"David Drake - Belisarius 6 - The Dance Of Time" - читать интересную книгу автора (Drake David)

northern side of the Triangle were already strong enough to break any army Link could send against them
within a year or two. Not even the Malwa Empire had an inexhaustible supply of men and munitions,
ready to hand.

Especially men. Their morale must be close to the breaking point, I think. Link's army needs a rest, and
it knows it. That's why it didn't order the assault. It can afford a stalemate, even for long period, where it
can't afford another string of defeats.
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The sun was coming up.

Softly, proudly:You really hammered them, these past few years.

Chapter 1

Bukkur Island, on theIndus river

He dreamed mostly of islands, oddly enough.

He was sailing, now, in one of his father's pleasure crafts. Not the luxurious
barge-in-all-but-name-and-glitter which his father himself preferred for the family's outings into the
Golden Horn, but in the phaselos which was suited for sailing in the open sea. Unlike his father, for whom
sailing expeditions were merely excuses for political or commercial transactions, Calopodius had always
loved sailing for its own sake.

Besides, it gave him and his new wife something to do besides sit together in stiff silence.

Calopodius' half-sleeping reverie was interrupted. Wakefulness came with the sound of his
aide-de-camp Luke moving through the tent. The heaviness with which Luke clumped about was
deliberate, designed to allow his master to recognize who had entered his domicile. Luke was quite
capable of moving easily and lightly, as he had proved many times in the course of the savage fighting
onBukkurIsland . But the man, in this as so many things, had proven to be far more subtle than his rough
and muscular appearance might suggest.

"It's morning, young Calopodius," Luke announced. "Time to clean your wounds. And you're not eating
enough."

Calopodius sighed. The process of tending the wounds would be painful, despite all of Luke's care. As
for the otherтАФ

"Have new provisions arrived?"

There was a moment's silence. Then, reluctantly: "No."

Calopodius let the silence lengthen. After a few seconds, he heard Luke's own heavy sigh. "We're
getting very low, truth to tell. Ashot hasn't much himself, until the supply ships arrive."