"De Camp, L Sprague - RK 2 - The Clocks Of Iraz UC" - читать интересную книгу автора (De Camp L Sprague)

"So much the better."

"But we shall get lost or overset the chariotЧ"

"Fear not; I'll drive. There's a moon, and I know the roads hereabouts."

Heavily laden with three men and their gear, Zerlik's chariot, drawn by a pair of handsome Fedirum whites, reached the village of Evrodmm around midnight. Zerlik climbed down shakily, saying:

10

THE CLOCKS OF 1RAZ

"Methought my last moment had come a hundred times, Master Jorian. Where got you that skill with driving a car?"

fonan laughed. "I can do many things, some passing well and some not so well. I'm probably the only wandering adventurer especially trained for the role."

When they had secured quarters, Zerlik asked Jorian to elucidate his last remark. Over dinner, Jorian Ч who had a weakness for talkЧexplained.

"I got into the king business by happenstance. I was about your age and had been apprenticed to various crafts, such as clockmaking and carpentry, and had served a hitch in the army of Othomae. When that was over, I wandered into Xylar to see what might turn up. I happened upon the drill field outside Xylar City on the day of the casting of the Lot of Imbal, when they behead the old king and toss his head to the crowd.

"When, not knowing this curious custom, I saw this dark, round thing whirling towards me, I caught it without thinking. To my horror I found that I was the new king of Xylar, having caught my predecessor's gory head.

"As soon as I learnt that the same fate awaited me five years thence, I sought means to escape. I tried to flee, to bribe my way out, to persuade the Xylarians to change their damned system, and even to drink myself to death, all without avail.

"Then I learnt that, with the help of Doctor Kara-dur's spells, I might just possibly escape, in return for a favor I was able to do him. Did I succeed, howsomever, the Xylarians would pursue me to the ends of the earth, since their laws suffer not a new king to be chosen by any but the prescribed method, and therefore they must essay to drag me back and resume their interrupted rite to permit public business to go on-""

"How if the king die in office-" asked Zerlik. "Or if you die ere they can recapture you?"

"They have other procedures in such cases; but they

'Sec L. Spraguc du Camp: The Goblin Tower (Pyramid Books, 19681-

II

THE CLOCKS OF IRAZ

are irrelevant to me, since I'm not yet dead and have no yearning to become so. To resume: Knowing that I was virtually condemnedЧshould my escape succeed Ч to the life of a wandering adventurer, I prepared myself therefore by the practice of such arts as acting, rough-and-tumble fighting, sleight-of-hand, cozenage, and burglary. Fur these, I had the tutoring of some of the most unsavory rogues in the Twelve Cities. But some of their lessons have proven most serviceable."

Zerlik: "Do you like this irregulous life?"

"Nay. My real ambition is to be a respectable craftsman or tradesman Ч a surveyor, for ensampleЧearning a decent if modest living, rearing a family, meeting my obligations, and plaguing no man. A peaceful bourgeois life would suit me well, but it seems to flee betore me like the end of a rainbow."

"If you knew the Xylanans were after you, why took you this post in Ir, next door to Xylar? Why not work in some more distant place, like Zolon or Tarxia?"

"Because the Xylarians hold something I wish: to wit, my wife. Therefore I skulk about their borders, seeking means to get her out."

"Oh. Is this the Estrildis whereof the letter from Karadur speaks?"

fonan gave Zerlik a hard look. "By Imbal's iron piz-zle, young sir, you seem to have made rather free with my private correspondence!"