Читать «Centaur Aisle» онлайн - страница 194

“Sure,” Irene retorted, drawing her jacket close about her. “I think you stink!”

“Do you folk comprehend the situation?” Oary asked blithely.

“No,” Dor said. “I don’t know why King Trent didn’t turn you into a worm and step on you.”

“King Trent is an experienced monarch,” Oary said. “He deals with realities, rather than emotions. He goes for the most profitable combination, rather than simple vengeance. Here is reality: I have one troop of Avars here who could certainly create trouble. I have more at the other castle. It would take a minor civil war to dislodge those mercenaries, whose captains are loyal to me-and that would weaken the Kingdom of Onesti at a time when the Khazar menace is growing. It would be much better to avoid that nuisance and keep the Kingdom strong. Therefore King Omen must seek accommodation with me-for the good of Onesti.”

“Why not just-“ Irene started, but broke off.

“You are unable to say it,” Oary said. “That is the symptom of your weakness, which you will have to eliminate if you hope to make as effective a Queen as your mother. Why not just kill me and be done with it? Because your kind lacks the gumption to do what is necessary.”

“Yeah?” Grundy demanded. “Why didn’t you kill King Omen, then?”

Oary sighed. “I should have, I suppose. I really should have. But I liked the young fool. No one’s perfect.”

“But you tried to have him killed just now,” Dor said.

“A desperate measure,” Oary said. “I can’t say I’m really sorry it failed. The move came too late; it should have been done at the outset, so that Omen never had opportunity to give proof of his identity. Then the game would have been mine. But that is the measure of my own inadequacy. I didn’t want to retain my crown enough.”

Dor’s emotions were mixing. He knew Oary to be an unscrupulous rascal, but the man’s candor and cleverness and admission of civilized weakness made it hard to dislike him totally. “And now we have to deal with you,” Dor said. “But I don’t see how we can trust you.”

“Of course you can’t trust me!” Oary agreed. “Had I the option, I would have you right back in the dungeon, and your horse-man would be touring the Avar empire as a circus freak.”

“Now see here!” Amolde said.

“If we can’t kill him, and can’t trust him, what can we do with him?” Dor asked the others.

“Throw him in the same cell he threw King Omen,” Irene said. “Have a sadistic mute eunuch feed him.”

“Smash destroyed those cells,” Grundy reminded her. “Anyway, they aren’t safe. One of his secret henchmen might let him out.”

“But we’ve got to come up with a solution for King Omen!” Dor said. “I don’t know why this was put in my hands, but-“

“Because you will one day be King of Xanth,” Oary said. “You must learn to make the hard decisions, right or wrong. Had I had more experience before attaining power, I would have acted to avoid my present predicament. Had Omen had it, he would never have lost his throne. You have to learn by doing. Your King Trent is one competent individual; it was my misfortune to misjudge him, since I thought his talk about magic indicated a deranged mind. Usually only ignorant peasants really believe in sorcery. By the time you are King, you will know how to handle the office.”