"04 - Emperor and Clown 1.0" - читать интересную книгу автора (Duncan Dave)

"Uphill or downhill?" Gathmor said, when he was satisfied that there were no
footpads close.
"Uphill, downhill, in my lady's chamber . . ."
"Call Sagorn!"
Andor sniggered. "I think I'm too drunk to remember how. Gods, but that kid was
a trader! I couldn't get a thing out of him sober. Ooops, I think I'm going to
call the gnomes."
"Do it, then, or bring Sagorn now and do it next year."
Andor reeled into a corner, but there were some things even Andor could not do
elegantly. Gathmor studied the shadows and the narrow moonstruck sky roofing the
canyon and tried not to listen. Serve the sleazy twister right!
He- was getting very tired of the whole bunch of them. In the last two days he'd
been working with all five-one at a time, of course-and Evil knew how confusing
it was. He'd no sooner get one straightened out than he'd be dealing with
another and having to start all over.
"Awright!" he said when silence returned. "Tell me what you found out, or else
call Sagorn and let me have his ideas firsthand."
"You boneheaded Nordland blackguard!" Andor gagged a few more times, but nothing
more happened. "I still think we're wasting our time. Why don't we go back
down-"
"Don't try it!" Gathmor snarled. "It didn't work the last time, and it won't
now."
Andor could probably still talk him into leaving Arakkaran and abandoning his
shipmate. He'd done so two days ago, and they'd sailed on the dawn breeze. But
only Jalon could work the pipes to summon real winds, and when Andor had called
Jalon, Jalon had simply waited until Gathmor recovered his wits and stopped
threatening. Then they'd come back to Arakkaran. Andor's charm was irresistible,
but it wore off. Jalon was a jotunn, and a real man inside, despite his puny
exterior.
Andor started to speak, groaned briefly, and vanished. -
Sagorn stood in his place, pale face and silver hair shining bright in the light
of the lantern. He sighed approvingly. "Nicely done, sailor."
"What did he learn?"
"Ah!" For a moment the old man stood in silence, pondering or perhaps merely
rummaging through Andor's memories. "Uphill," he said, and began striding into
the dark. Adjusting the bundle on his back, Gathmor moved to his side, and the
shadows danced away at their approach, only to sneak in softly behind again.
"What did Andor find out?"
"I never thought I should be grateful to a gnome," Sagorn remarked. "But
Dragonward Ishist outshines any doctor I have ever heard of. He must be the
equal of-"
"You're going to need medical help again very shortly, you know."
The scholar chuckled dryly and slowed his pace. He had begun to puff already.
"We could use Ishist right now, couldn't we? If what we heard about gangrene is
true, then the faun hasn't long to live. His healing powers must be failing."
Gathmor shuddered. Before noon Thinal had gone over the palace wall again, so
that Andor could interview a couple more guards. The trouble was that then he'd
called Darad to ensure their silence, and all the others were becoming
understandably alarmed by the sudden epidemic of anemia in their profession.
"And Darad saw Princess Kadolan on a balcony," Sagorn remarked. "That's