"Walter Jon Williams - The Crown Jewels" - читать интересную книгу автора (Williams Walter John)

"I'm afraid not. I've just ended a long passage, and I
haven't caught up on the news."

"Ah." Etienne seemed comforted. "Take my arm and
walk with me. The citizens seem a bit shy."

Maijstral fell into step with the other man. Locals parted
before them in a certain awe. "I am not surprised,"
Maijstral said, "How long has it been since members of
the Diadem visited here?"

"Forty standard. And from the looks of this burgh, I
can see why."

Maijstral was diplomatically silent. It is a credit to his
teachers that he did not so much as glance upward to see if
one of the media globes had overheard this remark. Etienne
went on, his parsing indicating irritation.

"It's not so much the reception as the degree of eager-
ness, if you know what I mean. Too much reverence."

"They will soon leam to relax in your company, I'm
sure."

4 / WALTER JON WILLIAMS

"My dear Maijstral, I don't want them to relax. I'm not
supposed to be a neighbor, I'm supposed to be a god."

Anyone, Maijstral reflected, who has got a rapier through
the eye and then discovered that an old acquaintance hasn't
even heard about it might be forgiven a certain amount of



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peevishness, even inconsistent peevishness. Maijstral
shrugged.

"In that case reverence is only your due," he said.
"Relish it, it is the coinage of godhood." Spoken in the
difficult parsing relating the subject matter to the condition
of existence.

Etienne wasn't so peeved he didn't know when someone
had scored a point, but his recovery was graceful. He
bowed to a tall blond woman who was approaching them