Wandering Spark - Part 30
He wasn’t executed immediately. And they didn’t even interrogate anymore. They took him to a tiny room with a mat of dried seaweed; dropping onto spiny bedding, Varan remembered Nila and her secret cave, and his indifference was replaced by anguish.
A day passed, or maybe two, because he couldn’t see the sun only a dim oil lamp. Varan lay staring into the dark ceiling and remembered every turn, every grotto, every glare on the ceiling of the underwater caves.
The food was ok. Although Varan still didn’t want to eat. On the third day or maybe second he was again taken to the judge's cave, but not to receive the verdict, but on a meeting with a young aristocrat, in whose room, according to her words, five pink bushes bloom all year round.
This time the aristocrat girl looked much less confident. She was accompanied by her father - a rugged bearded man in a cloak with a gold trim on the collar and hem.
"I threw him coins," the girl said, looking at the floor. "He was diving. I threw one coin than second. He jumped for second, but still didn’t reach it."
"Did you see his hands when he emerged?" Asked the investigator, with nickname Slug.
The girl looked helplessly at her father:
"Did he have anything in his hands?"
"I didn’t see."
"Have you noticed anything unusual in his behavior?"
The girl has slightly raised her nose, in her voice, the former arrogant notes have cut through:
"And I do not know what behavior is common among pods and which isn’t... I didn’t look at him. I have nothing to do, examine servants."
"I hid my hands behind the serpanter," Varan said. "I immediately swam to Kruchina, and..."
"Shut up," Slug said, and Varan fell silent.
"Your highness," the girl's father said, and his voice was deep, like the Prison Gut. "It seems to me that my daughter has helped to restore justice in the Round Fang enough. Now let us continue the vacation, which, incidentally is already hopelessly spoiled..."
"I apologize." The slug bowed slightly. "And I don’t doubt that lord of Round Fang will generously compensate the damage... you may be free."
The guard stepped back from the door, opening the passage to the aristocrat with his daughter. Leaving the girl for a moment looked back at Varan with an interested look - but the father took her by the shoulder and dragged away. The door closed and the guard got to their place.
"A month ago they took you with the bandits," said the investigator Slug without looking at Varan. "They were hanged, but shortly guards let you go. Why?"
"Because I'm not a criminal. The community of the Round Fang has vouched for me... On the contrary, I shouted - "guard", and helped to catch the robbers in this way.
Slug raised his head, and under his gaze, Varan fell silent.
"The community," Slug said with slight contempt. "The community is already behind you like a mountain. Three petitions were submitted to the lord... An honest pod, supposedly, cannot them, he honors the Emperor and the season. In robbery and forgery are engaged foreigners... All right. If I were making false hundred banknotes - I would first let them through the hands of such honest pods to remove possible suspicions... And money is money. It's a tree, dry, and reliable roof in the off-season. Right?
"I found this banknote in the sea," Varan said hopelessly.
"It was born there? Has it hatched from an egg?"
Varan was silent.
"It would be easier to hang you up today," Slug said, pondering hard. "Maybe it's better for you, too... But it's an imperial matter. You cannot stop anything. You don’t have witnesses... Fool, if you really caught a banknote in the sea - why didn’t you show it to anyone? To your father? Mother? To your bride?
Varan was silent.
"In any case, you're the one to blame," Slug continued. "Perhaps you are at the service of counterfeiters, they scatter their presents with your hands and hands like you, inconspicuous, and seemingly innocent... Although, it must be admitted, a boy with big money in a jewelry shop is not such an ordinary event... Maybe, you have to give it to your father after all? You were ordered to give it to your father, didn’t you?"
"No, nobody didn’t give me it."
"But you're guilty. If you don’t serve anyone, you have to blame yourself for having appropriated someone else's money with ease... Under the law of the Fang, the thing found is considered to be owned by the former owner until it is proven his death or leaving the port. Money which was found with no owner to claim them are considered the property of the community if found below or the property of the lord if found on highland..."
"I found them in the sea. Not below. Not on highland."
Slug looked at Varan with interest. He sighed briefly:
"If this money was real... but they are forged. And now I don’t decide your fate... and not even the lord. An Imperial magician will solve your fate; perhaps he will insist on taking you to the capital... perhaps, he will question you himself. Pray the Emperor and gather all your luck, if you have it.
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20 Part 21 Part 22 Part 23 Part 24 Part 25 Part 26 Part 27 Part 28 Part 29
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