"Lawrence Watt-Evans - Dus 1 - Lure Of The Basilisk" - читать интересную книгу автора (Watt-Evans Lawrence)

As Garth's moment of astonishment passed, he spotted this lone shape and
wondered briefly why he did not look up as had his fellows. Perhaps he was
deaf and had not noticed the silence, or blind, in which case he had no reason
to raise his head. Both infirmities, Garth knew, were common among extremely
aged humans. He returned his thoughts to his quest and realized that this
ancient was the only one present fitting the oracle's description. Although
the other customers, apparently all farmers, were far from welldressed, none
were in rags. Only the old man wore yellow, the others being variously clad in
gray, brown, and a paler gray that must once have been white. With a mental
shrug, though outwardly impassive, Garth crossed the room to the shadowed
corner where the old man sat, and seated himself at the other side of the
table.
The old man gave no sign that he was aware of the newcomer.
The other customers, after following the overman across the room with
their eyes, now turned back to their own conversations. Garth was unsure
whether his sensitive ears had caught the phrase "Should have known" being
muttered at another table.
After a moment, when the old man remained utterly motionless, Garth
hesitantly broke the silence by saying, in a low voice, "I seek one called the
Forgotten King."
"Who are you?" The voice was little more than a whisper, as dry as
autumn leaves, horribly dry and harsh, yet clear and steady.
"I am called Garth, of Ordunin."
"Your title?"
"What?" Garth was taken aback.
"What title do you bear?"
"Tell me first of him whom I seek."
"I am he; answer me your title."
Reluctantly, the overman answered, "I am Prince of Ordunin, and Lord of
the Overmen of the Northern Waste."
At last the old man moved, raising his head to gaze at Garth. The
overman saw that his face was as dry and wrinkled as a mummy's, and his eyes
so deeply sunken that they remained invisible in the shadow of the dark yellow
hood. Garth had a momentary uncomfortable impression that there were no eyes,
that he was looking at empty sockets, but he dismissed it as a trick of the
light.
"What would you have of me?"
"I have been told, O King, that you can grant me a boon I desire."
"Who has told you this?"
"An oracle"
"What oracle?"
"One among my own people. You would not have heard of her."
"She must have heard of me."
Unwillingly, unsettled by those darkened eyes, Garth replied, "She and
her sister are called the Wise Women of Ordunin."
There was no reply.
"They have said that you alone may grant what I ask."
"Ah. What do you ask?"
 "I am weary of life as it is, in which decay and death are everywhere. I
am tired of being insignificant in the cosmos."