[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.I have invited every lord from every corner of my kingdom.My purpose in this is to give the people what they so desperately want—a Tanharrow on the throne.She isn’t the impressive figure I hoped for, but she is a Tanharrow.We’ll see then if they really think ancient blood is all you need to rule, or if they’re hoping for something that doesn’t exist.But Tamin feels.”Belin drummed his fingers on the table, frowning.“He feels we should also send a stern message to the people to quell any potential rebellion.We have a man in prison, one of our own, who led an uprising against the tax collectors and killed two men some months ago.We think he’s one of the leaders of a rebel group called the Green Hoods.Tamin wants to hold a public execution.”Ifra couldn’t help the shudder that ran through him, and then the way every muscle in his body seemed to calcify.Don’t make me kill him, please.please.It wasn’t a command yet, but he was perhaps seconds away from that wish becoming a part of him.Ifra’s body would kill while the desires of his heart and soul would vanish until it was done.Tamin, he mouthed, grasping at anything.Belin said Tamin wanted the execution, which must mean Belin himself was unsure.Jinn weren’t supposed to persuade their masters, weren’t supposed to clutch their master’s arm and meet their eyes, but Ifra did those things.He mouthed words, made wheezing noises.He was starting to sweat.Belin jerked back, looking disturbed.“Speak, then,” he said.“Speak softly.”Ifra was so overwhelmed by the things he wanted to say that he was briefly rendered speechless.He had to be very, very careful.“Master, I went to the stables the other day,” he finally said.“I met a girl who wears a carved bear around her neck.”Belin looked so angry that Ifra made an effort not to flinch.“Why were you poking around there in the first place?”“I’m trying to understand you,” Ifra said.“My life—no, not even just that—my choices are in your hands.And so I want to know what you will choose.I want to know what sort of person you are.What sort of king you will be.Compassionate? Cruel?”Belin frowned at his hands, and then frowned more fiercely at Ifra.“What kind of trick are you trying to play now?”“Nothing! Why do you always think I’m trying to trick you?”“When I was in the city of the jinn, everyone warned me about your kind.If I managed to capture one, they would do anything to trick me into setting them free.Why should you be any different? If I were in your shoes, I’d do the same thing.”“I do want to be free,” Ifra said.His heart was still beating fast, but he had a gut feeling that he needed to be honest to get through to Belin.“If I knew how to trick you into letting me go, I would, but I don’t.I’m seventeen years old—”“Old enough,” Belin interjected.“My brothers and I were well versed in manipulation at a younger age than that.”“Maybe it’s just not in my nature.I spent part of the year with a tutor who tried to train me in dealing with my masters.how to serve them, yes, but more importantly, how not to grow attached to anyone or anything.I understood, on a logical level, but I couldn’t feel it deep down, because I had people who loved me and I loved them, and I couldn’t not care.”“Who do you love?” Belin asked.“I don’t even know where jinn come from.”Ifra resisted answering.When he thought of his mother, his tutor, Arkat and Hami—all the people of his childhood—he felt anger at them, that they couldn’t have somehow protected him or prepared him for this.At the same time, he missed them so terribly.He didn’t want to tell Belin about the people he loved.Belin could have his magic and his strength, but not his memories.“Please,” he said.“Don’t force me to answer that.They’re so far away, it hurts to remember.”Belin was looking at his hands again.“People must think I didn’t love my father, if they think I could kill him.Sometimes I was angry at him, but I would never kill him.” He looked at Ifra as if daring him to deny it.“I believe you,” Ifra said.“Never,” Belin repeated fiercely.“Why would I spend years of my life trying to bring him a treasure if I wanted him to die?”Ifra felt unsure of what to do next.What did he really know of Belin’s relationship with his father or brothers, or even royal families in general? It seemed terribly competitive, and if Luka was the kind of man who could imprison Erris.Well, he was ruthless indeed.It would be hard to be the son of a man like that, trying to please him and live up to his expectations on one hand.and perhaps knowing, deep down, that it was wrong all the while.“Why did you go to such lengths to be king?” he finally asked.“Why didn’t you allow Tamin to have the throne?”“Why should Tamin have the throne? I brought home the greatest treasure [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]