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

Kyrith and Galt emerged from the tent, and he put aside his thoughts.
Galt blinked at the daylight; the sky was finally beginning to clear.
"Greetings, Garth," he said.
"Greetings, Galt. What are you doing here? What is this so-called siege
supposed to do?"
"Don't blame me for the siege; that was Kyrith's idea, and I was
overruled."
"What are you doing here in the first place?"
"We came to speak with the Baron of Skelleth. Kyrith didn't believe that
you had gone off on your own willingly; she thought that the Baron had you
prisoner somewhere in Skelleth or had killed you, and she gathered these
volunteers to come find you. The City Council sent me along. We had intended
to ride into the village, confront the Baron, present our demands, and settle
the matter on the spot, preferably by gracefully accepting his capitulation."
"You needed sixty armed overmen for that?"
"As we both know, Garth, the Baron of Skelleth takes a great interest in
military matters. Your disappearance gave us sufficient excuse for a show of
force, which, it was felt, might serve to convince him where simple
negotiation would not."
Galt's smooth manner irritated Garth. He snapped, "It didn't work?"
"It might have succeeded, had the Baron met with us. Unfortunately, we
were told, with much sincere regret, that he was sick in bed and could not see
us. We did not care to force the issue then and there, but Kyrith was
unwilling to do nothing; hence the siege."
"The Baron refused to see you, and you simply left town?"
"We set up the siege."
"Siege! You call this farce a siege?"
Galt shrugged, and Garth's annoyance grew.
"You accepted the word of the humans that the Baron was ill? You did not
insist upon seeing him?"
"No. The captain of the guard swore by half a dozen gods I never heard
of and by various parts of his anatomy that the Baron was ill in bed. I spoke
last night with the man called Saram, whom you know and whom I believe you
trust, and he told me that the Baron's illness is legitimate-a side-effect of
his madness."
"Did it not occur to any of you that it would be far more effective to
camp in the marketplace, where you could not be so easily ignored or put off,
rather than to establish a siege you cannot possibly maintain? Furthermore, a
single message slipped past your pitiful line of sentries could bring the
wrath of the entire Kingdom of Eramma down on you and on the Northern Waste,
since a siege is undeniably an act of war. Had you camped peacefully in the
square, you would have been honest petitioners, breaking no laws."
Galt was slow to reply. "Such an audacious action did not occur to me."
"Audacious? The Baron of Skelleth is the audacious one! He dares to
dictate terms to overmen as if we were mere peasants? To refuse your embassy
an audience? It is time that we showed him the error of his ways. I propose
that we march back into town; if he will still not speak with us, we will camp
in the market until he does."
"I am not sure that would be wise. I did not approve of the siege, but I
think that your plan faces the same objections. We dare not push the Baron too