Читать книгу The Mist and the Lightning. Part 19 онлайн

“Raise your head,” Nik ordered again, “raise, throw back your face and close your eyes.”

Kors obeyed, suddenly feeling something sticky touch his eyes, pressed against his eyelids and skin. It was plaster!

“Aaah!”

“Don’t yell! It’s just plaster.”

“But why?” Kors shouted, clutching at his plastered eyes.

"I’m going to take off my mask,” Nik explained calmly, “you won’t see my human face again.”

“What?!”

“Now remember my black scaly face. Both me and Arel are no longer people for you.”

“A snake and a bat?” Kors chuckled, but his grin was unconvincing. Inside, he was frightened and disoriented by being blinded.

“Not a snake and not a bat, but okay, so be it,” Nik agreed, “you are approximately right.”

“But I’m the same as you!” Kors exclaimed desperately. “You said I had horns.”

“Yes.”

“So, it turns out, I’m a goat?!”

“A goat, a snake, and a bat,” Nik summed up, and Kors heard him and Arel laugh softly, “take off your wet clothes,” Nik ordered, and his voice became serious again, “it needs to be hung out to dry.”

“How can I hang my clothes to dry if I can’t see anything!” Kors was outraged.

“Ver will take care of your clothes.”

“Well, of course! He doesn’t understand anything! He will hang it too close to the fire. He will ruin expensive leather. My clothes require special care!”

Kors received a blow to the head, unexpected and so strong that he flew against the wall and fell on his side. He didn’t even understand who hit him, Nik or Arel, but it was very painful. There was ringing in his ears, and he just by some miracle didn’t lose consciousness.

“Please, don’t do it!” He shouted humiliated. Kors was afraid of them and knew that they felt his fear. “I’m worse than Adrian, I’m just as much of a coward!”

“Take off your wet clothes, Ver will take care of them,” Nick repeated without much intonation.

Kors wanted to think that Prince Arel had hit him after all, but he couldn’t know for sure, and their thoughts were hidden from him. He began to undress, afraid of getting another blow. Maybe you should have taken your clothes off faster?