"What was the inflation rate at the Golden Sovereign?" Welsey inquired.
"I don't know what the heck the inflation is," Kissur declared, "but I do know that the Golden Sovereign would hang the first official, who tried to arrange it, so high that nobody would even dream of it afterwards."
Welsey kept a shocked silence.
"Well, let's go? Kissur told Bemish.
"Stephen?"
"I would rather take a nap," Welsey uttered nervously — he didn't want to get himself deeper in a capital market discussion with Kissur.
In a moment, Kissur and Bemish were downstairs, missing another basket of gifts on the way.
They got in a car and Kissur dished out a wad of money to Bemish. Bemish was dumbfounded,
"What the heck?!"
"We, " Kissur said, "are going to Mr. Ireda. The man was nice to you — you should express your gratitude."
"But…" Bemish started.
They arrived to Ireda's palace in half an hour and gave him money. Ireda's palace was located right next to the sovereign's palace wall.
The wall was huge and thick; wooden silvered geese stood on the top lowering their heads and looked down with disapproval. Coolness flowed from the yawning gate in the middle of the wall oozed like from a well and all the space in front of the gates was crammed with multi-hued cars.
"The Gate of the Barbarians," Kissur said.
"Eh?"
"In the ancient times, there were four gates facing four sides of the world.the Gate of the Emperor's Paramount Appearance, the Gate of the Officials, the Gate of the Commoners, and the Gate of the Barbarians. Dumb illiterate chiefs in loincloths entered the palace through the Gate of the Barbarians. I was ten year old when they brought me to the palace via the Barbarians Gate and all my friends teased me and laughed at me."
Kissur was silent for a moment.
"Now, only Earthmen enter the palace through the Barbarian Gate."
Their car was slowly crawling by a colorful crowd of parked vehicles. "What about the present sovereign? How did he feel when our presence
ended the war?"
"An insignificant Emperor's subject does not dare to consider his sovereign's thoughts," Kissur answered. Bemish jerked.
"What about you?"
"I was quite impressed," Kissur answered after a pause.
Bemish couldn't help but smile — during the day that Kissur first met the Earthmen, he called them vultures, hijacked a military plane and, having massacred the rebel camp, finished the civil war.
"What impressed you? Our weapons?"
"No, your weapons didn't faze me. I thought that in six months our sovereign would buy the same stuff, maybe slightly older and cheaper. Then, I saw the houses your commoners reside in and the vehicles they drive and I thought that there was no way our sovereign would buy our people the same houses and cars either in six or in sixty months.
"Haven't anything shocked you?" Bemish asked, "our pop culture, our commercials… A lot of people say that Earthmen have too much material life and not enough existence. They use Weia as an example."
"If somebody is unhappy, they can visit us. I 'll send them to my Iniss mines and they will have a lot of… existence."
He grinned and added,"
"Good-bye for now, Terrence. I need to go to the palace and it's time for your visit to Shavash."
Bemish appeared at Shavash's place right on time.
Mr. Shavash received the Earthman in the Red Office.
The host and the visitor bowed each other ceremoniously. A polite servant poured tea in the porcelain cups and disappeared behind the gold-gilded doors. Bemish noticed no paintings drawn and signed by the Emperor hanging on the office walls, otherwise decorated with the utmost grace. Bemish didn't know yet that a roll signed and bequested by the Emperor costs more than a rank and a title, and that Shavash offered half a million to the Emperor's suckling brother, Ishim, to persuade the sovereign Varnazd to bequest him a gift. Ishim, however, had to return the money — somehow, the sovereign did not like Shavash.
"I am very grateful to you," Bemish mentioned at the desert, "that you signed all these papers yesterday and agreed to help me."
Shavash smiled gently,
"Verily, everybody at the court can only talk about your great success. How can such an insignificant person as me, assist you with anything."
Bemish lowered his eyes.
"Are you and Kissur old friends?"
"We met just before the end of the civil war."
"Where?"
"In a duel," Shavash said calmly, "Kissur rushed at me with a sword and I shot at him with a revolver."
Bemish thought for a moment and wondered
"What revolver? The Earthmen hadn't…"
"It's a long story," Shavash waved his hand, "and a revolver was jury-rigged."
"What happened then?"
I almost missed and Kissur's friends charged at me and started to teach me how to conduct duels. Then, they tied me to a rope and dragged me all the way through the city. My back and ribs were broken… Then, the Earthmen appeared and managed to heal me. I've been limping slightly since. And my hand…
Bemish noticed a while ago that Shavash was holding the cup with the left hand while his right palm was shriveled and the fingers were slightly twisted.
"What were you fighting about?"
"A woman. Lady Idari, Kissur's main wife had been my fiancee before Kissur became the first minister and I became a roadside pebble. Kissur arrested a man that I owed my carreer to and obtained his position and my fiancee."