скачать книгу бесплатно
Indeed, it looked like a sea sickness. That was the name given to all the unknown but fatal diseases brought by aquatic life. She doesn’t want the brothers to catch something like that while swimming.
The approaches to the palace were illuminated by rows of torches fixed in brackets on the walls and parapets of the bridges. They resembled an orange-colored milky way.
“Once they used to leave torches here even in the daytime and light fires on the shore to scare away the aliens from the sea,” someone whispered in Desdemona’s ear. “And now the guest from the sea himself rules in the royal palace.”
Desdemona turned around. It was not to her. She heard bits and pieces of someone else’s dialog, and the speakers were standing far away from her. Both wore the robes of counselors.
“He is a son from the sea, not a guest.”
“What difference does it make? He is not of the humans. He will bring doom to us all.”
“So far he’s brought victory.”
“The evil spirit first pleases people into believing him, and then he will unleash his claws. We must be on our guard.”
“For now, we all revel in his triumph. From the wrecked armada, the waves have carried piles of precious things ashore. They’re being collected to be taken to the palace. Had the king not been a sea demon, all the riches would have sunk with the armada. Even pearl divers can’t retrieve the sunken treasure. One must make friends with the sea-dwellers. They’re good for you.”
“They’re also bad. The Armada wouldn’t have attacked us if they hadn’t known about our king. He will attract many enemies here.”
“It’ll flood everyone. And we will collect the bounty carried away by the waves.”
Desdemona did not listen further, for some hunched creature in a pilgrim’s cloak suddenly separated from the guests and made a sign to her to be silent. It had creepy, scaly, gaunt fingers. There were six on each palm. It held one of them up to its greenish lips.
Who let a pilgrim into the palace? Surely he must have come from the temple of the sea god. What if he had been sent for her? It’s too soon. She has a little more time before she’s officially summoned there. Yes, and even then she might not qualify, and then she’d be replaced by another chosen one. Desdemona wanted to say that to the strange pilgrim, but he had already disappeared somewhere.
