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!