Read Online The Road to Magic (Book 1 of the Way of the Demon Series) by Alexey Glushanovsky - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Alexey Glushanovsky
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swopping one set of problems for another, maybe much worse set? And as for money… Oleg hit on a very interesting idea…
He turned to Ataletta.
‘And who’s this guy?’ Oleg rudely poked one of his claws into Albert’s side; he was frozen, like a statue.
‘That’s Albert Krozeltz, son of the High Priest of Orchis, Petronii Krozeltz. He found a book among the belongings of some magician who had been sacrificed to Orchis and decided to risk invoking a demon to help me. Please don’t kill him. If you want revenge, punish me. What difference does it make at whose hands I die, yours or one of Kreghist’s henchmen?’ she added bitterly.
‘Most laudable loyalty to your friend,’ Oleg said, looking into the girl’s doleful eyes. ‘By the way, I don’t think you’ll have to die. I don’t really have any issues with you, little Princess.’ Oleg noticed how the girl’s eyes blazed with fury at this. Blazed and went out; the crown princess of Fenrian, it seems, had a will of iron.
Oleg went on: ‘If the poor fool hadn’t tried to make me his slave when he invoked me but had tried to come to some agreement with me on friendly terms, I might have worked for you. You can both go now.’
‘And what about him?’ The princess went up to Oleg and looked searchingly into his eyes. Meeting the bottomless abyss which had recently taken up residence in them, she shuddered and turned away.
‘What about him?’ Oleg pretended to be thoughtful, paused and came to the realization of his plan. ‘He tried to enslave me and caused me terrible pain. Now let him experience both pain and slavery for himself. I shan’t kill him. He shall be my slave.’ At these sinister words, the son of the priest started. Oleg went on: ‘Maybe in the course of time I’ll let him be bought out, or I’ll sell him to some slave dealer.’
Ataletta looked at Oleg’s cruel smile, at Albert, pale with horror, and almost in full accordance with Oleg’s plan suggested: ‘You said we could have come to an amicable deal with you. I would like to hire you. And I’d also like to buy Albert’s freedom. Slavery is forbidden in our kingdom anyway, and it wouldn’t be worth taking him.’
Oleg looked at her with new eyes. The girl was showing certain practical and business skills, quite unexpected in a princess, as she had so quickly come to the crux of what Oleg had hinted at about buying Albert free. But as for working for Ataletta… Oleg weighed up the pros and cons again and decided it was worth a go. It was far easier to get along in a strange world if you had protection at your back in the form of an important individual highly interested in your success, for instance a blonde princess. And anyway, from a human point of view, Oleg simply didn’t want such a pretty girl to be killed. In short, he decided to integrate her alterations into his plan. A career as an assassin, albeit a very highly qualified one, was not really up his street.
‘Well, that’s an interesting proposal. I may even agree to work for you. What can you offer me?’
‘You agree to kill Kreghist?’ There was note of joyous excitement in Ataletta’s voice.
‘No. I’m not a contract killer. But for a good compensation package, I’m willing to work as your bodyguard. As far as I understand it, you want to save your own life not take that of your uncle’s?’
The girl made a sad little grimace.
‘A demon-bodyguard? Kreghist will set all his bravest knights on you. You won’t have time to sleep, let alone guard me.’
Oleg smirked: ‘But what if I’m not a demon? What if I’m a human with special powers?’ And so saying Oleg took on his human form.
The princess gave a start and stared at him in astonishment, while Albert suddenly breathed much more calmly and put his hand on his neck, from which the snake had disappeared.
Finding nothing but a thin hair there, he gave a sigh of relief and was about to rip it off. Oleg gave a warning cough: ‘I
He turned to Ataletta.
‘And who’s this guy?’ Oleg rudely poked one of his claws into Albert’s side; he was frozen, like a statue.
‘That’s Albert Krozeltz, son of the High Priest of Orchis, Petronii Krozeltz. He found a book among the belongings of some magician who had been sacrificed to Orchis and decided to risk invoking a demon to help me. Please don’t kill him. If you want revenge, punish me. What difference does it make at whose hands I die, yours or one of Kreghist’s henchmen?’ she added bitterly.
‘Most laudable loyalty to your friend,’ Oleg said, looking into the girl’s doleful eyes. ‘By the way, I don’t think you’ll have to die. I don’t really have any issues with you, little Princess.’ Oleg noticed how the girl’s eyes blazed with fury at this. Blazed and went out; the crown princess of Fenrian, it seems, had a will of iron.
Oleg went on: ‘If the poor fool hadn’t tried to make me his slave when he invoked me but had tried to come to some agreement with me on friendly terms, I might have worked for you. You can both go now.’
‘And what about him?’ The princess went up to Oleg and looked searchingly into his eyes. Meeting the bottomless abyss which had recently taken up residence in them, she shuddered and turned away.
‘What about him?’ Oleg pretended to be thoughtful, paused and came to the realization of his plan. ‘He tried to enslave me and caused me terrible pain. Now let him experience both pain and slavery for himself. I shan’t kill him. He shall be my slave.’ At these sinister words, the son of the priest started. Oleg went on: ‘Maybe in the course of time I’ll let him be bought out, or I’ll sell him to some slave dealer.’
Ataletta looked at Oleg’s cruel smile, at Albert, pale with horror, and almost in full accordance with Oleg’s plan suggested: ‘You said we could have come to an amicable deal with you. I would like to hire you. And I’d also like to buy Albert’s freedom. Slavery is forbidden in our kingdom anyway, and it wouldn’t be worth taking him.’
Oleg looked at her with new eyes. The girl was showing certain practical and business skills, quite unexpected in a princess, as she had so quickly come to the crux of what Oleg had hinted at about buying Albert free. But as for working for Ataletta… Oleg weighed up the pros and cons again and decided it was worth a go. It was far easier to get along in a strange world if you had protection at your back in the form of an important individual highly interested in your success, for instance a blonde princess. And anyway, from a human point of view, Oleg simply didn’t want such a pretty girl to be killed. In short, he decided to integrate her alterations into his plan. A career as an assassin, albeit a very highly qualified one, was not really up his street.
‘Well, that’s an interesting proposal. I may even agree to work for you. What can you offer me?’
‘You agree to kill Kreghist?’ There was note of joyous excitement in Ataletta’s voice.
‘No. I’m not a contract killer. But for a good compensation package, I’m willing to work as your bodyguard. As far as I understand it, you want to save your own life not take that of your uncle’s?’
The girl made a sad little grimace.
‘A demon-bodyguard? Kreghist will set all his bravest knights on you. You won’t have time to sleep, let alone guard me.’
Oleg smirked: ‘But what if I’m not a demon? What if I’m a human with special powers?’ And so saying Oleg took on his human form.
The princess gave a start and stared at him in astonishment, while Albert suddenly breathed much more calmly and put his hand on his neck, from which the snake had disappeared.
Finding nothing but a thin hair there, he gave a sigh of relief and was about to rip it off. Oleg gave a warning cough: ‘I
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