Chapter 8
Chairman Karafa and his Cadet Hamnet
The former royal palace was asleep, submerged in the darkness. Cicadas were chirring in the luxuriant greenery of neglected lawns, and from time to time a night bird cried drawlingly deep inside the garden.
Karafa, the chairman of the Guardian Council, and his younger brother Hamnet were lying on the floor of the room laden with boxes full of lemons and oranges. Karafa lay still and breathed evenly, but Hamnet tossed on his mat uneasily and groaned.
“Say, brother,” he couldn’t stand it at last. “What’s the point of living in a palace if you sleep like a coachman anyway?”
Karafa didn’t bat an eyelash.
“I like to smell the fruit,” Hamnet rolled to the other side, “but to smell them and not to eat is real torture!”
No answer.
“After all,
