"Lawrence Watt-Evans - Dus 3 - Sword Of Bheleu" - читать интересную книгу автора (Watt-Evans Lawrence)

"You keep up your air of mystery, but what else can you intend? You do
not deny it, do you?"
Again, the sagging shoulders rose and dropped.
Garth sat back and considered. His chair creaked beneath his weight. The
Forgotten King would not confirm it, but his theory made sense; it hung
together neatly and fit all the known facts, as well as the old man's previous
statements. Why, then, did the King not admit it? There must be possible
consequences that he thought would displease Garth and discourage any further
aid. Such consequences must be fairly easy to discover, too; if they were in
the least esoteric, it would be simple enough to keep Garth from learning of
them.
He thought the matter over. Bringing The God Whose Name Is Not Spoken
into the mortal realm-what would that entail? The god sometimes demanded human
sacrifices; could that be it? It could, indeed. Further, the invocation itself
surely would involve the speaking aloud of the unspeakable name, whatever it
was-that was supposed to mean certain death. Obviously, it would not kill the
Forgotten King, but what of those around him? What of Garth himself? What
would the presence of personified Death do to the surrounding area?
He had no way of knowing what would be involved. Probably no one knew
except the Forgotten King.
"What will happen to those around you, if you are successful in whatever
magic you intend to perform in order that you may die?"
The old man shrugged once again.
"Do you mean that you do not know, or is it merely a matter of
indifference to you?"
"I do not know exactly."
Garth paused, phrasing his next question carefully.
"Have you reason to believe that the magic which will permit you to die
will also bring about other deaths?"
After a moment of silence, the King replied, "Yes."
"How many other deaths?"
"I don't know."
"One? A few? Many?"
"Many."
That was it, then; that was why the old man had been so reluctant to say
what he was after. Furthermore, it was the reason Garth would not serve him
any longer and would not turn over the booty he had brought from Dûsarra.
At least, that was what Garth told himself. Then he reconsidered and
asked, "Is it possible that there might be some other way in which you could
die, some way that would harm no one else?"
The old man answered, "I do not know of any such possibility; I have
sought one for centuries without success. The basilisk was very nearly my last
hope for such a death."
Very nearly his last hope, Garth thought-not absolutely. There was a
chance, then. He would not aid in the Forgotten King's scheme to loose The God
Whose Name Is Not Spoken, but he might be willing to help out in other ways.
He might not win eternal glory by helping the old man to die, but it would be
something worth doing. He would not assist in bringing the gods down from the
heavens, but he would put an end to an immortal and kill the high priest of
Death. That was something that would be noteworthy and significant. He did not