The Ambassador by Graham McNeill

Author:Graham McNeill
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Black Library
Published: 2011-07-19T04:00:00+00:00

‘Drink the whole lot,’ said Sofia. ‘It won’t do you any good if you don’t.’

‘Damn you, woman!’ snapped Matthias Gerhard. ‘It’s vile! You are trying to poison me, I know it.’

Sofia Valencik held the glass in front of the merchant and said, ‘I assure you, Herr Gerhard, if I had wanted to poison you, then you would already be in no state to complain about it.’

Lamplight glittered through the murky concoction Sofia had mixed together from a multitude of ingredients taken from her canvas satchel. An unhealthy looking remedy, the drink was a leafy liquid that smelled of soured milk. Gerhard sneezed violently and grimaced, but accepted the glass and drained it in a single swallow. He retched and spluttered as he swallowed the herbal medicine, setting the glass down amidst a pile of papers before folding his arms petulantly across his chest.

‘It is galling that a man of my standing should be treated in such a manner,’ he said.

‘You should think yourself lucky, Herr Gerhard,’ replied Sofia. ‘Many a man would have you thrown in the Chekist’s deepest gaol for your crimes. Be thankful that Ambassador von Velten still has need of you and has allowed you to remain in your own home.’

‘Kept in my study all day under constant guard by armed knights and that old viper!’ said the merchant pointing at Stefan, who sat at Gerhard’s fabulous oaken desk behind a wall of leather-bound accounts ledgers. Pince-nez glasses were perched on the end of his nose and a goose-feathered quill darted across a long parchment.

‘If you ask me, Sofia,’ said Stefan, without once looking up from the piles of Gerhard’s ledgers, ‘you should just let him die of fever. He’s certainly earned it.’

‘Be quiet, you old fool,’ said Sofia, stuffing several jars of herbs and poultices into her satchel. ‘The ambassador asked me to make sure this one doesn’t die, and I do not intend to let him down.’

‘I bet you don’t,’ said Stefan, the quill twitching across the parchment.

‘And what exactly is that supposed to mean?’ demanded Sofia, rounding on Stefan.

‘Nothing,’ said Stefan airily, ‘nothing at all.’

‘Good, and I’ll thank you to keep any such insinuations to yourself in future.’

‘I’m just saying that–‘

‘Well don’t,’ she said, as the sound of hammering on the front door came from below.

She turned to Gerhard and asked, ‘Are you expecting guests?’

V

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