Читать «Centaur Aisle» онлайн - страница 195

This made brutal sense. “I wish I could trust you,” Dor said. “You’d make an excellent practical tutor in the realities of governing.”

“This is your practical tutoring,” Oary said.

“There are two customary solutions, historically,” Amolde said. “One is mutilation-the criminal is blinded or deprived of his extremities, so he can do no further harm-“

“No!” Dor said, and Irene agreed. “We are not barbarians.”

“You are not professional either,” Oary said. “Still you balk at expedient methods.”

“The other is banishment,” the centaur continued. “People of your species without magical talents used to be banished from Xanth, just as people of my species with such talents are banished. It is a fairly effective device.”

“But he could gather an army and come back,” Dor protested. “King Trent did, way back when he was banished-“

“But he did not conquer Xanth. The situation had changed, and he was invited back. Perhaps in twenty years the situation will be changed in Onesti, and Oary will be needed again. At any rate, there are precautions. A selective, restricted banishment should prevent betrayal while keeping him out of local mischief. It would be advisable not to call it banishment, of course. That would suggest there was something untoward about the transfer of power, instead of an amicable return of a temporarily lost King. He could be assigned as envoy or ambassador to some strategic territory-“

“The Khazars!” Grundy cried.

“Hey, I don’t want to go there!” Oary protested. “’Those are rough people! It would take all my wit just to survive.”

“Precisely,” the centaur said. “Oary would be something of a circus freak in that society, tolerated but hardly taken seriously. It would be his difficult job to maintain liaison and improve relations with that empire, and of course to advise Onesti when any invasion was contemplated. If he did a good enough job for a long enough period, he might at length be pardoned and allowed to retire in Onesti. If not-?

“But the Khazars are bound to invade Onesti sooner or later,” Oary said. “How could I  prevent-”

“I seem to remember that at this period the Nordic Magyars were nominally part of the Khazar empire,” Amolde said. “They remained, however, a discrete culture. Oary might be sent to the Magyar court-“

“Where he would probably ferment rebellion against the Khazars!” Dor said. “Just to keep the action away from Onesti. It would take constant cunning and vigilance-“

“What a dastardly deed!” Irene exclaimed gleefully.

Surprised, they all exchanged glances. “A dastardly deed,” Dor repeated.

“We were cursed to do it,” Irene said. “Before the moon got full-and it’s very nearly full now. Let’s go tell the others how Ambassador Oary is going to the Magyars.”

“Purely in the interest of serving the Kingdom I love so well, to promote the interests of my good friend and restored liege, King Omen,” Oary said philosophically. “It could have been worse. I thought you’d flay me and turn me loose to beg naked in the village.”