Damen személy
Idézetek
‘Spoils of someone else’s victory.’
Although the inn was emptying out, two of the patrons by the fire were possibly within earshot. Damen said, ‘If you wanted a drink and an old hat that badly, you could have just bought them from him. Cheaper and quicker.’
‘It’s the game I like,’ said Laurent. He reached over and appropriated another coin out of the purse Damen carried, then palmed it. ‘Look, I’ve learned a new trick.’ When he opened his hand, it was empty, as if by magic. A second later, the coin dropped out of his sleeve onto the floor. Laurent frowned at it. ‘Well, I don’t have it quite yet.’
‘If the trick is making coins disappear, I think you do have it, actually.’
Chapter 6
„You said two reasons,’ said Damen. ‘What was the other?’
‘The men think you bend me over inside the tent,’ said Laurent. He said it in the same calm way he said everything. Damen fumbled the vambrace. ‘It would erode my authority. My carefully cultivated authority. Now I have really surprised you. Perhaps if you were not a foot taller, or quite so broad across the shoulders.’
‘It’s considerably less than a foot,’ said Damen.
‘Is it?’ said Laurent. ‘It feels like more when you argue with me on points of honour.”
‘It can’t be that hard,’ the Prince was saying.
Charls saw in horror that he was talking about skinning the rabbit. Charls took Lamen firmly by the arm. ‘Excuse us, Cousin Charls.’ He was steering Lamen to the side of the wagons.
‘Lamen,’ he said, when they were a few steps away. ‘Is the Prince of Vere holding a dead rabbit?’
‘Yes, but—’
‘He is a prince. That is a rabbit. Do you think he has ever skinned a rabbit in his life?’
‘No, but—’
‘No. A Prince’s hands are instruments of refinement. A Prince’s hands are not made to touch a dead rabbit. You have to do it!’
‘But Charls—’
Charls pushed him firmly in the back. ‘Go!’
Csak még egy kicsit – gondolta. Talán hétköznapi kívánság lett volna a lustálkodás, csakhogy fájdalmat érzett a mellkasában. Mintha egyre nagyobb nyomást gyakorolt volna rá a múló idő. Minden egyes pillanatnak a tudatában volt, mert eggyel kevesebb maradt belőlük.
299. oldal