The Redemption of Althalus. David Eddings

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СКАЧАТЬ a labor contractor,’ Althalus replied.

      The statesman gave him a quizzical look.

      Althalus winked slyly at him. ‘“Labor contractor” sounds so much nicer than “slave trader”, wouldn’t you say? I’d heard about the assault on your city, and I understand that your soldiers captured several of the attackers. I thought I might stop by and take them off your hands. The owners of the salt mines in Ansu are paying a lot of money for strong, healthy slaves right now. Captured soldiers bring a premium price in the salt mines, and I pay in good gold. Do you think Arya Andine might be interested?’

      ‘The word “gold” is very likely to get her attention,’ the courtier agreed. ‘She’ll want to keep Eliar, the young fellow who killed her father, but she’d probably be willing to sell the others to you. What might your name be, my friend?’

      ‘I’m called Althalus.’

      ‘A very ancient name.’

      ‘My family was sort of old-fashioned.’

      ‘Why don’t we step over to the palace, Master Althalus?’ the courtier suggested. ‘I’ll introduce you to our impossible Arya.’

      The old gentleman led the way to the palace gate, and he and Althalus were immediately admitted. ‘The soldiers will look after your horse, Master Althalus,’ the silvery-haired man said. ‘Oh, my name’s Dhakan, by the way. I tend to forget that strangers don’t know me.’

      I’m pleased to make your acquaintance, Lord Dhakan,’ Althalus said, bowing politely.

      Emmy, who’d been sitting rather primly on the saddle of their horse, dropped sinuously to the stones of the courtyard.

      ‘Your pet, Master Althalus?’ Dhakan asked.

      ‘She tends to look at it the other way around, my Lord,’ Althalus replied. ‘Cats are sort of like that.’

      ‘I have a pet turtle myself,’ Dhakan said. ‘He doesn’t move very fast, but then, neither do I.’

      Osthos was an ancient city, and the throne room was truly magnificent. It had a marble floor and stately columns. At the far end was a raised dais backed by crimson drapes, and there was an ornate throne on that dais. Imperious Andine, Arya of Osthos, sat upon that throne. She was quite obviously not paying the slightest bit of attention to the droning speech being presented by a stout man wearing a white mantle. The speech was a diplomatically gentle suggestion that the young Arya wasn’t paying enough heed to affairs of state.

      Andine was young – very young, in fact. Althalus judged her to be no more than fifteen years old. Everyone else in her throne room had white hair, the only exception being a similarly youthful kilted Arum, who was chained to a marble column at one side of the dais. That young fellow was receiving imperious Andine’s undivided attention. She was looking directly at him with her huge, almost black eyes, and she was absently toying with a large laurel-leaf dagger.

      ‘That’s the Knife, pet,’ Emmy silently exulted.

      ‘Is that the murderer chained to that post?’ Althalus whispered to Dhakan a bit incredulously.

      ‘Sick, isn’t it?’ Dhakan replied. ‘Our glorious, but slightly warped, leader hasn’t let him out of her sight since the day he was captured.’

      ‘Surely she has a dungeon.’

      ‘Oh, yes, indeed she does. The other prisoners are all there. For some strange reason, our little girl longs for the sight of the young ruffian. She never talks to him, but she never takes her eyes off him. She sits there playing with that knife and watching him.’

      ‘He looks just a bit nervous.’

      ‘Wouldn’t you be?’

      Then Emmy, her tail sinuously flowing back and forth, daintily crossed the marble floor and went up onto the dais.

      ‘What are you doing?’ Althalus sent a startled thought at her.

      ‘Stay out of this, pet,’ her voice came back. Then she raised herself up, putting her front paws on the marble throne, and meowed inquiringly at the young Arya.

      Andine jerked her eyes off her captive and looked at the green-eyed cat at her knee. ‘What an adorable kitten!’ she exclaimed. ‘Where did you come from, Puss?’

      ‘My apologies. Your Highness,’ Althalus said, stepping forward. ‘Emmy, you come back here.’

      Arya Andine gave him a puzzled look, ‘I don’t believe I know you,’ she said. Her voice was rich and vibrant, the kind of voice that stirs a man’s spirit.

      ‘Permit me, Your Highness,’ Dhakan said, stepping forward and bowing slightly. ‘This is Master Althalus, and he’s come here to discuss a business matter.’

      Emmy gave another inquiring meow.

      ‘Did you want to come up here into my lap, Puss?’ Andine asked. She leaned forward and picked Emmy up. She held the cat out and looked into her face. ‘My,’ she said in her rich voice, ‘aren’t you adorable?’ Then she put the cat in her lap. ‘There,’ she said, ‘was that what you wanted?’

      Emmy started to purr.

      ‘Master Althalus here is a businessman, Arya Andine,’ Dhakan said. ‘He deals in captives, and since he heard about the recent attack on our city, he’s stopped by to inquire about the possibility of buying those barbaric Arum prisoners from you. I recommend that you give him a hearing, Your Highness.’

      ‘What on earth would you do with them, Master Althalus?’ Andine asked curiously.

      ‘I have a number of contacts in Ansu, Your Highness,’ Althalus replied. ‘The owners of the salt mines there are always in the market for strong young men. A salt mine uses up workers at a ferocious rate.’

      ‘You’re a slave trader, then?’

      Althalus shrugged deprecatingly. ‘It’s a living, Your Highness. Slaves are a valuable commodity. I buy them in places where they’re an inconvenience and take them to places where they can be put to work to pay for their keep. Everybody benefits, really. The one who sells them to me gets gold, and the one who buys them gets laborers.’

      ‘What do the slaves get?’

      ‘They get fed, Your Highness. A slave doesn’t have to worry about where his next meal’s coming from. He gets fed even when the crops fail or the fish aren’t biting.’

      ‘Our philosophers tell us that slavery’s an evil.’

      I don’t concern myself with philosophy, Your Highness. I take the world as I find it. I’m prepared to offer ten Perquaine gold wheats for every able-bodied young captive you’d care to sell.’

      She stared at him in astonishment. ‘That’s a noble price, Master Althalus,’ she said in that throbbing voice.

      ‘I buy the best, Your Highness, so I pay the best. I don’t deal in children or old men or young women. I buy only young, strong, healthy men who can put in a good day’s work.’ He glanced over at the youthful Arum СКАЧАТЬ