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Duchess Kee, in a white evening gown with a scarlet satin sash, stood in the reception hall of the Castle Amun before the large rows of stained-glass windows that stretched the length of the wall. In their wide arches, the portraits of her ancestors were embedded in mosaic outlines. The night City glowed with soft lights through their faces. A fireplace burned in the hall, lit rather for comfort. Intentionally or not, this night the Duchess chose the arch with her father's face on it.
"Are you saying that you immediately sent out a signal and...?" there was a resounding and demanding voice across the room.
The Duchess sighed and calmly repeated:
"Yes, you already asked me, Cleric Sept, and I told you that we immediately sealed off access to the museum, much less to the central tower. Not a single soul entered there..."
"Except for those who have already entered," the man in the maroon cloak retorted sarcastically. His sharp features made him look like a bird, and for his piercing stare, in the streets and in the Palace he was nicknamed the Drill.
The Duchess swallowed the remark and continued nonchalantly:
"The tower was guarded according to regulations, including by the servants of the Cult."
"It would have been all right if you hadn't objected to giving the relic to the Temple, where it belongs," the Drill gnashed his teeth.
"It was an heirloom of my house, and we were proud that the University was blessed by the presence of such an artifact," Kee replied discreetly. "In the old days, much attention was paid to the study of runes..."
"The old days are over, and you know it as well as I do," Sept replied coldly. "Let's go over it again. Right after the explosion, you, ahem, got dressed and went to the University, where..."
"Where a quarantine had already been enforced, and all the students were in their rooms, according to the instructions of your..." the Duchess continued for him.
"...according to the instructions of Joseph the Third's B322 Act," the cultist reminded her. "Then all entrances and exits were sealed, guards were posted on the floors and stairwells, balloons with patrols were launched (the Drill read out notes from his notebook as he strode around the hall). And then you went to the clock tower," the cleric paused. "What for?"
"I received a report that there was an incident with a junior Magistrate technician," Kee replied.
"Junior technician? Are you serious? Your Grace personally inspects magisters' work?" Sept grinned.
"This is a special case, I knew the man... indirectly," replied the Duchess, feeling an acute reluctance to tell the cleric anything more.
"Come on, don't be shy!" Sept said insistently.
"He was related to my maid, and she asked for him," Kee's voice was steady, and she mentally praised the Heart.
"Okay, maybe so, and that was enough for you to personally ask the chief of police to sign release papers for the suspect?"
"It was his doll, he's old, and he can't continue repairing our castle clock without it. What does this have to do with your suspects?" the Duchess allowed herself to get a little angry.
"That is not for you to decide, Your Grace. Do you realize that I could take you away right now for obstructing the investigation and abetting terrorism?"
"What do you think you're doing, Sept!" Kee exclaimed, turning to the cleric and now really losing her temper.
"My job, Duchess, my job," the Drill retorted and continued to pace the hall. "Let me get this straight. Your maid asked for this man. Which maid was it?" the cultist banged on.
"Is it so important?" the Duchess played dumb.
"It definitely is. The loss of the rune threatens the entire City and the Heart itself. As well as peace, order, law after all."
The blood flushed in the Duchess's face, which was especially noticeable on her white skin. She turned away to the window, whispering through gritted teeth:
"As well as lies and hypocrisy."
"What did you say?" Sept asked in surprise and came up behind her. "You know, Kee, I have great hearing. Just this phrase alone is enough to put you behind bars until your death. If only..."
A black shadow flashed in the window, and there was a rumbling sound on the terrace of the reception hall.
"If only, what?" asked the Duchess angrily.
Sept looked at the door, then at her:
"As soon as you cease to be a favorite, Your Grace..."
Kee, breathing heavily, stared straight into the Drill's eyes. Everything inside her trembled, and she felt as if she were about to look away from those piercing, cold eyes. But the doors of the reception hall swung open, and they both had to turn their eyes to the figure standing in the aisle.
Tamen Yomera was wearing the same clothes as he had this morning: heavy armor and a cloak. His curly hair fell to his shoulders in the same way, and his sword lifted the edge of his cloak. Only now could one see his manly face, truly beautiful. Except that this beauty was only external, it was not illuminated by the inner light as it had been in the morning. He walked wearily toward Sept, standing down on one knee, and bowed to the Duchess, who was frozen in a curtsy.
"Get up," Tamen said quietly.
Both stood up. The cleric nearly opened his mouth, but the Usurper prevented him from speaking:
"Let the lady go, Sept. It's getting late. You can continue another time."
"Yes, I've already finished, Your Majesty," the Chief of the Cult's Special Assignments Department bowed. "I'm certain the rune will be found, the city is not a desert..."
"I expect results from you, not certainty. But I think you know that yourself," the Usurper said.
"It is impossible to put it more precisely, Your Majesty," the Drill bowed his head, glancing furtively at the Duchess.
She noticed that, and a wave of dislike ran across her face, which made Sept smile crookedly.
"I dare not disturb you any longer," the cleric said, still bowing his head, and moved toward the door to the terrace.
As his footsteps faded, Tamen looked up at the portrait in the stained-glass window and spoke meaningfully:
"Seeking your father's protection from the intrigues of my bloodhounds?"
Kee shuddered and looked at the portrait as well.
"I didn't notice, Your Majesty... it was a pure accident..." she murmured in an apologetic voice.
"There's no need to apologize. There's nothing to blame you for," said the Usurper. "We can go to your place, I'm totally worn out."
"Of course, Your Majesty."
Yomera turned militarily on the spot and headed toward the arches, beyond which the corridors of the castle stretched. Kee hurried after him, staring at the gold pattern on his cloak. She was once again filled with a sense of shyness, unease, and interest so familiar to her from the Usurper's visits. How he hurried to her chambers, how he nervously rubbed the hilt of his sword with his iron glove as the old steam elevator took them up to the terrace. How he sighed heavily and rapidly, trying not to show it. Nothing escaped the Duchess's attentive eyes and senses.
As soon as Tamen opened the creaking metal bars of the elevator, Kee, with a few soft words, dismissed the remaining servants and went to the dressing room, which was several chambers with endless rows of clothes in wooden carved cupboards encrusted with precious stones that allowed for matching jewelry to the clothes. There she gathered a men's evening suit with some agitation, not allowing herself much time to choose, and walked through this little maze to her study.
In the study, furnished with a kind of special coziness that reminded her of childhood and the image of parental care at the same time, the Usurper had already shed his heavy robes and smiled at the Duchess guiltily, in some way, as she handed him his evening wear. Kee bowed to the ruler, smiling with quivering lips, and stepped out onto the terrace. There in the thicket, she wandered along the paths until she came to a balcony overlooking an endless constellation of city lights. She placed her hands on the cold marble railing and exhaled.
"This strange and scary man in my chambers. His bloodhounds poking their noses in everything. The gossip about some commoner girl, picked up by the whole City. And his dragon strolling along the walls of MY castle."
The metal beast creaked and rumbled with its huge paws, slowly circling the clock tower, as if sniffing out something in it.
"Nasty thing."
The dragon seemed to hear her words and lifted its head to the edge of the terrace, where the Duchess stood. Kee recoiled and stepped away from the balcony. Her heart sank so suddenly that she had to sit up to come to her senses. She looked around in fright to see if the ruler could notice her now, but there was no sign of him anywhere nearby. The Duchess stood up, sighed, and headed back to her chambers.
She found Tamen in her father's big chair reading a book and Assol laying her head in his lap, sold out for the caress of his strong and gentle hand. Suppressing indignation, the Duchess moved through the study to the mirror.
"Traitress!" Kee said playfully, adjusting her hair disheveled during the evening, in front of the mirror. Assol only cast a conspiratorial glance in the reflection of the Duchess's eyes, but didn't even move.
"Forgive me, I have again and again taken from you all that is dear to you," said the Usurper, with a constant pinch of remorse that irritated Kee so much.
"Why do you keep reminding me of this?" with a touch of surprise and sarcasm that did not require an answer, said the Duchess, sitting down at the table and fixing her makeup.
"Because I feel things I shouldn't feel, according to anyone in the Palace," the ruler said thoughtfully as he closed the book.
"And what are you going to do with this feeling?" again, the Duchess was not ashamed to elaborate, preoccupied by her right eye.
"You know, for my dearest hostage, you ask too many questions," the Usurper smiled.
"I'm sorry, I was concentrating on my eyelashes and didn't think about what I was asking," Kee said innocently and busied herself with her left eye. But then she put her hands on the table, looked at Tamen in the reflection and said, "Oh, by the way, Your Majesty, the whole City is talking about your affair with the commoner (she turned in her chair toward the Usurper and grinned). If there is any place for jealousy here, it is only because of my reputation. But it could completely destroy our whole cover."
Tamen fidgeted in his chair and stood up. Assol, sensing the man's agitation, got up, approached Kee and, as if apologetically, put its head in the Duchess's lap. Kee turned to the table again and took out an issue of the "Evening Wind" with a bookmark, opened it and handed the centerfold with the photo of the frightened girl to the Usurper. Tamen stared at the centerfold for a long time, then turned the page and read a few lines here and there.
"Fascinating," he said, and then he began to walk around the room, looking at the carpet pattern on the floor.
"Hmm. Is that it?" the Duchess wondered.
The Usurper went to the metal box in the corner of the massive table, piled with papers. He opened the lid, which sparkled in the light of the lamps with a golden pattern, and stared at the instrument resting on a velvet cloth.
"Have you ever been in love, Kee?" he said after a pause.
" I have been romantically involved. But seriously and deeply in love... No, I don't think so."
"Neither have I," said the Usurper thoughtfully, taking a lacquered flute from the box and turning to the Duchess, he asked, "Do you play?"
"No, it's my father's," Kee answered discreetly.
A shadow of confusion ran across the Usurper's face, and he hastily put the flute away in the box.
"I have not been in love either," he paused, as if checking with some inner compass, and then spoke emotionally, "And for a long time I could not understand how it is that all these people I see marry for titles and position, money, profits, political intrigue. How do they manage to deceive themselves so much to call it love?"
"Exactly how we were going to?" the Duchess raised her eyebrows.
The Usurper looked at her reproachfully.
"I don't know, Your Majesty. They say that the Heart created us all out of sincere love. But I've never met anyone in our circle who could love another without any secret intention," she said sadly and thoughtfully. "Some people have children only with the expectation of what titles and ranks their offspring will bring together and how this will strengthen their family's position in society. Others have someone so that they feel they are needed. Oh, Your Majesty, this is such a sad subject... Even Assol loves someone who strokes her, don't you, my dear?" Kee said and lowered herself to the dog's head.
"From your mouth to our high priest's ears," said the Usurper quietly.
"And what would have happened? The whole City would have fallen apart. All your power, Tamen, rests on that self-deception," the Duchess said sadly, rubbing Assol's pointy ears.
"Not only mine, but yours as well, my dear," the Usurper retorted, leaning his back against the jamb of the door to the terrace.
Kee remained silent, looking into the black eyes of the dog.
"Anyway, that's not her," Tamen smiled.
"Who?" Kee raised her head in surprise.
"The girl in the picture," the ruler answered calmly. "That's not her face."
ns 18.68.0.105da2
