"Lawrence Watt-Evans - Dus 4 - Book of Silence" - читать интересную книгу автора (Watt-Evans Lawrence)

"Garth," the old man replied, "you are bored, frustrated by inactivity.
You are a warrior, given to violent action, not to sitting about a peaceful
village. I have told you from the first that you are free to leave Skelleth
and that your oath does not hold you here, as long as you return at intervals
to learn whether or not I have recalled where the Book of Silence lies. Why,
then, do you not find yourself some task to occupy your time, rather than
remain here disturbing my contemplation?"
So long a speech was unusual for the King, and Garth knew it well. He
realized that he must have seriously annoyed the old man. His own anger,
however, had not faded.
"And what task shall I pursue, then? Where am I to go? I am forbidden
the Northern Waste and therefore cannot aid my homeland against the human
pirates who assail it. What other task awaits me? I have little taste for
roaming aimlessly, particularly when the world is strewn about with wars and
battles that do not concern me. I have no reason to side with any human
faction and no desire to kill merely for my own amusement, so I will not join
in these wars. I am welcome no place outside Skelleth. I have seen Mormoreth
and left it in the hands of men who comrades I killed in self-defense; will
they greet me as an old friend? I have visited Dûsarra and left it aflame and
plague-ridden, its every citizen my enemy. The other lands and cities of the
south are unknown to me, and overmen are unwanted strangers throughout. Where,
then, shall I go?"
"What of the Yprian Coast?"
"And what might I do there, but find another tavern wherein I might sit
and be bored? I am no trader, I know that now; I have no desire to seek out
new markets and new routes."
"Think you that is all that may be found there?"
"What else might there be? Farms and villages, markets and men and
overmen. The caravans have told us what may be found there, and it does not
interest me. Others have gone before me as well; where might I explore that
they could not have preceded me?"
"Must you be first, then, as you were first in coming to Skelleth, first
to think that overmen might trade here?"
"For all the good that did me, yes. What point is there in doing what
has been done before?"
"I think, Garth, that you resent the ingratitude of those who have
benefited from the trade you began."
"Perhaps I do, old man; what of it? Does it matter to either of us that
I am scorned by those I have made wealthy? Or that my old companions allow me
no responsibilities in the village I gave them? They are no concern of ours. I
am sworn to aid you in your death-magic, O King; that is what concerns us. I
am waiting for you to tell me how I may fulfill my oath."
"I have told you that I have not yet remembered."
"Then I must wait until you do."
"And plague me with angry questions?"
"Should I so choose, yes."
The King did not reply immediately; during the pause, Garth drank the
rest of his ale and decided against ordering another.
"Garth, I would have you leave me in peace," the old man said at last,
"so that I might be able to think more clearly and recall more easily what I