want?” He stretched out his hand towards them, as if inviting to join, the horse continued to dance under him.

“You are mad!” Lis shouted to him. “Get off already! What a show is it?”

But Nikto just laughed in response, and suddenly, striking the steep black sides with all his might, he reared up and, seeing how the servants rushed to the door, involuntarily closing their heads, and dashed in different directions Lis, Karina and Arel, he shouted on unclean some team, the horse galloped down the hill along the marching soldiers, carts and following the host of curious peasants from other villages. The unclean warriors, seeing Nikto galloping towards them, raised their arms with weapons and began to sharply and abruptly raise and lower their swords, shouting a greeting to their white-haired master, and their cry was like a rockfall, sharp and booming.

“I'm not sure if it was worth placing the Unclean right in the house,” Lis said doubtfully, pouring wine for everyone. “We managed to build enough barracks, and they have tents.”

“This is the command staff,” Nikto objected, “my colonels cannot live in barracks with soldiers, these are noble Unclean. They are very cool commanders, Lis. And they came here for you!”

“All right,” Lis humbly raised the goblet. “For your soldiers, Nik!”

“For our soldiers, Lis!” Nikto corrected him. “For good luck!”

They clinked glasses happily, drinking sweet fresh wine from the Arel vineyards.

From the courtyard, the sounds of musical instruments were heard, there, right under the open sky, tables were laid and the newly arrived soldiers were already feasting with might and main and getting to know the local militias and peasant women.

“Will you go to them?” Arel asked Nikto with a little jealousy in his voice.

“No, I wasn't going to. But if you want, we can go and have some fun.”

“We clearly miss Tol,” Lis laughed, “and Vil, these lovers of folk holidays.”

“Well, yes,” Nikto said. “I actually still need to resolve many issues with Ver.”