"You make one mistake after another," Toril scolded angrily. "It's amazing how you still manage to stay alive. If it weren't for me, you would have been finished off like puppies long ago."
"We'll still help the person who got into trouble by rescuing us. And you too," Khani said reproachfully.
Toril looked intently at the waves splashing over the side of the Galley.
"Me? Do you seriously imagine that these monsters could do anything to me?" She straightened up proudly, adjusting the sling on which the Black Sword hung. "I am not afraid of anyone."
- But at that moment you spoke differently.
- Nonsense. Who cares what I said then. Let's assume that it was a moment of confusion. Now, when we have such a weapon, we, the Lords of Fire, are not afraid of anyone or anything.
- But Ryubi sacrificed herself.
"This is war," Toril said harshly. "A commander has no right to pity. Moderation in war is the greatest stupidity imaginable. I don't understand your soft-heartedness at all. For example, you," she nodded at Chani. "You could have killed Ten-Winged without any problem. Why didn't you?"
"Why kill in vain?" Chani shrugged.
- In vain?! You had to kill him today to sleep peacefully tomorrow. He is an enemy, and enemies are destroyed.
- I made it completely harmless.
- Are you sure about this?
— Yes.
"Let's assume," the princess agreed with visible annoyance. "But where is the guarantee that tomorrow the Sea King won't give him a new pair of golden wings and the dragon won't fall upon us with renewed force, taking revenge?"
— I'm just sure.
- Are you sure again? - Toril exploded.
- Yes, again.
Toril looked with some alarm at the clouds gathering in the west. What could they hide?
- Then, if you so dislike bloodshed, why are we sailing to the Sea King's island? We have lost nothing on Foorheil. It is enough that we knocked his most formidable weapon out of his hands. Now nothing threatens Tan-Khorez. And your city, too.
"You don't understand this?" Khani asked tensely.
- I don't understand.
- Then we have nothing to talk about.
Khani turned decisively and ran off the aft platform. Toril gave him a dirty look and turned to Chani.
- If you want... - She hesitated. - In short, you should change some of your views. I'm not used to being told what to do...
Chani closed his eyes to keep from breaking down.
- Do you really imagine that if the Sea King has this ruby, he will give it away just like that?
"No, we don't imagine it," he replied.
- And don't count on my help in this matter.
"We understood it immediately," Chani answered coldly.
"They'll finish you off," she said hotly.
- So it is destined. But we will try to fulfill our duty.
- That's great. First, try to negotiate with these people, - the princess waved her hand.
And Chani saw the familiar black triangles approaching the Galley. But only two! And this time the sharks were not just cautious, but downright timid. They did not approach the Golden Galley, but described a large circle, going around it, and rushed back. They remembered the lesson well.
"I see a sail!" shouted Khani, standing at the bow.
Indeed, far to the west a tiny white dot appeared. It quickly grew, expanded, and turned into a rectangle, under which the low, narrow, dark blue hull of an unfamiliar galley cut through the waves.
The ships were rapidly approaching each other, and soon it became apparent that the sail of the stranger had a large four-pointed blue star in a circle embroidered on it. Coming closer, the oncoming galley described a semicircle, catching up with the Golden Galley, and, having approached literally twenty steps, lowered its sail.
"I don't understand anything," muttered the princess, peering into the empty aft superstructure of the blue galley. "If this is the one I expected to meet, then why the sign of the Ice Star?"
"Who were you expecting?" Chani asked suspiciously.
— The same one you are.
On the stern platform of the blue galley appeared a tall, thin old man in a richly embroidered with silver and pearls, but extremely dirty mantle, in which he wrapped himself shiveringly. On the old man's head was a small crown, on his chest, on a filigree gold chain, hung a large blue pearl.
Toril bowed politely. The old man's withered, yellow face expressed something like astonishment. He scratched his head and made an awkward but equally polite bow in return.
"Greetings, your highness," the old man croaked.
"And I greet you too, your majesty," Toril sang sweetly. Her eyes looked unkindly.
— Is everything well in the glorious city of the Fire Lords?
— Peace and happiness reign in Tan-Khorez.
"I am glad of that," said the old man, his eyes sparkling. "Is your father well?"
- Quite. And how is your precious health?
The old man sighed.
- So-so. Age.
"Alas," Toril sympathized joyfully. "How are things going in the realm of the ruler of the seas?"
"I'm fine too," the old man answered briefly.
"So this is the Sea King?" Chani gaped.
- What, he doesn't look like him? - the old man was offended. - Or do you think that kings sit in their throne rooms all the time? However, it's not about you. What an unexpected and unpleasant meeting...
"You're right," Toril agreed. "I can't say she gives me pleasure either. But as for the surprise... Your sycophants were hanging around here."
- Oh, yes, - the King remembered. - He sent them, he sent them... But they can't really say anything. "He's sailing, he's sailing..." But who's sailing, where he's sailing, why he's sailing... You have to find out everything yourself. Idiots, not helpers. Like you, it seems.
"My affairs are my affairs," the princess answered evasively.
- It depends. For some time now, your affairs have become mine too.
- Yes, old enemies.
"One old enemy is better than two new ones," the King remarked philosophically.
"You know your old enemy, and you don't expect any surprises from him," Toril noted.
"And he takes them and brings them," interrupted the King. "For some reason, my little dragon was crippled."
Toril silently spread her hands.
- He flew away somewhere, - the King said plaintively. - He hid. Probably out of resentment. When we parted, he said: I'll finally get some sleep. I wanted to stop him, because he'd be lost without me, but it didn't work. He ran away.
- What can you do?
— Yes…
- But you, your majesty, also bring me surprises. I never expected to see such a sail on your ship.
- Ah, this one, - the King raised his head. He grinned venomously and clapped his hands. - Everyone looks for allies to suit their own taste. My old friend, the Master of the Mist, kindly agreed to help me a little. Well, of course, I did not refuse, I accepted his soldiers. You know yourself, my squad is small and weak. How can it compete with the iron legions of Tan-Khorez...
A warrior in black armor appeared next to him. The same symbol was laid out in gold on his cuirass. And perhaps it was the blackness of the blued steel that made his face so deathly pale. It seemed to have been carved from a piece of ice. Dark holes of eyes gaped under black bushy eyebrows. When he looked at Chani, it seemed to him that a wave of deadly cold had washed over him, freezing the blood in his veins. That look seemed to suck out the warmth, to restrain his movements…
Toril immediately became sullen.
- This is big news.
"You don't always surprise me," the King grinned maliciously. "Should I start a storm, or something?" he suggested lazily. "Drown you…"
The princess looked at the King fearlessly.
- Why is this?
"Yes, yes," nodded the King. "Perhaps we won't. So what business brought you to my domain?"
"None. That's their business," Toril nodded towards the brothers.
The King's eyebrows rose.
- They? Int-teresting, - he drawled. - And what do you need?
"You recently came across a ruby," said Khani, taking the bull by the horns.
- Got it? To me? - the King was surprised.
"Yes, I got it," Chani confirmed.
- Well, let's assume.
"We'd like to have it back," Khani said.
- Get it?! Back?! And that's all? - The King laughed happily. - Great drought! And you don't need anything else? My crown, for example.
"No, I don't need a crown," Chani answered calmly.
The jester's mask fell from the King's face, and he asked:
- And what can you offer me in return? Or rather, who?
"Why just…" Khani began.
"Boy," the King interrupted him, "this is not serious. You and I are enemies, and I do not give you anything for free. Only in fairy tales do noble opponents exist who yield to each other the right to strike first. I am ready to do you any dirty trick that I can. Ask the princess," Toril nodded. "However, she will do me any dirty trick just the same. And let's not waste time. Yes, I have the ruby. Like everything that falls into the sea. But it cost me too much, I would rather lose two other idiots put together than the White One. I specially raised and cherished her, and this vile girl…" he even growled with anger.
"Who do you want?" Khani asked peacefully.
The king smiled.
- I would invite the princess to visit, but I know her well. She won't do. And she told the truth - this is your business, not hers. So decide which of you two will come to me. Life for life. I haven't ground this stone into powder yet, but I can do it at any moment.
Khani looked helplessly at his brother. Chani, turning pale, caught the princess's gaze... And turned away with an independent air.
"I agree!" Khani shouted.
"That's great," the King rubbed his hands.
He clapped his hands three times, and the Hammer's nightmarish face emerged from the water next to the blue galley.
"Bring this young man here. And don't be afraid," the King said to Khani, "you won't be harmed."
With a slight flick of his tail, Hammer swam up close to the Golden Galley and offered his broad back. Khani unfastened his sword, threw it on the deck and jumped up onto the railing. Suddenly Toril grabbed Khani's hand.
- Wait. Hey, you! - she shouted to the Sea King. - Throw the ruby! Otherwise you'll cheat!
The king chuckled happily.
- That's true, I would have deceived you. But that's okay now.
He whistled, and Ratty ran out of the cabin below, holding a small coral casket in his front paws. Obeying the King's order, Hammer carried Ratty to the Golden Galley, where he handed the casket to the princess. All this time Ratty was cowering in fear, but trying to put on a brave face.
Toril threw back the lid. The ruby was still there.
"It's all right," she said to Khani. "You can stay here now. And this bastard," she pointed at the startled Rat, "we'll just throw him overboard."
Khani looked sadly and sternly at her and at his brother and jumped over the railing onto Hammer's wet back. Ratty darted after him.
As Khani climbed aboard the Sea King's galley, two tall warriors immediately appeared at his side, holding him firmly by the elbows. Khani watched with longing as the Golden Galley turned around. The Sea King waved after it in greeting.
- See you soon, your highness! See you soon! - He emphasized these words. - Our war is just beginning!
Khani felt the warriors' hands as cold as ice, he shuddered. The king turned around.
"Quiet," he said discontentedly. "Quiet, I need the boy alive and, if possible, unharmed." He looked piercingly into Khani's eyes.
Khani held that gaze, even though his insides froze.
The tall warrior standing next to the King, apparently a commander, since the golden patterns were only on his armor, said in a muffled voice:
— Kill anyway.
His voice reminded Khani of the whistle of a snowstorm, the hiss of a drifting snow, into which the hungry howl of a wolf was intertwined.
"Don't forget yourself," the King snapped at him. "Even though you are a captain general, you obey me. And I say: leave him alive. Leave him and deliver him to my underwater castle."
Khani, remembering the piece of blue amber in his pocket, grinned. The King continued:
- And don't even think about freezing it for me! I know your vile nature. You'll say later that it was an accident. I'll melt it!
The Captain-General bowed his head slightly in obedience. Catching Khani's puzzled look, the King explained:
- Yes, sir. They are ice. Of real ice. Obedient, excellent soldiers. Invulnerable.
One of the soldiers holding Khani said something, but it was not human speech. His words did not resemble any of the magical languages Khani had heard. They resembled the intonations of the captain-general's voice: the whistle of the icy wind, the rumble and crackle of colliding ice floes, the moans of the blizzard sounded in this speech. The king nodded.
- And you can put him in chains. And even need to. - He smiled at Khani. - You will understand me correctly and will not be offended, right?
"I won't be offended," Khani nodded obediently. "But I'll remember," he couldn't help himself.
The king looked at him with interest, shook his head and agreed:
- Remember. Remember. Soon I will teach those proud men of Tan-Khorez a lesson, and then I will take on your city, so you will need your memory. - He laughed silently. - Fools! They imagine that by removing the dragon they have made me safe! Not a month will pass before they see that they were wrong, cruelly wrong. The Ice Army will crush them. And besides, I have other means.
"Why don't they melt?" Khani asked with interest.
The king snorted happily.
— Are you trying to find out secrets?! Do you think that it will come in handy, like in some fairy tale? You've read all sorts of nonsense... I won't tell you, I won't tell you for anything! Look for fools elsewhere, my dear... deceased...
Khani looked into the eyes of the warrior holding him and went cold. There were no eyes, just bottomless, black holes. No pupils, no eyes, nothing. Just a black, engulfing void on a face that was white to the point of blue, motionless.