Bear sun. Royal blood

A wedding is the happiest day in every girl's life. But will he be happy for Princess Pauline Rudlog?

Can work replace love for Princess Angelina? Will Princess Marina be able to cope with the craving for extreme sports, her sister Alina - to prove that she deserves to study at the Magic University, and Queen Vasilina - not to let go of the government that fell on her a couple of months ago?

Sometimes it happens - even love and power will not save you from what was destined. And the gods are powerless to help, because there are times when only people decide their fate.

The work was published in 2017 by AST. This book is part of the "Royal Blood" series. On our site you can download the book "Royal Blood. Bear Sun" in fb2, rtf, epub, pdf, txt format or read online. The rating of the book is 5 out of 5. Here, before reading, you can also refer to the reviews of readers who are already familiar with the book and find out their opinion. In the online store of our partner you can buy and read the book in paper form.

© I. Kotova, 2017

© Design. AST Publishing House LLC, 2017

Part one

Chapter 1

End of November, Blakoria

At a small seismological station in the mountains to the north of Blacoria, near the border with Bermont, there was a sleepy stupor familiar to this place. The sun had just risen from behind a low "saddle" - a pass between two peaks - and the snow shone dazzlingly white and pink, and the shadows from the peaks, sliding along the slopes and thickening in the hollows, seemed juicy, dark purple, as if on a frozen snow-white blanket was generously splashed with blueberry juice.

Two elderly employees of the station, who came to the mountains as young guys, and never managed to get away from this beauty, drank traditional sweet tea with an obligatory good share of berry tincture and quietly discussed plans for the weekend. They were surprisingly similar, although one was a Blakorian, dark, brown-eyed, and the other was a typical Inlander - red, with blue eyes. But thirty years of mountain sun brightened their eyes and hair, wrinkled the skin around their eyes, painted their faces with a brick tan, and their gait was the same - skiing, relaxed - and to become, and figures, taut, with broad shoulders and narrow hips. And their names were similar - Ulrich and Heinrich, and they married sisters - the mountains wove their destinies, making them not only friends, but also relatives. And so they worked together that now they didn’t need to say much - they understood each other perfectly. But they talked anyway. The grandchildren had already left, and the children had left, and every morning for thirty-one years in a row they began with an ascent to the station from a small town at the foot of the mountain, there they brewed tea for themselves and talked about everything in the world - from family affairs to a flight to philosophical height. Do not forget to note the readings of the instruments and look after the slopes on your own initiative - if there is too much snow accumulated somewhere, which can avalanche on their town, is it not time to arm yourself with a rocket launcher, drive along the creaky snow-white cover and knock down the emerging loose snow growth.

The head of the station, Ulrich Kengspitzen, had a unique flair - he foresaw weather changes, avalanches ready to break, crevasses in glaciers and foresaw earthquakes. Even today, Ulrich had been worried since morning: his chest was oppressed, his ears were ringing - clear signs of an impending disaster. Unfortunately, ringing in the ears cannot be added to the report of the declared alarm, so we had to wait for the readings of the seismic sensor. But in their town everyone knew: if old Uli is gloomy, and his eye is bloodshot, wait for the shocks. The sign was as true as the flowering of an alder, after which there was no more cold weather.

Two kilometers to the left and below the station there was a busy ski resort - one of those that Blakoria was so famous for, and people had already begun to arrive en masse before the weekend - a scattering of small figures in bright jackets and hats was clearly visible from the window, which was disembarking from the funicular and a stream walked towards the administration building.

By evening, the slope will be illuminated with lights, and thousands of people will test themselves on the slopes. Thousands of those who are in love with the mountains, like themselves.

Ulrich winced - the ringing in his ears became unbearable - and then the mountain trembled, buzzed, howled around, the seismograph squealed, drawing a sharp vertical line on the tape, and went on dancing further, drawing a graph in the form of a fading triangle.

- Five points, no less! the station chief shouted excitedly as he reached the tape. In the first few seconds, he and Henry could not stand on their feet, and a friend also managed to knock over a mug of tea on himself and now grimaced, pulling up his trousers and pouring burn spray on reddened skin. The station was shaking again - there were residual shocks, and Ulrich was already dialing an alarm number and dictating into the phone.

Red alert, red alert! Avalanche danger! There was an earthquake, power not less than five points. Close roads, evacuate people, high probability of aftershocks!

“Uli, look,” the burnt partner scratched his red beard in bewilderment, looking out the window. The little station began to tremble again, and he grabbed the window sill. - I have not seen this yet. What is this?

- Optical illusion? – uncertainly suggested senior, looking at a strange phenomenon about a hundred and fifty meters from the building. Henry took the camera, began to enthusiastically click. There, in dense shade, above the streams of disturbed snow running down, a transparent rainbow sphere, four human heights high, was inflated - it created the complete impression that someone was blowing into an invisible tube and blowing out a huge bubble, starting from a mother-of-pearl funnel and going into the mountainside.

“It doesn’t look like it,” his friend objected, forgetting both the scalded leg and the jolts that still echoed faintly under his feet. He looked at the footage - and the sphere grew larger until the "funnel" trembled and disintegrated into several "petals", giving the phenomenon a resemblance to a huge transparent snowdrop. “Listen, Uli, let me go and see what a marvel it is.

- The snow is unstable, - the chief objected more for the sake of order, - it would not be necessary.

Although he himself was curious. An avalanche did not threaten the station - the building stood on a wide stone ledge, and the place was not avalanche hazardous.

“All right,” Henry said, pulling on his ski boots, “the snowmobile will pass.

The transparent “flower” had already stopped growing and was only trembling. Some kind of turbidity swayed inside him, as if a gray fog barely stirred the breeze.

Ulrich looked out of the window through binoculars at his comrade, slowly ascending to a strange sphere. Then they will definitely look at the recording of surveillance cameras - it's curious how it appeared. The head of the station did not forget about the instruments, but here everything was familiar and worked out to automatism. The earth periodically sighed before - in fact, the station was set up for this.

Henry stopped almost at the sphere, took out a camera.

- This is something incredible, Uli. Some kind of miracle, - the voice of his partner boomed in the earpiece - through binoculars the elder saw how he took off his gloves, raised his glasses. - We should report to MagControl, what do you think?

- What do you see?

- There is some kind of fog inside, as if you are looking through dusty glass. Something's moving, Uli.

The stationmaster's sense of smell was always on top, and his head rang again, warning of danger.

Get out of there, Henry! he demanded tensely into the microphone. - Immediately!

“Wait a minute,” the friend answered in bewilderment and cheerfully, “now I am.

The Inlander enthusiastically clicked the camera, setting with his back to the sun and moving away from the snowmobile.

"Go away, whoever you told!"

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” my comrade muttered, turned his back on the “flower” and wandered to the snowmobile, watching the footage on the go. Ulrich lowered the binoculars, looked closely, and frowned. He picked it up and cursed.

- Run, Henry! There is some crazy stuff going on! Run!

Heinrich looked back, froze for a moment - and rushed off, deftly moving his feet along the snow that had begun to crumble. There were about five meters left before the snowmobile, when from the former “bubble” it completely appeared This- a long, thin creature, similar to a monstrous insect, with a narrow long proboscis, like a duck's beak. It could be a spider or a water strider, if only spiders could move on short legs, have a long body, many eyes on a round head and a "beak".

The snowmobile roared - the monster, tasting the snow with its proboscis, raised its head, sat down, crossed its legs, and suddenly jumped - and sank exactly to the place where a moment ago the mountain transport had stood. The elder rushed to the phone again.

- Alarm, alarm! Wizards need help. There is a monster that looks like a spider, we need help, we need help!!!

Uli, you got drunk there, or what? came the mocking voice of the operator.

- Yes………!..! the Blakorian cursed, watching the snowmobile rushing down the slope, and behind it a giant beaked spider was moving in jumps, gliding through the snow, rolling head over heels, getting up again, deafeningly shaking its head. I'm sober as glass! The thing is trying to crush Henry now! Fuck, Oliver, if you don't pass on the information, I'll break your neck!

“Calm down, Uli,” the operator replied more seriously. - I'm writing it down. Once again, let's dictate.

The huge creature crouched on its front paws; the proboscis somehow stretched out, then contracted like a spring, and spat out a long thick thread that crashed into the snowmobile. The car jerked back, Heinrich flew somersault, swearing into the microphone, got up and briskly ran to the building - it was already very close. The spider was approaching, too, and the closer it got, the more incredible its size seemed - no less than three cable car cabins. If he jumps on a building, there won't be much left.

“We saw a huge iridescent bubble, as if made of glass, immediately after the earthquake,” Ulrich said quickly, pulling out a thick tube from the equipment - a rocket launcher for knocking down avalanches. Henry went to see what was there. When I got there, a monster came out. It looks like a spider, only huge, - he opened the door with his foot, took aim - the creature just jumped, and its shiny chitinous belly was clearly visible from below. A friend ran, yelled something, but Uli did not listen - he carefully aimed, realizing that there would be no second chance. Now he's trying to crush Henry. We'll be in the basement. Warn quickly, otherwise he will dine with us and go to the city or to the resort.

The trigger clicked, the rocket flew out of the barrel with a roar, crashed into a shiny belly - the spider yelled, jerked its paws in the air, fell heavily down and spun in place, rubbing its belly on the snow. The comrade ran through the door, his face was white and white, despite many years of sunburn.

- To the basement, - the elder commanded, slamming the door - the spider was already falling on its front paws again, preparing to spit, and literally a couple of seconds after closing, there was a loud bang on the door from outside, so much so that it crackled. The men grabbed walkie-talkies, beacons, went down to the basement, battened him down.

“Ulrich, Ulrich, over,” the microphone crackled, “the signal has been transmitted, hold on.”

“Hold on,” the partners looked at each other in the dim light of a single light bulb. - Hurry up ... holy saints !!!

A blow fell on the house - the light flickered, went out, creaked from above, rained down with a roar.

“…Hurry!” Otherwise, it will go to you!

Five minutes after the transmission of the signal, a detachment of battle mages from the Rapid Response Unit appeared in the town at the foot of the mountain. The inhabitants of the town hastily barricaded themselves in the cellars, although the ground was still trembling and the danger of repeated strong shocks was high. The monstrous spider jumped down to the settlement - on the way it was “accepted”, covered with stasis and frozen into a block of ice. And until the end of the day, the townspeople and curious tourists went to the sparkling block - while the question of what to do with it was being decided. They looked out from afar, from behind the cordon, trying to see something behind the thickness of muddy ice, excitedly talking, building versions of what happened and who was frozen there. Operator Oliver remained silent on all questions and thoughtfully mysteriously grunted.

Seismologists were dug out from under the rubble of the former station, examined for damage, and, without letting them come to their senses, they interrogated, seized surveillance camera footage and photographic materials. And they sent the victims on an unscheduled vacation with a wish not to talk about what happened. A hangar was promptly built around the monstrous exhibit, and a few days later His Majesty Gunther personally arrived there, accompanied by scientists and magicians. I looked around - almost all the ice had already been cut, leaving only a transparent parallelepiped - thoughtfully shook his head and sent out invitations to fellow monarchs for an unscheduled Royal Council. In Blakoria, this was the first time such a creature appeared.

Vasilina

Günther's Blakoria Palace always reminded Vasilina of a solid, squat house, built in a wide letter P and surrounded by a high wall with towers. Only a very, very large house, the size of a small village. In principle, the whole of Ribenstadt was like that, squat and fortified. The residence of the Blakorian monarchs, built of gray stone, with a triangular roof over the main entrance and sloping, ribbed coverings on the long wings of the building (so that the snow itself would slide down in a plentiful winter), with thick pipes, covered at the foundation with patches of moss, now black from frost, entwined in some places with a vine, it was very picturesque, although it resembled a huge shopkeeper's house, and not a royal palace.

But Gunther treated the habitat of his ancestors with all possible trepidation, he did not allow it to be modernized from the outside, and inside the alterations were minimal - only to achieve the necessary comfort.

So the distinguished guests of King Blakoria, invited to the extraordinary Royal Council, were now sitting in a small hall with low ceilings and wide windows and could admire the snow-white roofs of the opposite wing. It was clear outside the window, the snow shone and created a festive, sunny mood. The furniture in the room was ancient, massive, and the chairs, covered with soft skins, were such that even ten people would not have lifted them - as if they were carved from solid thick oaks. They seemed to have grown to the floor, these chairs - they seemed so old. A large fireplace was burning, and thin skins lay on the floor, and the walls between the narrow carpets were painted with scenes of hunting, already faded. Everything looked very simple and meaningful - Günther showed his cordiality, receiving colleagues not in an official setting, but in the old part of Blackory Castle.

Vasilina came on an urgent call from the Blakorian monarch from Lesovina, and now the monarchs were waiting only for Queen Ippotalia. Finally, she appeared, smiled charmingly at the men who stood up at her appearance, kissed Vasilina and sat down in a free chair. Everyone looked at her expectantly.

- What, - the queen smiled slyly, - did intelligence work perfectly well for everyone? So, can you tell me? Dear emperor?

“My people have not yet been able to penetrate the Sands,” the emperor said melodiously, but with obvious reluctance, “so all hope is on you, sister.

His face was completely stony, but the disappointment of a man with the best intelligence in the world was easy to guess. Gunther chuckled at this disappointment and winked at Hippotalia.

- You jumped us, Tali, so tell me.

“Yes, Demyan,” the queen said affectionately and smiled at him. And Berman's lips twitched for a moment. Vasilina admired herself - she should have dealt with those around her like that. She still felt awkward around more experienced colleagues, but she would never show it.

Everyone was eager to hear the news, and only the emir of Taitana sat with a half smile, fragrant with perfume, shining with rings and a golden belt, and looked as if he was ready to sit here for eternity.

“It so happened,” the queen began in a businesslike tone, after a necessary pause, “that one of the dragons of the Sands flew to me. On a personal matter.

What is this about a personal matter? the Blakorian monarch interrupted her. Thalia looked at him reproachfully and shook her head. Everyone pretended not to notice.

“And he took me to the Sands,” the queen continued. - In fact, life boils only in a tiny space in the middle of a lifeless desert. One city, Istael, is alive, there are many people in it. The city is ruled by the Lord of Noria Vallerudian. I received the best welcome. Vladyka is adequate, although his concepts and manners are somewhat archaic, he is ready to cooperate with all countries. As far as I understand, they are establishing contacts with Rudlog, - she looked at Vasilina, and the queen nodded under the interested glances of her colleagues. – His generic power is very powerful, he controls both Life and Water and is equal to us. Therefore, I consider it possible to recommend his invitation to the next Royal Council. Everyone can calculate the benefits for themselves. What do you say?

“I support you,” Vasilina said. The rest were silent, thinking. – I talked with Vladyka's younger brother, and he made the most favorable impression on me.

"They kidnapped your sister, Vasilina," Lucius Inlander reminded him dully. “Despite the fact that he is my father's brother, the methods put me on guard.

“This misunderstanding has been resolved, as you all know,” Queen Rudloga calmly explained, “I accepted their arguments, although we went through a very unpleasant period. The sister claims that she was treated with all respect. Moreover, she decided to participate in the restoration of relations between Rudlog and Peskov. I suppose if she had even a shadow of discontent, she would not have been so interested in dialogue.

– I support, – Han Shi said weightily and put his hands in the sleeves of his robe for greater significance. – Dragons have long been revered in Yellowwin as the givers of life, and I am happy that the legends turned out to be true.

Emir Persius lazily moved his fingers.

- I am glad, my brothers and sisters, to such unanimity. How can I be against? We are already trading with them, and it is very profitable for Taitana.

He finished and looked around with superiority. The monarchs smiled politely at the competitor.

“Yes, yes, of course,” Gunther said kindly. - Demyan?

Bermont shook his head.

– I would prefer to have more information, so I am against it. I suggest rescheduling.

“I agree with Demyan,” Inlander supported him dryly. - A new political player, which we basically do not know. Let's wait a year and decide then.

- And I'm for it, - Gunther said cheerfully, - Tali's word is enough for me. And yours, Vasilina. And of course, yours, dear Emir.

Persia nodded majestically and closed his eyes. He seemed to be barely able to stop himself from yawning.

“So,” Gunther concluded, “the majority is in favor. So, we call the dragon for the next council. To you, Demyan.

“I remember,” Bermont replied evenly. - After the wedding.

By the way, about weddings. Everyone turned to the speaking Lucius. “It has already been in the press, but I officially inform you that the engagement of the Duke of Darmonshire and Angelina Rudlog has been confirmed by both parties. I strongly hope that they will not delay it.

And he looked at Vasilina with transparent persistence.

"It depends on their decision, Lucius," the queen said reservedly. Not to say that she is categorically against it.

“You can force it, sister,” the King of Finland said bluntly.

“You can,” Vasilina agreed, “but I won’t do it. This marriage is also important for us, Lucius, but there is already one hasty wedding in the Rudlog house,” those present glanced at the imperturbable Demyan with understanding, “so I consider it important to observe decorum here.

Inlander pursed his lips in displeasure and nodded reluctantly.

“Colleagues,” Bermont reminded dryly, “let's move on to the agenda. Gunther, what did you want to tell us?

“Yes,” the Blakorian monarch stood up, took a stack of photographs from the table and handed them out to those present. The sovereigns watched with interest; only one emperor glanced, as if he had already seen it.

- This creature appeared next to Lien on Tuesday, after the earthquake. The cameras captured the portal - you can see it in the next photo. Before that, we had breakthroughs, but either no one appeared, or the living creatures were much smaller and safer. And never - in this place; usually - much closer to the border with Bermont, to the volcanic chain. Demyan, have you seen such people?

“Once,” said Bermont. “I understand what you mean, Gunther. Yes, our breakthroughs have become more frequent. We are constantly monitoring near settlements in the foothills, the army emergency response service has been working for a long time. I think we simply don’t see some of these creatures - they either climb where they crawled from, or freeze in the mountains.

“The need to create such a service, apparently, is ripe for everyone,” said Vasilina, examining the arachnid monster and feeling an unpleasant chill of fear in her stomach - the memories of tha-ohong at her birthday were too fresh. Thanks for the info Gunter. I will sign the order today. In the Northern Mountains it is easier, there are few settlements near the peaks. But in Milokarderi there are a lot of mountain villages, it is impossible to trace everything.

– This is not the main question, – Han Shi said melodiously and instructively. He was forgiven for this tone - after all, he was the oldest of all the ruling monarchs in the world. - The main one is whether this is a temporary phenomenon, or the number of breakthroughs will increase, as well as the rise of the undead. And are these two processes connected, my brothers and sisters. The issue must be resolved by joint efforts, otherwise, I'm afraid, we will find ourselves on the verge of a catastrophe. I propose to combine monitoring services and share information. This will benefit us all. Demyan, and from your military it is desirable to receive a list of the types of these creatures and ways to deal with them.

Bermont thought for a moment and nodded reluctantly. He didn't like sharing information.

“The next question is about the conspirators,” Gunther spoke up again. “I have to admit that the investigation is stalling. The one who advised the girl to buy a decoy was killed, the store where she bought it burned down. I myself mentally read it - but no clues, except for the name of this adviser, damn him. We check his contacts, all relatives are read by mentalists - they are clean. So there is nothing to please you. Vasilina, can you share the successes of your special services?

The queen shook her head.

- The investigation is still going on, I'm waiting for the report any day, colleagues. It's too early to talk about success. As soon as there is a report, I will share.

“You can,” Vasilina agreed, “but I won’t do it. This marriage is also important for us, Lucius, but there is already one hasty wedding in the Rudlog house,” those present glanced at the imperturbable Demyan with understanding, “so I consider it important to observe decorum here.

Inlander pursed his lips in displeasure and nodded reluctantly.

“Colleagues,” Bermont reminded dryly, “let's move on to the agenda. Gunther, what did you want to tell us?

“Yes,” the Blakorian monarch stood up, took a stack of photographs from the table and handed them out to those present. The sovereigns watched with interest; only one emperor glanced, as if he had already seen it.

- This creature appeared next to Lien on Tuesday, after the earthquake. The cameras captured the portal - you can see it in the next photo. Before that, we had breakthroughs, but either no one appeared, or the living creatures were much smaller and safer. And never - in this place; usually - much closer to the border with Bermont, to the volcanic chain. Demyan, have you seen such people?

“Once,” said Bermont. “I understand what you mean, Gunther. Yes, our breakthroughs have become more frequent. We are constantly monitoring near settlements in the foothills, the army emergency response service has been working for a long time. I think we simply don’t see some of these creatures - they either climb where they crawled from, or freeze in the mountains.

“The need to create such a service, apparently, is ripe for everyone,” said Vasilina, examining the arachnid monster and feeling an unpleasant chill of fear in her stomach - the memories of tha-ohong at her birthday were too fresh. Thanks for the info Gunter. I will sign the order today. In the Northern Mountains it is easier, there are few settlements near the peaks. But in Milokarderi there are a lot of mountain villages, it is impossible to trace everything.

– This is not the main question, – Han Shi said melodiously and instructively. He was forgiven for this tone - after all, he was the oldest of all the ruling monarchs in the world. - The main one is whether this is a temporary phenomenon, or the number of breakthroughs will increase, as well as the rise of the undead. And are these two processes connected, my brothers and sisters. The issue must be resolved by joint efforts, otherwise, I'm afraid, we will find ourselves on the verge of a catastrophe. I propose to combine monitoring services and share information. This will benefit us all. Demyan, and from your military it is desirable to receive a list of the types of these creatures and ways to deal with them.

Bermont thought for a moment and nodded reluctantly. He didn't like sharing information.

“The next question is about the conspirators,” Gunther spoke up again. “I have to admit that the investigation is stalling. The one who advised the girl to buy a decoy was killed, the store where she bought it burned down. I myself mentally read it - but no clues, except for the name of this adviser, damn him. We check his contacts, all relatives are read by mentalists - they are clean. So there is nothing to please you. Vasilina, can you share the successes of your special services?

The queen shook her head.

- The investigation is still going on, I'm waiting for the report any day, colleagues. It's too early to talk about success. As soon as there is a report, I will share.

“Bad,” Han Shi politely expressed the general opinion, and she felt like a schoolgirl in a lesson. She smiled softly and shrugged.

“My intelligence is doing everything it can.

“I do not reproach you, sister, as well as you, Gunther,” the emperor explained melodiously, “but I urge everyone to be careful. We gave our enemies enough time to recover and decide on a new blow. You need to be alert.

And he lightly and instructively raised his index finger to the corner of his narrow eye.

Marian was waiting for his queen in the rooms allocated to him in the building of the military unit in Velyka Lesovina. Here they arrived in the morning, and from here the journey of the royal couple around the North will begin. Of course, they and the accompanying courtiers could be accommodated in any of the hotels, and the governor would be happy to provide his own house, but according to tradition, the royal family became on a par with the officers serving them.

“They must see that we treat the army without neglect,” Queen Irina instructed her daughters, “so we must live where they live, eat what they eat.”

- Did you do it? - asked her husband, when Vasilina left the teleport and, briefly thanking the magician who opened the passage, let him go.

“Every time it gets easier,” the queen shared with a laugh, taking off her long gray jacket and unbuttoning the top buttons of her snow-white shirt, which smelled pleasantly of cleanliness. - I think I understood the secret: you need to sit with a straight face and for the most part be silent. There is someone to talk to.

The Prince Consort chuckled. He was in full dress - in front of his wife's speech before the formation, the parade, the awarding of units and a gala dinner with the highest military ranks. And after that, when the full generals and colonels can take a nap in their offices, the queen will visit Lesovina hospitals, talk with the townspeople to find out how the restoration of houses is progressing, because this city suffered the most from the past series of earthquakes. And tomorrow they are moving to the first of the units planned for visiting in the outback of the North. And in a week they will be near the Baidek estate.

“It’s strange to be here and not come home,” Vasilina said, as if in response to his thoughts, came up, gently rubbed her cheek against his shoulder so as not to stain her tunic with lipstick. - At least stay overnight. I rest my soul there, Marian.

“If you want, we’ll drop in,” he answered calmly. “Here you are so loved that they will understand.

She shook her head with a sigh, stepped back, and began to undress. She had to take a shower before the stylist came to fix her hair and makeup.

Exactly at two o'clock in the afternoon, the queen, accompanied by Marian, officers and courtiers, went to the podium, installed on the central square of Velyka Lesovina. She raised her hand in greeting, smiled - huge screens showed her soft smile to the military and residents of the northern capital who had gathered at the fences, despite the cold. Vasilina was dressed in a strict warm coat of an overcoat type, light curls were held by a neat hat. Drums rumbled, trumpets rang - and her majesty almost shrugged her shoulders, but she caught herself so as not to shudder with excitement. In front of her, lined up for the passage of the parade in rectangles, stood thousands of servicemen of all branches of the armed forces. There was also the Jaeger Northern Regiment, in which Marian served and whose emblem he put on, despite the fact that he was now serving in the Royal Guard Regiment. History repeated itself - only ten years ago she spoke in front of dozens of soldiers and officers at the Trout Outpost, and now there were more, much more, and everyone, stretched out, was waiting for what she would tell them.

The queen raised her eyes to the sun in the clear northern sky, exhaled as quietly as possible, and walked over to the microphone. The area is frozen.

My faithful soldiers and officers! Happy to welcome you!

Her sonorous deep voice resounded across the square, ran along the streets of the old city, reflected from the rickety Clock Tower, from the walls of houses. And the rectangles, consisting of thousands of people, trembled, hummed and barked in chorus so that the pavement and the platform trembled under her feet:

- Hello, ho-la-em, y-she ve-li-honest!

Vasilina waited for the vibrating echo of the greeting to cease, and continued:

– Today, two months after the restoration of the monarchy in Rudlog, I arrived here to revive the most important tradition – the royal tribute to the army that defends our land. But not only for this! she said hotly into the microphone. - I have come to thank you for your loyalty in a difficult time of trial for our country, loyalty and steadfastness! Without detracting from the merits of other military units that remained on the side of the ruling house, I want to note that it was the troops of the North that acted as a united front against the conspirators who shed so much blood. Including the blood of my mother, Her Majesty Queen Irene-Joanna.

“I want you to know,” Vasilina began quietly, but her voice grew stronger with every word, “the Rudlog family has not forgotten your devotion! It was here, in the North, that we found shelter and protection when we needed them. Not a single person from our environment betrayed us! It was here that I met my husband, a worthy son of this beautiful land and your colleague, - the cameras grabbed Baron Baydek standing next to her, - my children were born here. The North has taken a strong place in my heart, and despite the fact that I accepted the crown and returned to my family home, this land truly became my second home!

People listened attentively, and from the podium it already seemed to Vasilina that she clearly saw them - nodding, catching her every word, and she was glad of this and a little scared.

- And here is my word to you, - the queen solemnly proclaimed in conclusion, - today all parts of the North will receive on their banners a specially established order of Loyalty and the title of "royal". And as a sign of memory and gratitude from the Rudlog family, the heir to the crown in each generation will serve in one of the parts of the North! Congratulations! And thanks!

She spoke with inspiration, from the heart, deviating from the written and learned speech, blushed - and was unusually good, and they not only listened to her, but looked at the screens, at her sparkling eyes, light curls and cheeks rosy from frost. Was she majestic? Maybe. But it was definitely close and understandable. They did not tremble before her, but they admired her, fell in love with her and were ready to immediately go to the ends of the world - if suddenly Her Majesty wanted to give such an order.

The Queen stepped back from the microphone; the drums sounded again, and the units resoundingly marched in place, turning around, and, to the thundering orchestra, they went past the podium one after another, greeting their queen as they went. Vasilina raised her hand, smiling, her husband stood next to the imperturbable face, from the endless “Long Summers, Your Majesty”, rolling from one marching unit to another, her temples ached - and she kept waving, smiling and nodding until the last rectangle rattling with soles passed passed by and did not leave the square along the main street, and the orchestra did not stop.

It was then that she felt that her back was all wet and that the planned dinner would be very useful - her stomach was cramped with hunger, as if her nerves had devoured everything that had been left there since noon.

“Change clothes again,” Vasilina said to her husband with a sigh, when Marian gave her his hand to escort her from the podium. - Like me?

“Great,” he replied seriously. “I am married to a great woman.

“Who,” she answered just as seriously, “will go wild if she doesn’t have lunch.” As the simplest and not great.

The next morning, Sunday, when the royal family and their escorts were about to leave for one of the parts chosen for visiting, Vasilina received a call from her father. And he told about what he saw and heard in Hazel. While he was talking, the queen’s face darkened - the day before, when visiting hospitals, people approached her, thanked her for her quick help in restoring houses and treatment, and she kindly answered: “I am glad that everything is getting better. Thanks for sharing." And in such a contrast, what Svyatoslav Fedorovich spoke about sounded that she was completely upset. And got angry.

The cars were already ready - in a good way, it would have been possible to cross by teleport, since part was located south of Lesovina, and portals were distorted only in the mountains - but the contemplation of a string of cars by citizens was an integral part of the visit. And Baron Baydek, sitting next to his wife in the car, silently listened as she called Prime Minister Minken, described the situation and asked to organize an objective monitoring of the work of the committee to eliminate the consequences of emergency situations. So far - in the Ioannesburg region, and within two weeks - in all affected regions.

“And, of course,” she added, grimacing at the strange howling sounds from the speaker, “I really hope that the responsible people will not know about the check, Yaroslav Mikhailovich. The area report should be with me as soon as possible.

“Of course, Your Majesty,” the prime minister replied calmly over the speakerphone, “I will give all orders.” The guilty will be punished, I myself am ready ...

Somewhere in the background there was a male approving hubbub, exclamations: “No, how the hell did he pull it out! Sixteen kilograms, no less ... ”- and a juicy admiring mat.

“Excuse me, Your Majesty,” the prime minister asked and, apparently, covered the receiver with his hand - the sounds and voices became muffled.

The Queen paused expressively, Baydek smiled and explained with his lips: "Winter fishing." And howling in the speakers, apparently the wind.

- Enough, Yaroslav Mikhailovich, - she said already softer, though without ceasing to frown, - I'm sure that you did everything you had to do. The rest will be known from the results of the audit. Rest. Goodbye.

“You can disturb me at any time of the day or night, my lady,” Minken answered kindly, “and I support your indignation. Thank you for not chopping off the shoulder, but decided to figure it out. I give you credit.

He said goodbye, and Vasilina turned off the speakerphone.

“Here is the old fox,” the queen complained to her husband with annoyance, “and he praised and expressed morality.

“He is devoted to you,” Marian said and slipped a large hand behind her back - she relaxed relaxedly lay down on her husband’s shoulder, pressed herself. The car hummed, Lesovin's houses flashed past the window, the driver behind the glass was imperturbable. - It is most important. And what teaches - so you know, it's only good.

* * *

Lord Maximilian Trott carefully placed the freshly prepared capsules of the strongest tonic in the dryer, turned on the timer for twenty minutes. He carefully wiped the work surface, took off his latex gloves - and raised his hand to his temple in displeasure, leaning on the table. My head was spinning again, and even the satisfaction from the end of the project could not overcome the cursed weakness. She followed him all week. And no wonder: instead of recovering, he was engaged in the removal of blocks, fights with dragons, endured the tantrums of capricious princesses - and the final chord was work with juvenile dark ones, who also needed to be opened.

He was so exhausted that he did not feel any sympathy for the students who had lost their sense of proportion - only annoyance that they would not let him rest. However, even in a cheerful state, he could not stand human stupidity. And what could be more stupid than losing control of yourself?

So, when he entered the cell for the first "autopsy", the only desire was to finish it all as soon as possible and never again mess with Tandaji's fiefdom.

- Doesn't it hurt? - his classmate Boguslavskaya asked with fear. She generally trembled like crazy and looked at him with a mixture of distrust, apprehension and timid hope. Trott felt sick from this hope - as if the girl was waiting for him to wave his hand and let her out of the cell.

“No,” he replied dryly. - Lie down.

The freshman looked at his face a little more and suddenly sighed with doom. And she cried. Max winced and hurried to put her to sleep. Enough with him sobbing youngsters.

Her aura was crumpled, blurred by Marth's shield, so that the magical gift would not be restored soon, as well as the need to feed on someone else's energy. But still, he lulled her with care and, unraveling the block, was constantly on the alert. You can't deceive the essence - with such close contact, it simply could not help reaching out towards. And Max, feeling a light touch, almost carefully took him away, continuing to remove Sobolevsky's block. And then he lingered even more - he counted the memories and, making sure that there was nothing dangerous in them, broke off the mental contact.

With the second, Edward, it was more difficult. The guy was aggressive and tried to build a shield on the weak remnants of his strength.

“Don’t waste your strength,” Trott warned him patiently, “I’ll break it anyway, and it will get worse.” It will take longer to recover.

“What difference does it make now,” the seventh-year student muttered sullenly. "You'd better kill it right away."

He cautiously watched the professor - how he wipes his hands with napkins, approaches him. Because of the thick glass of the cell, investigators could see them, and the feeling of Max's extra glances was wildly annoying.

“The difference,” the professor explained in an icy tone, “is whether you live the rest of your life as an unthinking idiot or a full-blown man. Life at the monastery is not so bad, in the future you will get freedom of movement.

- How can you not understand! the student shouted angrily. “I wanted to be a magician!” It's not my fault it's stronger than me! No one can handle it, and I couldn't!

“Young man,” Max said sharply, “everything that happens to us is our own fault. The main thing is will. Stop the show; You won't get sympathy from me. Take off your shield and lie down. There is a full-time psychologist in the department, but I'm here for something completely different.

The guy sitting on the bunk stubbornly strengthened the shield with additional weaves, and Trott sighed, pulled one thread - the protection immediately fell down. The stubborn man turned pale and breathed frequently - the professor, no longer ceremoniously, established mental contact. Immediately he felt dark tentacles stretching towards him - and sharply hit them. It sounded like a booming warning growl to the assailant, and his eyes, already cloudy, widened in amazement.

“Why…why are you doing this?” he whispered in disbelief. – Are you…?

“Sleep,” Trott ordered evenly, and the overly chatty dark man collapsed onto the bunk. And the Inlander, grimacing, began to unravel the block. I still had to go through my memory and clean up the last conversation. And any memories of the Nether, if any.

But they were not there, and the exhausted Lord Trott only nodded ungraciously at Tandaji's gratitude, opened the Mirror with his last strength and went to his house with broken windows - to recover.

His head was still spinning, and he reached for the locker, already habitually fumbled for the amplifier, drew a dark orange liquid into a syringe and injected it into his shoulder. It immediately felt better; Max drank some water, glanced at his watch - there was still time - and opened the Mirror to the Royal Infirmary of Johannesburg.

The nurse on duty gave Trott a wary look. The Inlander greeted him dryly and asked permission to visit his patient, Svetlana Nikolskaya.

“She has visitors,” the sister said, giving Max a dressing gown and shoe covers. "Wait, or are you coming in now?"

“Now,” he replied with displeasure, leaning over and pulling on his shoe covers. The lab was busy again, and he had exactly twenty minutes. “I just need to scan it.

“In general, we are not allowed,” the elderly woman said doubtfully, “we have our own vitalists.

“I have a special case,” Trott explained with incredible patience, throwing a dressing gown over his shoulders. – There is a consent of the supervising physician. Look at the patient chart.

At a small seismological station in the mountains to the north of Blacoria, on the very border with Bermont, there was a sleepy stupor familiar to this place. The sun had just risen from behind a low "saddle" - a pass between two peaks - and the snow shone dazzlingly white and pink, and the shadows from the peaks, sliding along the slopes, thickening in the hollows, seemed juicy, dark purple, as if on a frozen snow-white blanket was generously splashed with blueberry juice. Two elderly employees of the station, who came to the mountains as young guys, and who never managed to get away from this beauty, drank traditional sweet tea with an obligatory good share of berry tincture and quietly discussed plans for the weekend. They were surprisingly similar, although one was a Blakorian, dark, brown-eyed, and the other was a typical Inlander - red, with blue eyes. But thirty years of mountain sun brightened their eyes and hair, wrinkled the skin around their eyes, painted their faces with a brick tan, and they had the same gait - skiing, relaxed, and standing, and figures, taut, with broad shoulders and narrow hips. And their names were similar - Ulrich and Heinrich, and they married sisters - the mountains wove their destinies, making them not only friends, but also relatives. And so they worked together that now they didn’t need to say much - they understood each other perfectly. But they talked anyway. The grandchildren have already left, and the children have left, and for thirty-one years now they have started every morning by climbing to the station from a small town at the foot of the mountain, making tea for themselves and talking about everything in the world - from family affairs to flying to philosophical heights. . Do not forget to note the readings of the instruments and look after the slopes on your own initiative - if there is too much snow accumulated somewhere, which can avalanche on their town, is it not time to arm yourself with a rocket launcher, drive along the creaky snow-white cover and knock down the emerging loose snow growth.
The head of the station, Ulrich Kengspitzen, had a unique flair - he sensed changes in the weather, avalanches ready to break, cracks in glaciers, and foresaw earthquakes. So today he was worried from the very morning - his chest was crushing, there was a ringing in his ears - clear signs of an impending disaster. Unfortunately, ringing in the ears cannot be added to the report of the declared alarm, so we had to wait for the readings of the seismic sensor. But in their town everyone knew - if old Uli is gloomy, and his eye is filled with blood - wait for the shocks. The sign was as true as the flowering of an alder, after which there was no more cold weather.
Two kilometers to the left and below the station was a busy ski resort - one of those that Blakoria was so famous for, and people had already begun to arrive en masse before the weekend - a scattering of small figures in bright jackets and hats, disembarking from the funicular and stretching in a stream, was clearly visible from the window. to the administration building. By evening, the slope will be illuminated with lights, and thousands of people will test themselves on the slopes. Thousands of those who are in love with the mountains, like themselves.
Ulrich grimaced - the ringing in his ears became unbearable, and immediately the mountain trembled, buzzed, howled around, the seismograph squealed, drawing a sharp vertical line on the tape - and went on dancing further, drawing a graph in the form of a fading triangle.
- Five points, no less! shouted the head of the station excitedly, reaching the tape - for the first few seconds he and Henry could not stand on their feet, and his friend also managed to knock over a mug of tea on himself and now grimaced, pulling up his trousers and pouring burn spray on reddened skin. The station was shaking again - there were residual shocks, and Ulrich was already dialing an alarm number and dictating into the phone.
- Red alert, red alert! Avalanche danger! There was an earthquake, power not less than 5 points. Close roads, evacuate people, high probability of aftershocks!
- Uli, look, - the burnt partner scratched his red beard in bewilderment, looking out the window. The little station began to tremble again, and he grabbed the window sill. I haven't seen this yet, what is it?
- Optical illusion? – uncertainly suggested senior, looking at a strange phenomenon about a hundred and fifty meters from the building. Henry took the camera, began to enthusiastically click. There, in dense shadow, above the streams of disturbed snow running down, a transparent rainbow sphere, four human heights high, was inflated - it gave the complete impression that someone was blowing into an invisible tube and blowing out a huge bubble, starting with an iridescent funnel and going into the mountainside.
“It doesn’t look like it,” his friend objected, forgetting both the scalded leg and the jolts that still echoed faintly under his feet. He looked at the footage - and the sphere grew larger until the "funnel" trembled and disintegrated into several "petals", giving the phenomenon a resemblance to a huge transparent snowdrop. “Listen, Uli, let me go and see what a marvel it is.
- The snow is unstable, - the chief objected more for order, - it would not be necessary.
Although he himself was curious. An avalanche did not threaten the station - the building stood on a wide stone ledge, and the place was not avalanche hazardous.
“All right,” Henry waved him off, pulling on his ski boots, “the snowmobile will pass.
The transparent “flower” had already ceased to grow and was only trembling, some kind of turbidity was swaying inside it, as if a gray fog was barely stirring the breeze. Ulrich looked out of the window through binoculars at his comrade, slowly ascending to a strange sphere. Then they will definitely look at the recording of surveillance cameras, it is curious how it appeared. He did not forget about the instruments either, but here everything was familiar and worked out to automatism. The earth periodically sighed before - in fact, the station was set up for this.
Henry stopped almost at the sphere, took out a camera.
- This is something incredible, Uli. Some kind of miracle, - the voice of his partner boomed in the earpiece - through binoculars the elder saw how he took off his gloves, raised his glasses. - We should report to the control, what do you think?
His voice in the earpiece was crackling, disappearing - geomagnetic fluctuations always added extra noise to the air.
- What do you see?
- There is some kind of fog inside, as if something is visible through dusty glass. Something's moving, Uli.
The stationmaster's sense of smell was always on top, and his head rang again, warning of danger.
- Get out of there, Henry! he demanded tensely into the microphone. - Immediately!
- Yes, wait, - my friend answered in bewilderment and cheerfully, - now I am.
The Inlander enthusiastically clicked the camera, setting with his back to the sun and moving away from the snowmobile.
- Go away, to whom you said!
- I'm coming, I'm coming, - the comrade muttered, turned his back to the "flower" and wandered to the snowmobile, watching the footage along the way. Ulrich lowered the binoculars, looked closely, and frowned. He picked it up and cursed.
- Run, Henry! There is some crazy stuff going on! Run!
Heinrich looked back, froze for a moment - and rushed off, deftly moving his feet along the snow that had begun to crumble. There were about five meters left before the snowmobile, when it completely appeared from the former "bubble" - a long, thin creature, similar to a monstrous insect, with a long narrow proboscis, similar to a duck's beak. It could be a spider or a water strider, if only spiders could move on short legs, have a long body, many eyes on a round head and a "beak".
The snowmobile roared - the monster, tasting the snow with its proboscis, raised its head, sat down, crossed its legs and suddenly jumped - and sank exactly to the place where a moment ago the mountain transport had stood. The elder rushed to the phone again.
- Alarm, alarm! Wizards need help. There is a monster that looks like a spider, we need help, we need help!!!
- Uli, you got drunk there, or what? came the mocking voice of the operator.
- Yes …. … ….! ….! the Blakorian cursed, watching the snowmobile rushing down the slope, and behind it a giant beaked spider was moving in jumps, gliding through the snow, rolling head over heels, getting up again, deafeningly shaking its head. I'm sober as glass! The thing is trying to crush Henry now! Fuck, Oliver, if you don't pass on the information, I'll break your neck!
- Calm down, Uli, - the operator answered more seriously. - I'm writing it down. Once again, please provide information.
The huge creature fell on its front paws - the proboscis somehow stretched out, then shrunk like a spring - and the "spider" spat a long thick thread that crashed right into the snowmobile. The car jerked back, Heinrich flew somersault, swearing into the microphone, got up and briskly ran to the building - it was already very close. The spider was approaching, too, and the closer it got, the more incredible its size seemed - no less than three cable car cabins. If he jumps on a building, there won't be much left.
“We saw a huge rainbow bubble, as if made of glass, right after the earthquake,” Ulrich said quickly, pulling out a thick tube from the equipment - a rocket launcher for knocking down avalanches. Henry went to see what was there. When I got there, a monster came out. It looks like a spider, only huge, - he opened the door with his foot, took aim - the creature just jumped, and its shiny chitinous belly was clearly visible from below. A friend ran, yelled something, but Uli did not listen - he aimed, carefully, because there would be no second chance. Now he's trying to crush Henry. We'll be in the basement. Warn quickly, otherwise he will dine with us and go to the city or to the resort.
The trigger clicked, the rocket launcher rumbled out of the barrel, crashed into a shiny belly - the spider yelled, jerked its paws in the air, fell heavily down and spun in place, rubbing its belly on the snow. The comrade ran through the door, his face was white and white, despite many years of sunburn.
- To the basement, - the elder commanded, slamming the door - the spider was already falling back on its front paws, preparing to spit, and literally a couple of seconds after closing, the door was loudly hit from outside, so that it crackled. The men grabbed walkie-talkies, beacons, went down to the basement, battened him down.
- Ulrich, Ulrich, reception, - the microphone crackled, - the signal is transmitted, hold on.
- Hold on, - the partners looked at each other in the dim light of a single light bulb. - Hurry up .... holy saints !!!
A blow fell on the house - the light flickered, went out, creaked from above, rained down with a roar.
…quickly! Otherwise, it will go to you!
Five minutes after the transmission of the signal, a detachment of battle mages from the Rapid Response Unit appeared in the town at the foot of the mountain. The inhabitants of the town hastily barricaded themselves in the cellars - although the ground was still trembling and the danger of repeated strong shocks was high. The monstrous spider jumped down to the settlement - on the way it was “accepted”, covered with stasis and frozen into a block of ice. And until the end of the day, the townspeople and curious tourists went to the sparkling block - while the question of what to do with it was being decided. They looked out from afar, from behind the cordon, trying to see something behind the thickness of muddy ice, excitedly talking, building versions of what happened and who is frozen there. Operator Oliver remained silent on all questions and thoughtfully, mysteriously grunted.
Seismologists were dug out from under the rubble of the former station, examined for damage, and, without letting them come to their senses, they interrogated, seized surveillance camera footage and photographic materials. And they sent the victims on an unscheduled vacation with a wish not to talk about what happened. A hangar was promptly built around the monstrous exhibit, and a few days later His Majesty Gunther personally arrived there, accompanied by scientists and magicians. He looked around - the ice had already been cut, leaving a transparent parallelepiped, thoughtfully shook his head - and sent out invitations to fellow monarchs for an unscheduled royal council. In Blakoria, this was the first time such a creature appeared.

Lownwhite, Finland, Luke Cambridge, Friday

What is it, Doulson? asked Lord Lucas Darmonshire, looking up from his papers and looking at the butler who had entered the office. “You look so solemn that it frightens me. Are they summoned to the palace again?
The office was smoky, and the poor butler seemed to be holding his breath. Or tried to see the owner through the clouds of smoke. It would be nice to ventilate, yes.
Luke had spent the morning poring over the information quickly obtained by his pension-reconnaissance battalion, had already had a conversation with the head of his own security service, Jacques Leymin, pleased from returning to work, like an old horse caught in the races. And he slowly got annoyed - because he didn’t see any system in the accidents that happened to the relatives of the royal family of the Inlanders, because he caught himself wanting to call Tandaji and ask for advice, and because, of course, he hated the routine.
The butler looked a little condescendingly (as it seemed to Luke) at the owner and, after a little hesitation, only to heighten the effect, announced:
- The answer came from the secretary Angelina Rudlog, Your Grace. Her Highness is ready to meet you tomorrow at 11 am.
"Very well," muttered Cambridge, satisfied. - Finally. And what, Doulson, - he asked, - the world of the aristocracy is funny, isn't it? Imagine that you would arrange dates with your future wife through secretaries.
"Then I'm afraid I'd still be single," the butler said calmly. He somewhat cautiously accepted the host's ironic manner of communication, but played along with him with the air of a saint enduring torment. "May I go, Your Grace?" Or maybe you want something? Tea, coffee, cognac?
He uttered the last word with the intonation of an orderly-tempter.
- What the hell, cognac, - Luke snapped instantly, - bring coffee, Doulson. And more. I will drink cognac later. If the conversation goes well. However, if unsuccessful, I will also get drunk. And open the window, for God's sake, because if I get up, I won't sit at this table again.
The butler, who, after his adventure with disguise, began to treat the newly-made duke with unexpected solicitude, as if he were an eccentric undergrowth, who was also slightly out of his mind, shook his head with barely noticeable disapproval, flung open the sashes of a high window - an instant dampness and coolness blew into the office - and went out. And Luke, looking longingly at the endless low white rain, lit a cigarette again and immersed himself in papers. Thirteen deaths. The closest to the throne is the death of Lucius' sister, Princess Anna, with her children. At that time, she was fourth in the inheritance list. The farthest is Count Wefrey, twenty-fourth on the list. The problem was that there was no way to determine the starting point - it is likely that some of the deaths were not murders, but really accidents. So everything would be simple - take those who follow the deceased, who occupies the farthest place from the throne, and check for involvement. And here ... it was impossible to exclude the participation of those who survived inside the list. Although Luke could not imagine the old Duchess Solvi, who was ninth, as the killer, or the nineteenth, the young Viscount Kintersley, who stumbled into oriental eco-learning and founded his own folk group. But who knows? Anything happened, both handsome old women and young guys with an innocent look did terrible things.
Information, he desperately lacked information. Maybe he should have agreed to Lucius's offer and received the case files from Rosenford's office. This would greatly reduce the time of the investigation, and Luke just didn’t have time.

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