"David Drake - General 08 - The Tyrant" - читать интересную книгу автора (Drake David)

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To Torgny, and to Frieda's memory
Also in this series, by David Drake & S.M. Stirling:
The General:

The Forge
The Chosen
The Reformer

Also by David Drake & Eric Flint:
The Belisarius series:

An Oblique Approach
In the Heart of Darkness
Destiny's Shield
Fortune's Stroke
The Tide of Victory



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PART I:
THE TRIUMVIR
Chapter 1
When Verice Demansk had been six years old, his grandfather had taken him one day on a tour of the
statuary in the gardens of the family's estate. The tour had finished in front of the statue of the All-Father.

"Whatever else you do," the old man had told him sternly, "make sure it will meet the approval of this
god. The othersтАФgods of love and war, the harvest, whateverтАФmust always be respected also, of
course. But, in the end, this god will be the judge."

Demansk was now a middle-aged man himself, with his own august presence, beard turning gray, long
string of honors to his name, and bearing the title of Justiciar of the Confederation. His grandfather had
died many years earlier. But, staring up again at the statue on a summer day, he could remember that
moment perfectly. And he understood, finally, why his feet seemed to have brought him, without his even
being aware of where he was walking, before this statue in the gardens.

He stared up at the painted marble face of the god for perhaps three minutes. Then, sighing softly, made