Read Online Domes of Fire by David Eddings - Free Book Online

the resta ther time thinkin’ up nasty names t’ call the queen.’
    ‘Get to the point, Pelk,’ Platime told him wearily.
    ‘Yessir, I wuz jist about to. Well now, it went on like that fer a spell, an’ then this here Krager feller, he come into camp, an’ some of them there nobles, they knowed him. He tole ‘em as how he knowed some furriners as’d help ‘em out iffn they’d raise enough fuss here in Elenia t’ keep the queen an’ her folks from gittin’ too curious ‘bout some stuff what’s goin’ on off in Lamorkand. This here Krager feller, he sez as how this stuff in Lamorkand might just could be a way fer ‘em all t’ change the way ther forchunes bin goin’ since ol’ Annias got hisself kilt. Well, sir, them dukes an’ earls an’ such got real innerested at that point, an’ they tole us all t’ go talk t’ the local peasants an’ t’ start runnin’ down the tax-collectors an’ t’ say as how it ain’t natural fer no country t’ be run by no woman an’ the like. We wuz supposed t’ stir up them peasants an’ t’ git ‘em t’ talkin’ among therselves ‘bout how the people oughtta all git together an’ thow the queen out an’ the like, an’ then them nobles, they caught a few tax collectors an’ hung ‘em an’ give the money back t’ the folks it’d been stole from in the first place, an’ them peasants, they wuz all happy as pigs in mud ‘bout that.’ Pelk scratched at his head. ‘Well sir, I guess I’ve said m’piece now. At’s the way she stands in the mountings now. This here Krager feller, he’s got some money with ‘im, an’ he’s mighty free with it, so them nobles what’s bin on short rations is gettin’ downright fond of ‘im.’
    ‘Pelk,’ Sparhawk told him, ‘you’re a treasure.’ He gave the man several coins, and then he and his friends left the cubicle.
    ‘What are we going to do about it, Sparhawk?’ Platime asked.
    ‘We’re going to take steps,’ Sparhawk replied. ‘How many of these “liberators” are there?’
    ‘A hundred or so.’
    ‘I’ll need a couple dozen of your men who know the country.’
    Platime nodded. ‘Are you going to bring in the army?’
    ‘I don’t think so. I think a troop of Pandions might make a more lasting impression on people who think they have grievances against our queen, don’t you?’
    ‘Isn’t that just a bit extreme?’ Stragen asked him.
    ‘I want to make a statement, Stragen. I want everybody in Elenia to know just how much I disapprove of people who start plotting against my wife. I don’t want to have to do it again, so I’m going to do it right the first time.’
    ‘He didn’t actually talk like that, did he, Sparhawk?’ Ehlana asked incredulously.
    ‘That’s fairly close,’ Sparhawk told her. ‘Stragen’s got a very good ear for dialect.’
    ‘It’s almost hypnotic, isn’t it?’ she marvelled, ‘and it goes on and on and on.’ She suddenly grinned impishly. ‘Write down “happy as pigs in mud”, Lenda. I may want to find a way to work that into some official communication.’
    ‘As you wish, your Majesty.’ Lenda’s tone was neutral, but Sparhawk knew that the old courtier disapproved.
    ‘What are we going to do about this?’ the queen asked.
    ‘Sparhawk said that he was going to take steps, your Majesty,’ Talen told her. ‘You might not want to know too many details.’
    ‘Sparhawk and I don’t keep secrets from each other, Talen.’
    ‘I’m not talking about secrets, your Majesty,’ the boy replied innocently. ‘I’m just talking about boring unimportant little things you shouldn’t really waste your timeon.’ He made it sound very plausible, but Ehlana looked more than a little suspicious.
    ‘Don’t embarrass me, Sparhawk,’ she warned.
    ‘Of course not,’ he replied blandly.
    The campaign was brief. Since Pelk knew the precise location of the camp of the dissidents, and Platime’s men knew all the other hiding places in the surrounding