“Yes! I'm delaying you!” Kors stood up.

“No, no, not at all,” Lis also jumped up, “we were just going to get to the river and find a good place for crossing.”

“So far?”

“Yes.”

“But why?”

“To go further.”

“Further, as far as I know, is the village of Riverside, the territory of the Reds and the border fortress.”

“Exactly. We're going to take this fortress.”

“I saw that you have soldiers, but are they enough?”

“Yes, there are few of them, but why not try?”

“I'm afraid that this is too tough nut to crack, and maybe it was worth training your army,” Kors chuckled, at these words, “on smaller goals at first?”

Nikto turned to Lis:

“Lis, show him the map and tell everything.”

Lis spread a map of the area on the table and began to explain. He very quickly, competently and clearly outlined all positions and cleared areas.

And Kors was impressed, the grin left his face. Karina, watching her father, saw this and was proud of Lis. He was a born warrior and now he was in his element, communication with Nikto and Arel clearly led him to degradation, and now he seemed to have perked up.

“I'm impressed,” Kors said. “It's fair. Handsomely. No unnecessary movements, everything is very economical and at the same time productive.”

“Yes, we are not as stupid as you thought,” Nikto answered, and Lis looked at him condemningly, just as before, Arel always looked at Tol when he blurted out something out of place.

“I beg your pardon, I probably just judged the people of the prince by their master,” Kors answered with his own coin, and poor Arel, who had not said a word during all this time, again remained silent.

Kors no longer looked at him and at Nikto either, he asked Lis a few clarifying questions and received comprehensive answers. Karina saw that her father and her fiancé clearly found a common language, meanwhile as two warriors, but still.

“So how many soldiers do you have now? I didn't understand how you separate them, to be honest, you have non-standard platoons and squads.”

“Lis divided Arel’s militiamen into the red manner,” said Nikto, “the red ones form the units a little differently, you should know, Kors?”

“Yes, I know, of course, it's just that it's black.”

“Well, they are black, and our commander is red, and he is more used to it.”

“It's more convenient for me to command,” said Lis. “I'm used to the scheme of reds. What difference does it make that they are black?”

“I see,” it was obvious that Kors was a little stunned by such a blatant disposition, “and the unclean ones?”

“The unclean ones are mine,” and Nikto named the number of the unclean ones, and how they were divided.

“Are you joking? Such inconsistency?! If I bring my warriors, who are formed according to the classical scheme and the rules of the black army, how will we bring all this to a common denominator?”

“Let's figure it out,” Lis smiled, “I also know the charter of blacks.”

“So, if you don’t go into details, you have two detachments of militias, a little more than a hundred people. And about three hundred unclean half-bloods, which are divided into three companies, and in one company there are fifty unclean, and in the other more than a hundred, and each with its own commander.”

“Yes,” Nikto answered him, “Nija has few soldiers, and Zaf has more. I cannot divide them equally and give Zaf's warriors under the command of Nija or Tazh.”

“That is, each commander has his own soldiers as property, this is not a very suitable alignment. Soldiers should be assigned depending on the task at hand, and not on who their commander is.”

Nikto shrugged his shoulders:

“Nothing can be done here, they are unclean.”

“You also have red ones, I noticed, in the yard?”

“Yes, the red warriors who went over to our side. There are sixty of them.”

“But they are red!”

“Every warrior is dear to us. They went over to our side.”

“But they will betray as soon as the opportunity presents itself!”

“Let them try, and half of them are former deserters of the Red Army who fled from the Red order. Ordinary guys in bad circumstances will come in handy,” Lis interjected.

“And many people know and remember Lis, have heard about him and want to be in the army of the legendary Sigmer.”

“Come on, Nik,” Lis was a little embarrassed, “they just like the local peasant women.”

“What are you doing?! Why do you mix black with red, however… more on that later… and you really count every warrior.”

“Father, reds are people too!” Karina intervened, fearing that now talk about the purity of blood, race and human waste might begin. It's a good thing that they didn't say that soon several half-breeds will be born from the red and unclean!

“Yes,” Kors shook his head, “let's leave this topic, you are not noble blacks and just don’t understand the meaning of the true code of purity. Let's go back to the territories. This area would also be worth checking out,” he said, bending over the map,

“Yes, but it is on the maps and it will be possible to draw up a plan here, focusing on them and not wasting time on exploration. Not to attract the attention of the enemy,” answered Lis, and Karina noticed with relief that he didn’t attach any importance to the hints that were offensive to every black, and as if nothing had happened continued the conversation. “How is he used to all this pretentious husk of blacks,” Karina thought with some regret, “he doesn’t react at all and doesn’t hear. How many times have they said this to him?” Nikto didn’t react either. Poor half-breeds, they are so accustomed that they don’t even hear that they are being insulted. And Karina, for the umpteenth time, mentally thanked the Gods for being born with dark eyes and hair, like all black ones.

“We will drive only to the crossing and will return within a couple of days.”

“Yes, yes, of course. I don't want to detain you now, you could go, and I would stay with my daughter and wait for you,” said Kors.

“We cannot leave Karina,” Nikto objected, “she knows the river well, since she was already there. But I would be glad if you stayed and waited for us. We will leave you all the maps of the area and leave Prince Arel, he will give you all the materials you want. Is it possible?”

“All right,” said Kors, “I'll wait for you. You are planning a very risky business, and I want to understand better and decide everything for myself. And I also want to talk on your return without masks, seriously and in a more frank manner.”

Chapter four

Kors and Arel

Vitor Kors knocked on the door of the prince’s room and entered it. Arel raised his face, still covered with a mask, from the sheet of paper lying on the table in front of him. Kors looked around the room with some surprise. It was perfectly cleaned: the bed was neatly covered with a fur blanket made from the skins of the fluffy gray foxes that were found at the North Sea and here in the South were a rarity, sheer luxury. There were scraper marks on the clean wooden floor, not a single drop of wax. In the far corner of the room, on a chair, was khabir Verniy, he was without a mask, and perhaps this confused Kors. Verniy was sitting on a chair, bent over an iron bucket, in one paw he held a shiny, ornate candlestick for seven candles, but now empty, in the other – a thick wax candle. The candle burned brightly, and Ver led the flame along the curls of the candlestick. Wax adhered to complex patterns melted from the fire and dripped into the bucket. Thus, the candlestick was quickly cleared. All that was left was to wipe it down with a cloth, and it glittered again like new with gold. The second candlestick, perfectly cleaned, was already standing on the bedside table. Verniy only raised his eyes and again began to slowly move the candle over the candlestick.