The Legend
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“I'll have to bring him a bottle of good ale,” Tan thought.
Without becoming a long wait, Atanasius proceeded to try on clothes, and not finding any flaws, he was satisfied, went downstairs to have a bite of a couple of chicken eggs and blood sausage. However, on the way to meet him, Bercy came across, who had just entered the guest house. Seeing Tan, he stretched out and was about to approach him with a marching step, but Tan, seeing this, immediately stopped him, slightly waving his lowered hand. Then he himself approached Bercy and asked why he was here. Bercy said that before tomorrow's meeting, Duke Erhard is gathering generals for an informal meeting at his estate today. So to speak, a secular evening. The general will wait for Tan at his place, so that he would attend the evening with him as a confidant. Tan rolled his eyes in displeasure, but there was no choice.
“All right, tell the general that I'll be arriving in the evening.
Bercy nodded, pressed his hand to his chest and left, and Tan sat down at the table to satisfy his hunger.
***
In the evening, Athanasius Mirra, in full uniform, including new clothes, stood near the general's carriage. The only thing he didn't wear from his entire arsenal was the gloves that Bert gave him. So it was accepted that a confidant should be staffed both for battle and accompany the general as his warrior at social evenings. Tan looked imposing. The local service staff looked out of the windows to look at this impressive war. The maids crowded at the windows. They winked at Tan and whispered to each other, laughing and biting their lips. And not surprisingly, Athanasius was in great shape as never before. His muscles wrapped around his arms like steel ropes. New, padded leather pants hugged his powerful thighs. He had shoulder-length light brown hair that was slightly wavy at the ends. The small bristles also added a brutal look. When the general went out, his face expressed seriousness, his lips were frowning, and frowning eyebrows stretched to the floor, but when he saw Tan, he cheered up and calmed down, because it was obvious that General Swann was nervous. Such evenings were new to him, but their attendance allowed him to acquire new acquaintances and promote his ideas among all the participants in the evening much more effectively than debates in the council. Swann knew this. Athanasius also knew this, therefore, when the general approached him, he whispered in a whisper, "General, this is like the first battle, you just need to start, and then everything will go like clockwork." Swan smiled and patted Tan on the shoulder.
– Damn, how healthy you are! I myself was not small at your age, but I can definitely say that I am far from you. I've never seen a man of your size, comparable only to a bear, be so fast. Well, okay, the general gasped, let's go to these vultures, we'll show that we are not bastard either. Then they plunged into the carriage and, a procession of a carriage and ten mounted warriors moved towards Erhard's estate.
About a quarter of an hour later, they arrived at the central doors of the estate. Erhard was an extremely influential figure and enormous funds were spent on such a house. To climb from the road to the central entrance, it was necessary to overcome a staircase with massive granite steps, which were polished to a shine. On the sides, which, flaunted the figures of lions frozen in a menacing roar. Along the way, a red carpet was laid along which servants stood with trays on which there were wine glasses with various alcoholic beverages. But Swann and Athanasius did not even look at them, stubbornly moving towards the door.
Castellan, standing not far from the door, bowed to the guests. Swann handed two invitations into his hands. After reading them, with a false smile, he bowed again to the general and gestured to the servants to open the door shutters made of gilded metal.
Moving towards the door, Tan suddenly smiled and whispered in Swann's ear. Decent generals lead women to a secular evening, and you drag a soldier in full uniform.
But, I'm a combat general, right? And the same could not help smiling.
Before entering, Svan said the phrase: – "Well, into battle …" and, without slowing down, both went inside.
***
As soon as they crossed the threshold, I will fight, out of nowhere, the waiters with drinks and snacks were next to them.
– General Swann, how glad I am to see you today in this hall, throwing his hands up, said Duke Erhard. Coming closer, he embraced the general, not taking his eyes off Athanasius.
– God, who is this?
“This is my confidant and the best fighter in His Majesty's army, Athanasius Mirra,” the general announced with pride.
– How wonderfully harmonious he is!
– That's right, Duke!
– Excuse me not to call me that again! In an informal setting, for you I am Erhard, and that's it! The duke said with pompous resentment.
The way Duke Erhard looked at him made Athanasius uneasy. Suddenly Erhard turned sharply away from him, as from a bored toy, and again embracing Swann, led him to get acquainted with the palace elite of Arkon. Tan stayed where he was, watching as all the gentlemen in turn shook the general's hand, smiled and courted him. But, as soon as the general left, having said a couple of words, to meet other guests of the evening, their smile immediately disappeared. He saw them, screwing up their eyes, looking with envy at the trail of the future member of the military council.
– Yes, here's the mighty of this world for you, a snake ball, and that's all, Tan thought.
Deciding to look around, he took a glass of apple juice, and began his journey to determine the escape in case of emergency. He always did this, it was his habit. “If you want to survive, you have to be ready for anything,” Tan liked to repeat. Having walked around the hall a couple of three times, he already knew on which staircase how many steps, which doors were open and which were locked, as well as the number of guards. Then Tan set to work on the servant and after a while his gaze settled on the incredible beauty of the girl who was handing out glasses of wine. Something set her apart from the rest of the maid crew. She had a slender waist, but from the shoulders and hips, he realized that the girl devotes quite a lot of time to strength exercises. She had a firm gaze that noticed all the guests in the hall. But this gaze was exclusively watching the duke. Then the girl turned her head and their eyes met. Tan smiled at her, but the girl, noticing that she had become the object of someone's attention, was immediately lost in the crowd. An attempt to find her again turned out to be even. Tan found it a bit strange, but the course of his thought process was unceremoniously interrupted by the sound of the opening of the central doors. Time seemed to have stopped, and he saw the young general and two of his guards enter the hall.
– What the fuck ?! Tan asked a question to himself.
As if having heard this question, Duke Erhard immediately climbed the stairs and, having passed a couple of steps to rise above the rest, stopped, turning to the guests.
“Ladies and gentlemen, at my invitation, we were joined by the general of the Batro corps of the army of His Majesty King Orma, an ally of His Holiness King Virgil. – Greetings, General Argos!
Argos greeted those present with a subtle nod of his head. He looked very young for such a title. Medium height. Athletic physique. With a direct and firm gaze. It was clear that he was not a bit, was not nervous and was not embarrassed by the attention to his person. Erhard then followed the same procedure as with General Swann. A little courtesy and they went to all the guests to get to know each other as a sign of respect. Athanasius did not take his eyes off them. An explosive cocktail of anger, bewilderment, disgust, and oddly enough interest was seething in him.
Having met half of the guests, Erhard and General Argos retired in some room, judging by the entire personal study of the duke, at the door of which the retinue of Argos remained.
After staying there, they left for a while, and Erhard continued to acquaint Argos with the remaining generals and board members. At the moment when General Swann's turn came, Athanasius was somewhere three steps behind him.
– General Argos, began the Duke, let me introduce you to General Swann, now a member of His Majesty's military council.
– Greetings, General! said Argos, in a calm voice. His hairless face did not produce any emotion, but it was clear that, unlike the others, he had respect for Swann. Only then did Tan notice. Eyes. They were the same as in his dreams.
– I've heard a lot about you and your successes on the battlefield. How you know how to fight, there are legends, even among our soldiers, said Argos.
Swann opened his mouth to respond with courtesy to courtesy, which was required by the protocol of ethics and diplomacy, but Athanasius was ahead of him. Slowly coming out from behind the general and not taking his eyes off Argos, he said: