The candle burned down quietly, crackling, and a thin blue smoke flowed up in a bizarre way, disappearing under the sooty ceiling beams. Khani's mouth opened wider and wider, surprise and admiration overflowing him. Pictures unfolded before him that he had never dreamed of before. Witchcraft! Terrible secrets! Great battles! There was something to be delighted about. And he himself was becoming a participant in these events. This was real life, so different from the sleepy existence of today's Acanton! If Khani regretted anything now, it was only that, in his opinion, the story ended too quickly.
A skeptical smile appeared on Chani's lips again. It wasn't that he didn't believe the story, no, he did, although not too much. But he seriously doubted that everything described could concern, already concerned him and his brother. Somewhere, sometime, with someone... That's fine. But here, now, with them... He didn't believe it, oh, he didn't believe it.
"So you intend to find the Golden Galley to continue your journey?" Chani asked.
Toril remarked dryly:
- You forgot again...
"Oh yes," Chani bowed playfully. "Would your royal highness be so kind as to answer the most humble and respectful request of the most insignificant of servants…"
Toril's cheeks flushed.
— Stop it!
"Come on, stop it," Khani intervened. "Why are you arguing over trifles?"
"Leave me alone!" Chani snapped. "You're the one forgetting yourself, Princess. But I won't repeat myself. If you," he emphasized the word, "need help..."
"I'll try..." the princess squeezed out, clenching her fists so hard that her knuckles turned white.
- That's great.
"Why are you doing this?" Khani interrupted again.
Chani waved him away impatiently.
- Then tell me how you plan to find the Golden Galley.
- Will you help me?
- Yes! Of course! - Khani cried happily. - Definitely! We'll go with you!
Chani winced slightly and said:
- We'll think about it.
"What's there to think about?" Hani was surprised. "Let's go, that's all."
— Don't fuss.
Toril glanced around nervously. She kept thinking that there was someone else in the room besides the three of them. And that this someone, hiding in the corner, was staring at her intently and without stopping. But she saw no one. Then she took out a scroll of parchment tied with a silk ribbon.
"A map…" Khani whispered happily. His dream was literally turning into reality before his eyes.
"Wait," Chani stopped the princess, listening suspiciously to something. He took a candlestick from the table and went to the window, shining it. "I keep imagining rustling outside the window," he complained, returning. "But someone can't be eavesdropping on us," he finished without much confidence.
"It may well be," Toril answered sadly. "The Sea King's spies are numerous and dangerous, they are difficult to notice, but they see and hear everything."
"Really?" Hani didn't believe it.
- At least that's what they say.
Toril untied the ribbon and the parchment unrolled with a soft rustle. The three of them bent over the map.
"Right here," she pointed with her finger.
"But there are no marks here," Chani said carefully.
- That's right. I don't know who might get this card, because I don't know what will happen to me tomorrow. I have to be careful, the worst could happen.
"There are two ways, as you said," Chani said quietly, as if thinking out loud. "We can sail to Canneit, and then travel by land if the sea route is too difficult. Or the other way, although I don't think the road through the Misty Mountains…"
Without stopping talking or changing his expression, Chani picked up a heavy tin mug, squinted as if taking aim, and then, turning sharply, threw the mug into the corner with all his might. There was a desperate squeak, something rustled, little paws stamped, and then everything went quiet.
- Phew... - Chani exhaled. - And I was already thinking...
"What?" Toril asked.
"It's the rats," Khani intervened. "The house is so old, so they're running around everywhere, we can't get rid of them. They're so annoying, it's just awful."
He fell silent, looking at the rapidly turning pale princess.
"Rats?!" she squealed, jumping onto the chair.
- Yes, why? - Hani didn't understand. - We're used to it.
Toril stood on a chair, cautiously picking up her skirt. The brothers stared at her in amazement, then burst out laughing.
"I don't see anything funny," Toril said offendedly, not descending to the floor, however. "They have such disgusting tails. Naked, long. Ugh. Disgusting creatures."
"That's true," Chani noted, holding out his hand to help her off the chair. "But there's no one else there. I chased her away, she ran away and won't come back. Quite a long time," he added after a moment's thought. And he continued as if nothing had happened: "Personally, I doubt that we'll be allowed to use the first route. Of course, it's quicker, more convenient, but remember how you got here."
Toril remembered.
- With difficulty.
- Exactly. And from here you won't get out at all. By sea, I mean. But fortunately there is a second way, although it is much less attractive.
- Which one? - Khani poked his head at the map.
Chani's finger slid along the thin brown thread that marked the road.
- Here, through the mountains.
"Are you kidding?" Khani stared at his brother, dumbfounded. "They're impassable. No one's been able to get over the ridge in the last hundred years."
- You said it right. Over the last hundred years. And before that?
"What happened before?" Toril asked.
- They used to. It was a caravan route. So we should try.
Khani shook his head in disbelief.
"But we can try," Chani insisted.
"There are no other options," Toril summed up sullenly.
- Yes. If you go there, you'll lose your head; if you go here, you'll be killed, - Chani said calmly. - But I suggest we go to bed now. In the morning, with a fresh head, we'll think again about what's what.
He resolutely rolled up the parchment and, opening the creaking door of the closet, shoved the bundle into some junk.
"Just in case," he explained. "You said it yourself: you never know what could happen."
The wick crackled and went out. The dim moonlight, struggling through the dirty glass, did not illuminate the room at all; on the contrary, this trembling, flickering bluish glow made it even gloomier. And then a small, sharp-nosed shadow slipped out of the corner. There was a furtive clanking sound, the nasty creak of poorly lubricated hinges…
Toril spent the night badly. She had nightmares all the time. Sometimes she imagined that some monster was strangling her, sometimes it seemed that someone was chasing her and taking the Golden Torch away. She tossed and turned restlessly, shuddered, and woke up in a cold sweat. In the darkness she heard strange rustling sounds, movement. Someone was sneaking up on her. But she again forgot herself in a heavy sleep.
In the morning she woke up completely exhausted and even more tired. And immediately ran into Chani's frowning gaze.
"What happened?" the princess asked worriedly.
Instead of answering, Chani pointed to the half-open closet door, hanging on half-torn hinges.
"The map…" Toril turned pale.
Chani nodded:
— Disappeared.
"You…" the princess choked with anger. "You… Vile servants of the Sea… You will regret a thousand times that you dared to stand in my way. I will…"
"Quiet," Chani snapped. "If we were who you think we are, we could have done so much more and so much better. It was so hard to overpower you while you were asleep and give you up completely, with the Torch and the map and everything else you have."
Toril sucked in a breath, clearly struggling with the urge to have him executed, or at least thrown into prison. But she was heir to the throne after all.
"Yes, of course," she said, calming down at least outwardly. "I said it in the heat of the moment. Sorry, I was a bit hasty."
- Nothing. Let's think about what to do next.
"Or maybe it really is just rats?" Khani suggested. "It could be."
"Yes, it can. And even worse," Chani reassured him. Khani pouted.
"Don't worry. The map won't help them much," Toril said, almost calmly. "Only I can use it. The rest of us won't see exactly what's on it. And it doesn't show everything, so…"
- What do you mean? - Khani was immediately interested. - Witchcraft?
Toril smiled mysteriously.
"Then let's go!" Khani shouted. "Let's go!"
- Yeah, - Chani didn't try to hide his grin. - Now they just up and ran away. Who knows where.
"Why not," the princess objected. "I remember the map perfectly well and can easily find the way even without it. Only in two or three places we may have some difficulty, but even there, I hope, we will not get lost."
"How?" Khani interjected.
"It doesn't matter," snapped the princess. "There are too many ears here, and I can't tell you everything. You'll see there. We'll find the way, we'll find it. There's something worse. The missing map means that we're being watched much more carefully than I thought. It turns out that I'm not only being watched at sea, but on land as well. And we'll have to leave the city so that no one," she emphasized the word, "no one sees us. And one more thing. We'll have to forget about traveling by sea."
"Why?" Hani didn't understand.
"Because I am now finally convinced that the Sea King will not allow me to sail the sea a second time. Only the Golden Galley can help us now. For any other ship, the voyage will be over before it has begun. So I will have to cross the Misty Mountains."
"Why 'me', actually?" Chani asked. "After all, we agreed that we would help you."
"The journey is becoming too dangerous," Toril objected. "I thought it would simply be dangerous, but now I see that I was very wrong."
Chani blushed and wanted to say something, but his brother got ahead of him.
- This is great! - he exulted. - I've dreamed of adventures and dangers all my life! This is simply wonderful! Magnificent!
Toril smiled sadly, intercepting Chani's understanding look, who, unnoticed by his brother, spread his hands, as if to say: well, what can you do?
Khani even started dancing around the room, but Chani stopped him.
- Shut up. - And again he turned to the princess: - We agreed that we would go together, and we cannot break our word.
- I return your promise to you.
"Sorry," Chani said softly, smiling, "it's up to us to decide whether to take back our word. Right, Khani?"
He nodded.
- We don't take him.
"We're not taking it, and that's that," confirmed Hani.
- Well, look, - the princess shrugged. - I warned you fairly. I hope you don't regret it later.
"Are you insulting us on purpose?" Chani asked politely.
- I'm not insulting you. I just doubt you understand that we're talking about life and death. I'm used to it. We, the people of Tan-Khorez, spend our entire lives fighting the West Wind. But what's that to you?
"Let's say we're just curious," Chani said evasively.
"Indeed, we might be curious," his brother supported him.
Chani grimaced in annoyance.