The Mist and the Lightning. Part 19

“You look much better than when your father treated and raised you,” Zagpeace continued. He looked at Nik, as usual, smiling a little indulgently.

“Well…” Nik was embarrassed by how closely Zagpeace was looking at him. “My father treats me, and he uses… hmmm… certain methods of upbringing, from simple to complex…”

“Methods? In my opinion, he is methodical only in his madness,” Zagpeace burst out laughing.

And Kors, sitting in his place in the hall among the guests, froze.

He heard Zagpeace’s thoughts, saw how he looked at Nik and smiled at him, while not opening his lips. How soft and friendly mockery plays in his gaze. Zagpeace was laughing inside, amused by how Nik looked. He thought: “How nice is this Nik, the son of Kors. He looks so much like a pretty girl. What did Kors do with this mixture of races! Such a funny boy was done, not an adult man, even though he was in his twenties. Funny, with his eternal snot under his nose and crookedly cut bangs.”

(What!? I cut his bangs perfectly straight! You idiot!)

Zagpeace barely restrained himself so that Nik didn’t not ice that he was making fun of him. Kors “heard” that he still wanted Nik to be one of his warriors. Andyes, Zagpeace wanted to put him up again for fights in the Lower and Upper, and just at private parties, but now on his own behalf. Kors felt it, and Zagpeace, making the most serious face, said to Nik:

“I’m glad that at least you don’t try to run away from me like you used to, and talk to me without being forced.”

“Y…yes… my father allowed me to talk to whomever I want, people…” Nik said cautiously.

(Gods! Why have I done it?! I shouldn’t have let him even get close to the gentlemen! Nik, you’re drunk and you’re in a tough symbiosis with my underdeveloped son! Nik! You can’t handle it! Get out of there immediately!)

“Shall we go to our table? I invite you. Will you talk with my warriors? Zagpeace suggested.

(That last thing I could have wanted!)

“Uh, no… no,” Nik said immediately and literally staggered away from Zagpeace, so that they were now separated by a table standing in the room.

“Okay, I won’t insist,” Zagpeace retreated immediately, noticing his tension. “Then just listen to me carefully. Nik, I'm waiting for you in the Black City, in Upper, Coastal street, house eight. Do you know where is it?”

“N… no…”

“But you lived in the Upper!”

“Y…yes, but I lived in Prince Arel’s Castle…”

“Yeah, it’s still a wilderness,” Zagpeace threw contemptuously, “did you visit your father’s mansion? It is very close to the Coast.”

“N… no, never…”

“Clear. What streets of the Upper City have you been to? I will try to give you directions so that you understand where my Academy is located.”

“I was only on those streets that Prince Arel pressed…”

(Nik! You can’t say that! How right I was when I wanted to stick a plaster on your mouth! If I could do it now, I would cover your mouth in several layers, tightly! So that you don’t even make a sound! Shut up at last! What the nonsense are you saying?)

Zagpeace grimaced slightly, but pretended that everything was in order:

“I have understood you. Streets on the very border of the Upper and Lower near the border wall. They don’t even count as the Upper.”

“Yes, right next to the wall,” Nik continued uncertainly, “I was also at Dim’s Coliseum…”

“Do you know where is the third gate?”

“Third gate? N… No. Prince Arel… we traveled from Upper to Lower, back and forth, always only through the same gates. Never through others. I think it was gate number twelve…”

“The easternmost gate by the river, through which few people travel. You, it turns out, have not seen all the beauty and grandeur of the Upper City, Nik. You can’t even imagine how beautiful it is! I’ll show it to you!”

(Damn, he doesn’t give a fuck about this beauty!)

Nik was silent, obviously not knowing what to answer, and Zagpeace asked:

“Do you still have a pass?”

“Hmm… Prince Arel made me a pass a long time ago… it seems to be somewhere in an old jacket…”

“Has your father given you a new pass?”

“No.”

(When it will be necessary, I will do it! You, Peace, have nothing to do with it!)

Zagpeace took from his pocket a small rectangle made of thick white cardboard with gold embossing — his business card, on which his family coat of arms was depicted. Then he took out a pen filled with red ink.