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

indeed, he alone had been able to wield the sword, and on his own he had been
utterly unable to resist its hold.
He had not freed himself alone.
Just to the north of its market square, Skelleth had an ancient tavern
called the King's Inn, and in this tavern dwelt an old man who called himself
the Forgotten King. It was the presence of this individual that, more then
anything else, made Skelleth a center for important events.
Garth was not entirely sure whether, on balance, the King's presence was
good or bad.
He had originally come to Skelleth seeking the King, because an oracle
had told him that only the Forgotten King could grant him the eternal fame he
had, at that time, thought he wanted. He had returned to Skelleth a second
time, after getting over that particular aberration of desire, because the
King had pointed out the possibility of trade. He had gone to Dûsarra at the
behest of the mysterious old man and had brought back Frima, now the Baroness,
as well as the Sword of Bheleu and the knowledge of trading prospects on the
Yprian Coast. His life, and the influence he had upon Skelleth, seemed to have
been inextricably linked to the old man since Garth first left Ordunin.
In Dûsarra he had learned something of the King's history; the old man
was apparently the one true high priest of the god of death, the chosen of The
God Whose Name Is Not Spoken, just as Garth was the chosen of Bheleu. As such,
the King could not die; he had lived through several ages and now desired
nothing but the death that was denied him.
In pursuit of his own destruction, the Forgotten King had sent Garth on
several errands. He sought to perform some great suicidal magic; from various
clues, Garth had tentatively decided that the old man hoped to manifest the
Death-God himself in the mortal world, so that the King might renounce the
bargain made so long ago. The problem was that the proposed magic, whether
Garth had correctly determined its nature or not, would involve many deaths,
by the King's own admission. Garth did not care to contribute to unnecessary
deaths and had therefore refused to aid the King further.
Then, though, the Sword of Bheleu had possessed him, and there was no
power Garth could find that could free him from it, save the power of the
strange old man. Of all the Lords of Dûs, the dark gods, only the god of death
was more powerful than the god of destruction; thus only the chosen of the
Final God, in his own right perhaps the most powerful wizard who had ever
lived, could break the link between Bheleu and his chosen one.
To free himself, therefore, Garth had sworn to aid the Forgotten King.
He had promised to fetch for him the final item needed to complete his magic,
an object of great arcane power that he called the Book of Silence. Garth had
sworn that oath knowing he had no intention of keeping it, and the suppressed
knowledge that he was an oathbreaker, a being devoid of honor, in thought if
not yet in deed, had gnawed upon him ever since.
As an injured man would probe at an open wound, fascinated by the pain,
Garth found himself haunting the King's Inn and watching the Forgotten King
for hours on end. The King had told him, when first he swore his oath, that he
was free to roam, as long as he checked back every so often. The old man had
not yet told him where the mysterious Book of Silence might be found; he said
that he had left it somewhere, centuries ago, and was trying to recall where.
When he did remember, Garth would be sent to retrieve it. Until the memory