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.Who, of course, when he summeredat his Colonsay home, would be accompanied by his wife, Grace, who, true toher name, was as gracious and gentle a gentlewoman as there was in all ofEngland, Niko was sure.Even though she hated him.Which is why if the Shanleys were on Colonsay, Niko would rather have beengoing back to Fallsworth.It wasn't the baron, as much as the baroness sheblamed Niko for Bear's death, he knew, although she had not let a word passher lips to that effect.In fact, she treated him with exquisite formalcourtesy that would have seemed warm if the hate hadn't always shown behindher eyes.But he didn't say anything.Page 47 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html"Not a bad day's work, eh? A few clanless bandits planted in the soil, and aclan war at least put off for another day, and probably much longer."There was no question at the end of Becket's words; Niko knew better than torespond."Be slow in your Latin; speak French like the Hellene that you are who can'teven lisp the wordmonsieur properly; bounce up and down on the back of a finewarhorse like a sack of potatoes; and, if you must, wear the robes of theOrder as though they're some sort of St.Swithin's Day costume that ill fitsyou, no matter how well it's tailored," he said, quietly."Perhaps you canstill be a true knight, and fail in all of that even now; it can be learned,I'm told, although I'm still skeptical about that, when it comes to you.Weshall see."But understand this, Niko: this is what we do.This is who we are."Chapter 3LowlandsThe right bait for a trap is always essential, whether it's cheese or lambs.If you want to trap a mouse, you use cheese; for the wolf, it's lambs.If theLord won't forgive me for no longer baiting even the right trap with my ownlambs, I guess that will have to be a matter He can take up with me.The admiral, of course, has his own bait.And if that includes me, well, it'sno worse than I deserve, and perhaps better. CullyThe night was too bright, although only a crescent of moon showed.If Sir Guy had been a superstitious man, the crescent would have botheredhim, as it reminded him far too readily of the Star and Crescent that wavedabove every city, town, village, and probably latrine of the Dar Al Islam, butsuperstition was one of the sins he was able to avoid.Still, the further west on the Izmiri coast you went, the closer you got toAntalya, and Koosh, for that matter.Not the safest of waters in any case.TheEmpire still claimed sovereignty over all of what had been Turkish provinces,but that, as the saying went, when the emperor or his so-called pope spoke, itshook the ground in Constantinople, shook the knees in Cernivici, and shookthe belly with laughter in Izmir.Although maybe the laughter shouldn't have come quite so easily.Even in its present, shrunken state, the Empire could have easily reconqueredits way down to the Mediterranean, at least through Turkey.The Empire was notPage 48 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlwhat it once had been, but it was nothing for a small former province totrifle with.Still, such a move would have brought the Empire into conflict with bothCrown and Dar, and while the so-called Emperor and his so-called pope werecertainly fools, they likely weren't that foolish.Much better to leave it asa buffer zone, and eventually let the Crown and Dar fight it out, and hope topick off the winner.That was the sort of cowardly thing you could expect fromthe Imperials."Do you think you're ready?" the admiral asked and he asked Cully, not SirGuy.At least he had addressed Cully, and not Kechiroski.Cully shrugged."As ready as I'll ever be," he said."As soon as those cloudspass across the Moon."And he shrugged again.If a man of as mild a temperament as Guy of Orkneycould be irritated over a gesture, Cully's shrugging would have irritated himmightily.Even more than the admiral treating Sir Cully as though he was thesenior Order Knight aboard, when Sir Cully carried merely two mundaneswords when he carried them at all while Sir Guy was a knight of the WhiteSword, carrying Albert.Proper decorum would have required the admiral to beconsulting with Sir Guy, who was, after all, in both law and fact, the seniorof the two [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.Who, of course, when he summeredat his Colonsay home, would be accompanied by his wife, Grace, who, true toher name, was as gracious and gentle a gentlewoman as there was in all ofEngland, Niko was sure.Even though she hated him.Which is why if the Shanleys were on Colonsay, Niko would rather have beengoing back to Fallsworth.It wasn't the baron, as much as the baroness sheblamed Niko for Bear's death, he knew, although she had not let a word passher lips to that effect.In fact, she treated him with exquisite formalcourtesy that would have seemed warm if the hate hadn't always shown behindher eyes.But he didn't say anything.Page 47 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html"Not a bad day's work, eh? A few clanless bandits planted in the soil, and aclan war at least put off for another day, and probably much longer."There was no question at the end of Becket's words; Niko knew better than torespond."Be slow in your Latin; speak French like the Hellene that you are who can'teven lisp the wordmonsieur properly; bounce up and down on the back of a finewarhorse like a sack of potatoes; and, if you must, wear the robes of theOrder as though they're some sort of St.Swithin's Day costume that ill fitsyou, no matter how well it's tailored," he said, quietly."Perhaps you canstill be a true knight, and fail in all of that even now; it can be learned,I'm told, although I'm still skeptical about that, when it comes to you.Weshall see."But understand this, Niko: this is what we do.This is who we are."Chapter 3LowlandsThe right bait for a trap is always essential, whether it's cheese or lambs.If you want to trap a mouse, you use cheese; for the wolf, it's lambs.If theLord won't forgive me for no longer baiting even the right trap with my ownlambs, I guess that will have to be a matter He can take up with me.The admiral, of course, has his own bait.And if that includes me, well, it'sno worse than I deserve, and perhaps better. CullyThe night was too bright, although only a crescent of moon showed.If Sir Guy had been a superstitious man, the crescent would have botheredhim, as it reminded him far too readily of the Star and Crescent that wavedabove every city, town, village, and probably latrine of the Dar Al Islam, butsuperstition was one of the sins he was able to avoid.Still, the further west on the Izmiri coast you went, the closer you got toAntalya, and Koosh, for that matter.Not the safest of waters in any case.TheEmpire still claimed sovereignty over all of what had been Turkish provinces,but that, as the saying went, when the emperor or his so-called pope spoke, itshook the ground in Constantinople, shook the knees in Cernivici, and shookthe belly with laughter in Izmir.Although maybe the laughter shouldn't have come quite so easily.Even in its present, shrunken state, the Empire could have easily reconqueredits way down to the Mediterranean, at least through Turkey.The Empire was notPage 48 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlwhat it once had been, but it was nothing for a small former province totrifle with.Still, such a move would have brought the Empire into conflict with bothCrown and Dar, and while the so-called Emperor and his so-called pope werecertainly fools, they likely weren't that foolish.Much better to leave it asa buffer zone, and eventually let the Crown and Dar fight it out, and hope topick off the winner.That was the sort of cowardly thing you could expect fromthe Imperials."Do you think you're ready?" the admiral asked and he asked Cully, not SirGuy.At least he had addressed Cully, and not Kechiroski.Cully shrugged."As ready as I'll ever be," he said."As soon as those cloudspass across the Moon."And he shrugged again.If a man of as mild a temperament as Guy of Orkneycould be irritated over a gesture, Cully's shrugging would have irritated himmightily.Even more than the admiral treating Sir Cully as though he was thesenior Order Knight aboard, when Sir Cully carried merely two mundaneswords when he carried them at all while Sir Guy was a knight of the WhiteSword, carrying Albert.Proper decorum would have required the admiral to beconsulting with Sir Guy, who was, after all, in both law and fact, the seniorof the two [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]