[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
"No, they're all hers. Three set of triplets, four sets of twins, and two
singles. She had them in nine years."
"I can see why they needed all those laundresses."
"Yes, sire."
"Okay, so we've got seven more kids out there we've got to hunt down. Get on
it right away."
Cameray cleared his throat. "Ah, begging your pardon, Your Lordship, but it's
a bit more complicated than that. See, the rules of succession are pretty well
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established in Rockhadden. So even if you killed all the Duke's heirs, the
line isn't ended. You just start with the next younger brother, and then his
children. And when that line ends, you go to the next brother and his
kids.Sisters, too, because women can inherit in Rockhadden."
"Yes, yes. I know how it works, Cameray. He has seven brothers and sisters
and each of their homes was to be attacked when we attacked the castle. Now,
don't tell me one of those attacks failed."
"No sire. They all went as planned."
"We got all the siblings?"
"Yes, sire.But, um, not all their kids."
"For goodness sake, man!"
"They all had huge families," said Cameray "And you know how kids are. You
can't hardly figure out where your own are at night. Some were sleeping over
at a friend's house, the older kids were slipping out to drink down at the
quarry,we had a couple of runaways..."
"How many got away?"
"Well, for his brother Reginald, we lost three out of seven. For his sister
Evelyn, we lost four out of nine. For his sister Bernice we did pretty
well killed eight out of the ten. The other two were at band camp. But then
for his brother Art..."
"Just give me the final tally, Cameray."
"Thirty-four."
"Thirty-four including the seven here?"
"Yes, sire."
"I've got thirty-four rightful heirs to the throne of Rockhadden out there
somewhere, waiting for the chance to ambush me?"
"Yes, sire."
There was silence for long minutes. Cameray waited, trying not to show the
nervousness he felt. The Overlord's face went from pink to red to purple to
red again. He clenched and unclenched his fists, and for a moment Cameray
thought he was going to milk the giant cow. But he just exploded.
"Kill them," he screamed. He drew his sword and hacked savagely at a bedpost.
"Kill them all! Let my edict go out. Kill every newly born child in the duchy
of Rockhadden. My men will sweep through the town and villages like locusts,
destroying every child they find, leaving nothing behind but corpses and
grieving mothers. Death will spread from this castle like a poisonous cloud. I
will not be thwarted, do you hear! Kill them all!"
Cameray cleared his throat. "Er, sire? They're not all newborns."
Riddance gave another whack at the four-poster. "Yes, right. I knew that.
Kill all the children then."
"Some of them are pretty old."
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"How old?"Riddance was looking speculatively at the bedpost, as if waiting
for it to attack.
"They range in age from two months to nineteen years."
"Oh, damn it to hell," said the Overlord in a much calmer, and slightly
exhausted tone of voice. He decided to let the bedpost escape. "And what's the
life span here in Rockhadden?"
"The median life expectancy is forty-seven," said Cameray. Before becoming a
minion, he had worked in insurance, so he knew all sorts of actuarial
statistics. "So we'd have to kill..."
"Don't tell me," said Riddance. "I can work it out. Nineteen out of
forty-seven, right? So that's um." Cameray could see his lips moving slightly
as he did the long division in his head. "So if we killed everyone under the
age of twenty that would be forty percent of the population?"
"Roughly, yes."
There was a long silence while the Overlord thought this over. He looked
thoughtfully at Cameray, but the Minion avoided his eyes. Even the bodyguards
looked down and shuffled their feet. There was more silence.
"Well, it's doable," Riddance said finally. "I mean, it sounds like a lot,
but it's really not that big a country. The trick is not to try and do it all
at once. Just work at it steadily, you know, even if you just murder a few
score a day, and over the long run, they add up. We could probably get it done
in a year or so."
"Yes, sire."
"I mean, I wouldn't want people to think I was getting soft."
"No, sire."
"Nothing is worse for a man's reputation than to announce that he's going to
slaughter forty percent of the population and then quit at, say, thirty-two
percent. People lose respect for you. They say, 'Oh, you can't count on that
guy. He starts projects and doesn't finish them.' "
"I quite agree, sire."
There was more silence. Cameray had been with Riddance for a long time. The
Evil Overlord knew what his Chief Minion was thinking, and the Chief Minion
knew that Riddance knew this. But he waited for Riddance to speak first.
"On the other hand, Cameray."
"Tax base," said Cameray promptly. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl exclamation.htw.pl
"No, they're all hers. Three set of triplets, four sets of twins, and two
singles. She had them in nine years."
"I can see why they needed all those laundresses."
"Yes, sire."
"Okay, so we've got seven more kids out there we've got to hunt down. Get on
it right away."
Cameray cleared his throat. "Ah, begging your pardon, Your Lordship, but it's
a bit more complicated than that. See, the rules of succession are pretty well
Page 57
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
established in Rockhadden. So even if you killed all the Duke's heirs, the
line isn't ended. You just start with the next younger brother, and then his
children. And when that line ends, you go to the next brother and his
kids.Sisters, too, because women can inherit in Rockhadden."
"Yes, yes. I know how it works, Cameray. He has seven brothers and sisters
and each of their homes was to be attacked when we attacked the castle. Now,
don't tell me one of those attacks failed."
"No sire. They all went as planned."
"We got all the siblings?"
"Yes, sire.But, um, not all their kids."
"For goodness sake, man!"
"They all had huge families," said Cameray "And you know how kids are. You
can't hardly figure out where your own are at night. Some were sleeping over
at a friend's house, the older kids were slipping out to drink down at the
quarry,we had a couple of runaways..."
"How many got away?"
"Well, for his brother Reginald, we lost three out of seven. For his sister
Evelyn, we lost four out of nine. For his sister Bernice we did pretty
well killed eight out of the ten. The other two were at band camp. But then
for his brother Art..."
"Just give me the final tally, Cameray."
"Thirty-four."
"Thirty-four including the seven here?"
"Yes, sire."
"I've got thirty-four rightful heirs to the throne of Rockhadden out there
somewhere, waiting for the chance to ambush me?"
"Yes, sire."
There was silence for long minutes. Cameray waited, trying not to show the
nervousness he felt. The Overlord's face went from pink to red to purple to
red again. He clenched and unclenched his fists, and for a moment Cameray
thought he was going to milk the giant cow. But he just exploded.
"Kill them," he screamed. He drew his sword and hacked savagely at a bedpost.
"Kill them all! Let my edict go out. Kill every newly born child in the duchy
of Rockhadden. My men will sweep through the town and villages like locusts,
destroying every child they find, leaving nothing behind but corpses and
grieving mothers. Death will spread from this castle like a poisonous cloud. I
will not be thwarted, do you hear! Kill them all!"
Cameray cleared his throat. "Er, sire? They're not all newborns."
Riddance gave another whack at the four-poster. "Yes, right. I knew that.
Kill all the children then."
"Some of them are pretty old."
Page 58
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
"How old?"Riddance was looking speculatively at the bedpost, as if waiting
for it to attack.
"They range in age from two months to nineteen years."
"Oh, damn it to hell," said the Overlord in a much calmer, and slightly
exhausted tone of voice. He decided to let the bedpost escape. "And what's the
life span here in Rockhadden?"
"The median life expectancy is forty-seven," said Cameray. Before becoming a
minion, he had worked in insurance, so he knew all sorts of actuarial
statistics. "So we'd have to kill..."
"Don't tell me," said Riddance. "I can work it out. Nineteen out of
forty-seven, right? So that's um." Cameray could see his lips moving slightly
as he did the long division in his head. "So if we killed everyone under the
age of twenty that would be forty percent of the population?"
"Roughly, yes."
There was a long silence while the Overlord thought this over. He looked
thoughtfully at Cameray, but the Minion avoided his eyes. Even the bodyguards
looked down and shuffled their feet. There was more silence.
"Well, it's doable," Riddance said finally. "I mean, it sounds like a lot,
but it's really not that big a country. The trick is not to try and do it all
at once. Just work at it steadily, you know, even if you just murder a few
score a day, and over the long run, they add up. We could probably get it done
in a year or so."
"Yes, sire."
"I mean, I wouldn't want people to think I was getting soft."
"No, sire."
"Nothing is worse for a man's reputation than to announce that he's going to
slaughter forty percent of the population and then quit at, say, thirty-two
percent. People lose respect for you. They say, 'Oh, you can't count on that
guy. He starts projects and doesn't finish them.' "
"I quite agree, sire."
There was more silence. Cameray had been with Riddance for a long time. The
Evil Overlord knew what his Chief Minion was thinking, and the Chief Minion
knew that Riddance knew this. But he waited for Riddance to speak first.
"On the other hand, Cameray."
"Tax base," said Cameray promptly. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]