- How much did you lose this time? - Dil lifted his eyes from a shabby scroll with a curious alchemy scheme on Lane's burst into the room.
- Why did you lose right away?! - The elf was outraged, dropping his green suede boots and climbing into the chair with his legs.
- Because you always lose. So how many?
- Five thousand, - Lane got comfortable and carelessly specified: - Gold.
Diehl's mouth is dry. They just don't have that kind of money! Six hundred silver for the elimination of a mad alchemist stealing children for the sake of blood for the homunculus, were honestly divided in half. And most of Deel's share went to rent this house.
Why did they decide to stay in Lagorra? Of course, in a world where the big war had just ended, the work would last a long time. But you can't even earn five thousand dollars in gold in a year! Even if you kill three monsters every week and eat fodder at the same time.
- Don't shout," Lane pulled a four-leaf sheet of expensive coat of arms out of his belt wallet. - I've already sorted it out. Let's fulfill a small order, and my debt will be canceled. Even in the winnings we will stay.
- Did you sign the contract without me? - Dil slowly got up from the table. - I hope my name wasn't mentioned there?
- No, but...
- No buts! The demon roar pumped up the ceiling lights. - You remember our agreement very well! You're doing this alone. I don't even want to know what you're into!
- But I can't do it alone!
- You should have thought of that before! - Diehl headed straight for the door.
- Read it first! - Lane waved a leaf. - There was only work for a couple of days. You'll have to do almost nothing!
- No! - Dil slammed the door so that the whole house shuddered. He ran down the narrow stairs to the second floor and slammed the door again to his bedroom. He kicked the chair in his heart, breaking one of the carved legs.
Well, what to do with it?! And Lane is a wonderful companion - funny, generous, intelligent, talented. You can only dream about such a thing. Dil and dreamed ... Recently - mostly at night, then and again turning over a pillow heated from his burning cheeks.
But this inexplicable passion for gambling made it impossible. And at least Lane couldn't play cards! So no, he played beautifully - up to a certain point. After that, as if grasped and began to behave like a mentally retarded goblin, suffering from color blindness.
So far, the losses have not been catastrophic, and Dil endured, time after time lending money to the companion. But five thousand! The sky and abyss, whose order can cover such a loss? The king? No, the state treasury was empty after the devastating war, everyone knows that. A high priest? Again, no, a servant of a zealous God will not turn to a foreign magician who is not shone by his grace.
The only option remains. Dil stopped throwing himself around the room, sat down on the bed and squeezed his whiskey, staring at the faded patterns of the carpet. Did Lane really get in touch with Kedar?
* * *
Kedar was the only magician who survived the world war. Not very powerful, but very clever and completely unscrupulous. At least, that's how they talked about him (mostly in whispering and looking back).
- And he does not want the moon from the sky? - Dil finished reading the contract and suppressed his desire to burn it with an incredible effort of will. - Where do we get this unicorn?!
Lane turned his back on the stove, removing the ham from the pan and hiding his smile.
- It is somewhere in the surrounding woods. The bridle and saddle kept her from escaping far away. Do you want to butter bread or mustard?
- And both," Dil, without looking at it, put a piece of burnt ham on the fork and swallowed it. I read the contract again. Didn't find a single loophole. The rumors didn't lie, the magician was really smart.
- Kedar gave me a hair from her mane," Lane crumpled his bread into milk, pounded, wriggled, and added honey. - So it wasn't hard to find it. But to catch her...
- What's so special about this unicorn horse?
- Well..." Lane squinting thoughtfully. - Two dozen powders and elixirs are made of alchemist's horn. Hide, meat and giblets also go into business.
- It is clear why unicorns are so rare.
to be continued...