"Jack Vance - Demon Prince 04 - The Face" - читать интересную книгу автора (Vance Jack)

Brother Whimas utters a cry in an unknown language
Down the slope bound the Ambrosians, venting hysterical
screams, to fall upon the Aloysians like wild men The bat-
tle goes indecisively for an hour, neither side gaming ad-

1HF DFMON PRI\C 1 S

vantage. At sundown the Ambrosian Cornuttr, b\ the
creed's rigorous rule, sounds the twelve-tone call to vespers
the Anibrosians, in accordance with their invariable habit,
place themselves in devotional attitudes the \lo\sians
quickly set to work and destroy the entire \mbrosun band
well before the hour of their own devotions, and so ends
the Battle of Rudver Moor

Back into Old Town creep the rew surviving Amhro-
sians, in secular H-arments, where eventually they become a
canny group oi" merchants, brewers, atchouse keepers, an-
tiquarians, moneylenders and perhaps pursuivants of other
more furtive trades As for the Moysians, the order disin-
tegrates within the century,, their fervor becomes no more
than a quaint tradition. Temple St Revelras becomes the
Domus, grandest of all the Vegan hostelnes Temple St
Bellaw is only a sad tumble of mossy stone

Gersen sat in the public lobby of Domus St Revelras, the ancient
nave where cenobites had sweated under the gaze of the Gnostic
Eye Patrons of the contemporary Domus knew little of Gnosis,
even less of the Eye, but few could look about the great chamber
without awe

The wa\enng sound of a thousand-^ ear-old gong marked the
hour of late afternoon Into the chamber stepped a tall thin young
man with a thin keen nose, gray eyes of great clarity, and an air of
launty intelligence This was Maxel Rackrose, local correspondent
to Cosmopoln, now assigned to the assistance of "Henry Eucas"-
the identity Gersen used in his role as special writer for Cosniopohs

Maxel Rackrose dropped into a chair beside Gersen "Your sub-
)ect is both elusive and sinister "

"All ot which makes for interesting copy "

"No doubt " Rackrose brought forth a packet of papers "After
a week of scouring I've turned up little more than common knowl-
edge The fellow has a genius for anonymity "

"For all we know," said Gersen, "he is sitting here in the Do-
mus lobby. That's not as improbable as you might suppose "