Wandering Spark - Part 36
At night, Varan had a dream that the Emperor issued a decree - not to let anyone out of the Round Fang until a stash with fake money was found.
Varan had a dream that around the island was closed a ring of military imperial ships, and the sky was patrolled by riders on the wingams. And the end of the season is approaching, and the island is packed with desperate, evil, and frightened strangers. And that the off-season is coming; The soft sun of the season becomes white and evil, burning out the rocks.
Varan screamed and woke up, and again fell asleep, all the time returning to the same dream. The mother, who was on duty with him all night, cried and thought that her son was having nightmares of the prison.
During the afternoon he walked around the island, looked at faces. All were calm, careless, and cheerful. The Emperor cannot do this to us, thought Varan. The Imperial magician, the inhabitant of the tower, is not as heartless to make such a thing...
The season was ending. The visitors were buying up all kinds of stuff, all the varnished seashells, carved ornaments of salt and stone, pictures of mother-of-pearl, wallets, and bags made of leather, forged crafts of miners from Midtown...
Varan passed by a familiar jeweler's shop, without stopping. The last thing he wanted was to see the very same jeweler with his burnt eyebrows and bald patches on his bronzed forehead.
It would be nice to find a hiding place, thought Varan. And immediately with a longing understood: no I cannot. If I find the "treasure" then it won’t be possible to prove that I have never seen these false money before.
It would be good, for the season to ended sooner. Then life will change, and everything that happened will be forgotten. And the damned threat will recede - the Emperor's order to turn Round Fang into one big prison...
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 Part 30 Part 31 Part 32 Part 33 Part 34 Part 35
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