I was surprised that most of the assembled audience listened to him with interest, and if their pale, porcelain faces were not so impassive one might even say with participation.
«Up to now weve only lived by catching people in night alleys. They had neither revolvers nor the support of the law to defend against us,» Charlo continued, out of breath. «Somehow their knives, sharpened to piss off the wandering strangers, didnt frighten us. Good thing there was a war recently, and we had a goodly profit in the pockets of deserters and marauders we caught. Then we had only the midnight robbers at our disposal. Look, instead of seizing Viniena at our complete disposal, we are cleansing its quarters of criminals. We have no other means of subsistence than what we have extracted from the robbers purses. And if we only plunder at night one of these magnificent rich palaces, which contain more trinkets than the owners need, we will be hunted down by the very guarding companies from which we have so cleverly hidden so far. It cant go on like this forever, can it?»
«Of course it cant,» hissed a woman I recognized as Priscilla from the crowd. Her barely audible exclamation in the crowd of shadows was deafeningly loud. No one but the woman had dared to raise her voice to interrupt Charlos speech.
«What do you suggest we do?» Royce, always brash after her statement, immediately stepped forward.
«I told you,» Charlo straightened up. «No more delays, no more excuses. I think the hour is at hand. The chime is about to strike, but there are worse noises to rouse the most watchful of watchmen before the chime strikes. Let us do what we set out to do! Its today or never!
Charlo pointed defiantly with his hand, clutching the shaft of the torch, toward the kings palace. The triumphant cry, accompanied by that simple but eloquent gesture, resounded ominously through the night. But even if the sleeping townspeople heard something, it seemed to them to be no more than the long cry of a hoopoe or a cormorant, which on the coast foretold trouble to sailors, but who knows how it had come to be here in the town square.
«Go to the palace! Youve gone quite mad,» Klovis, less impulsive but more judicious, folded his arms across his chest and rested his shoulder on the railing of the wooden staircase that led to the palace. A sneer flashed in his calm aquamarine eyes. Or rather, his eyes were different colors, one entirely aquamarine and the other three-quarters blue. I could see it even from this distance. Different colored eyes are a sure sign of someone who promises to be a capable sorcerer.
«That pretty girl was right to declare you insane,» Klovis grinned at the corners of his lips. Light and nimble, he could turn on anyone who contradicted him. «Our charming Shadow Infanta is not, as you told us, a pretty little thing, but not only clever, but wise and perceptive. She was the first one to notice that you were mad, and we werent sure whether to believe her or not.»
«Youre just captivated by her doll face,» Charlo said impertinently, stepping back just in case there was enough distance between him and Klovis to make a run for it. «We dont need a lover here. We should be thinking of our future, of prosperity, of success, not correcting grammatical errors in your love canzonets. Better get out of here while youre still in one piece, theres no room in our ranks for the cowardly and the cowardly. Cowards sooner or later become traitors. We dont need such a nuisance. Go serenade the dragons mistress under her window. You could have been one of the lords of the world with us, but instead you prefer to be her servant. Get out of here! Go to your sweetheart and pray that her protector doesnt scald your face with his fiery breath.»
«Shut up!» Klovis gritted through his teeth. The taunts had hit their mark. He was so angry that he tore the lapels of his cloak with his nails. The silk lapels on the sleeves were now nothing but scraps, but Klovis somehow decided it was better than leaving one tattered carcass from his recalcitrant counterpart.
«Eye for an eye,» Sharlo grinned evilly. «That pretty girl really hurt your feelings.»
I was going to get even with him for calling Rose a dragons minion, but I wasnt sure what he would say. It was curious, to learn of the enemys secret plans from his own lips.
Without the mediation of spies, I could learn far more than they would have told me. Charlo persuaded the crowd with such zeal and such fervor. He had no idea that the dragon was watching him, not through a keyhole, but standing nearby, in plain sight and not even trying to hide around a corner. And still I was still a creature who had entered this world through a narrow tunnel not used by humans, connecting two worlds. I continued to feel like a spy, peeking at the gathering in the square and all of humanity in general from the tiny keyhole in the door that separates one world from the other.
«I wont listen to an honest girl being insulted,» Klovis shook the invisible debris from his coat, turned on his heels and was about to leave, but Charlos menacing shout stopped him.
«Dont you dare say anything to our illustrious Monseigneur Dragon, or the prince will rip out your tongue.»
Clovis turned and clenched his fists so that his knuckles whitened. He would have liked to challenge him to a duel or even a scuffle, but he knew that he could easily avoid the challenge by claiming that he was now a republican and had no intention of tolerating aristocratic habits, and that a fist fight would have been a distant prospect. Could anyone compare to him in running speed?
«What could you possibly have learned from a downtrodden noble family except prayers, swordsmanship, and philosophy?» Charlo grinned mockingly. «You prefer words to toil, slowness to lightning speed. You value long hours of leisure more than the swift path to glory and advantage. We cannot be lazy like you. Why did we come to the square under the cover of night, when everyone is asleep and there is no one to hinder us. This is the most direct path to the palace. We will come silently, swiftly and unexpectedly. No one will be able to resist us. Have you not sneaked up behind the dark ones weve robbed and disarmed them? You yourself acted like a thief in the night, and now youre trying to play the moralist.»
«And you suggest that we storm the palace without even getting an order from the prince to do so. Its better to wait for the lords command than to act on our own. At least that way we can count on his support. Where is he now? From which roof is he watching us and laughing at our foolishness? We will die, and he will find other, even more servile and subservient followers.»
«Youre talking nonsense,» Charlo protested firmly.
«I have every right to be, since Ive already been banished, Ive got to do something to establish my sullied reputation as a pariah so you wont have any regrets about me.»
Klovis looked either questioningly or mockingly around the half circle of black figures, which had swung open to make way for him, and then turned again to Charlo.
«At least extinguish the torch so none of the sentries will notice the flame creeping up the path to the front door. We all prefer the ascetic way of life, dressed in black, like the monks, but they only wear cassocks and tonsils, and we hide from every passerby dressed in uniform. If youre such an ardent ascetic, Charlo, you shouldnt feel the lack of comfort because theres no fire nearby. The moonlight is enough for shadow. You used to be the quickest to sneak off to the sewer grates if there was a cart rattling close by carrying convicts to their execution. Now youve suddenly grown bolder, offering to go to the Kings palace. Well, go!»
«Thats not all I suggest,» Sharlo said with a wry squint as if he were trying to establish some sort of rapport with himself. «Isnt the second part of the plan appealing to you?»
«You try that, and even if they dont drag you down to the palace door, youve signed your own death warrant.»
Klovis thought for a moment, as if he did not know how to express his fears accurately.
«You see,» he tried to explain. «Its not just your life thats at stake here. Its a case of you and your instigator taking the lives of all your followers. Its not enough to slit the throat of Vinienas lord, you want willingly to become entangled with a man from whom others, the most dangerous and vicious, will flee at a moments notice. Believe me, youre looking for an enemy who has killed people far greater than you for fun. You cant beat him.
«Im not asking you to fight him,» Charlo protested angrily. «To fight him would be a suicide. Youre not the only one with the foresight to see that. Im trying to make it clear that if he comes to the old mans rescue, we can steal from him, quietly, without being seen by him as missing any of the treasure. What would be garbage to him would be useful to us.»
«He may already know all about your plans,» Klovis assured him.
«How could he?» Reluctantly, as if he were a mischievous sort of ruffian, Charlo snapped back. «Who could have warned him? Had His Majesty sent him the dispatch? He knows nothing of our plans. No one knows.»
«He knows everything,» Klovis tried his best to convince the intruders of his rightness, trying to create an atmosphere of fear in the square with his serious tone as opposed to the playful jokes of the instigator. Indeed, a chill ran down the skin of some. It was immediately clear that Klovis knew what he was talking about. His unwavering self-confidence elevated him above the others. It didnt even matter that he was standing below the platform and that Charlo was preaching from the podium like a pulpit.
«Remember, he has all-seeing eyes. There is not a rebellious or even harmless thought in our heads that escapes him. He has the highest power with him, and behind us only is the arrogance and rebellious ramblings of someone who has apparently lost his mind.»
«That means youre on his side,» Charlo snapped.
«I dont even know his name. All I know is that he is more powerful than all of us.»
«What does his name mean to you? I dont care if its Mr. Lucifer. Doesnt a corrupt little soul care who he gets his bounty from? He may have already bought your vote, but not mine. We dont care what power he has, as long as he has a treasure left unattended somewhere in the snow. He has cellars full of gold»
«But hes got a breath of fire,» Klovis protested, his tone fair enough. He seemed the most judicious of the group.
«You wouldnt want your skin to burn as if youd been in an oven, would you? Theres no such thing as a shadow with burnt scars.»
«Dont listen to him,» Charlo said to the crowd.. «Hes only trying to delay our march to the Palace even for a moment. Its because Im foresighted that Im taking you there first, and then to the gold mines. Apart from the king, there is no one to warn our handsome villain. Even if any of the courtiers could warn him of the danger, they wouldnt lift a finger, because everyone is afraid of him. No one would save someone who later would certainly want to take the life of his own savior. We will be rich, and the prince will be pleased with us. Lock that fool up in a cellar somewhere, so he wont bother us,» he pointed with the torch at Klovis.
«Lock him in a storeroom or a quarry or, better yet, drown him under a bridge. You can see hes a dragon s fan. Anyone who colludes with the demon ends up dead in a noose, and he wont think to help his pals. He treats everyone like an enemy.»
«Youre wrong, Charlo, I never quarrel first, but if anyone tries to quarrel with me, my anger will be terrible,» I said it mentally, so that only Charlo himself could hear, and he did. The torch fell out of his hand, went over the wooden board of the platform, and went out on the stones of the sidewalk. I didnt want to see the flaming fire, so I let the torch fly away and go out instead of lighting the wooden beams, supported it with my invisible power, so to speak, and extinguished it at a distance.
Klovis did not hear my words, but, guided by some inner instinct, he turned around.
«Monseigneur,» he lowered his head with a guilty look, as if trying to explain, «I will accept your anger if it falls on me, but I am no longer with them.» The unnatural black curls lay on his forehead and covered his eyes, but I could make out the wrinkles in the corners of his eyes. He was some five or six centuries younger than me, and he, too, was in his early twenties, like me the last day of my human life, but he looked older than me, probably because he had already been dejected and suffering the vicissitudes of life in his younger years.
Charlos mouth fell open in surprise, but he couldnt say anything. He only noticed me now, and finally realized that hed miscalculated.
«What is the matter with you? Have you become unwell?» I asked mockingly, and walked to the scaffold with quick, brisk steps. Charlo was already numb with fear, and I was more confident than ever. «You wanted to go as far as my cellars and were not afraid of the hardships of the long journey, and when I myself came to you to listen to the petitions you were timid and no longer remember what you wanted to ask. Even girls are never so shy, but perhaps your shyness is due only to your deference to a dragon so great and famous?»
I spoke with dignity, but I moved lightly, nimbly, like an errand boy or a fox that had spotted a hare, but the crowd of shadows parted before me like before a very distinguished person. Some shuddered away from me, others stood dumbfounded. There was indeed an air of awe or fear all around.
I jumped swiftly to the platform, disregarding the ladder, easily getting off the ground and overcoming the height-a jaguars leap. Only a carnivore would act so coldly and calculatingly. I stood beside Charlo, letting him pull back, but blocking the path to the ladder, without which he couldnt get down. Jumping from the height of the platform would have been an unacceptable risk for him, and he didnt want to twist his ankle or break a bone. And my flexibility and invulnerability were just a little lacking by him.
«All right, shut up,» I said mercifully. «You dont have to be a wizard to read everything in your eyes. Did you want gold?»
I snapped my fingers and a heavy, iron-clad chest appeared on the platform at Charlos feet. The wooden boards and beams sagged beneath its weight. The lid was flung open, and those present were dazzled by the glitter of the piles of gold coins.
«Are they real?» Priscilla flew up the steps to the platform like a butterfly, stooped in front of the chest, and raked the coins with her palms as if they were gold sand.
«I suppose I could use a little variety?» It was again a quick flick of my unnaturally long fingers, and on top of the gold an invisible hand sprinkled a guest of gems. Some of it crumbled, but just as Priscilla was about to pick it up and feel it, it crumbled to rainbow-colored dust under her fingers. The walls of the chest began to blur and eventually dissolved into a puddle of wet sand, which instantly vanished as though nothing had happened. The coins still rattled in different directions, but they did not remain a golden rain for long. It looked like a kind of optical illusion. In the first moment they were rounds of gold, but in the second they were sizzling embers. Charlo was afraid to touch the treasure as if it had been plagued by plague, and now he was glad of it. Priscilla realized shed been tricked and pouted resentfully, but was too shy to say anything.