"David Eddings - The Dreamers 01 - The Elder gods" - читать интересную книгу автора (Eddings David)

тАШIтАЩm doing my best, CapтАЩn,тАЩ Rabbit whined. тАШNobody on board likes it
when I practice tooting, so IтАЩm sort of rusty.тАЩ
The Seagull rounded the tip of the sand-spit, and the crew gathered
near the bow to look at the village crouched at the head of a shallow inlet.
тАШNot too fancy,тАЩ Ox observed. тАШMostly sticks chinked with grass.тАЩ
тАШYou werenтАЩt expecting palaces, were you, Ox?тАЩ Sorgan asked. тАШIтАЩm
just as happy not to see stone walls and such. WeтАЩre only one ship, so we
donтАЩt really want to find folks with all kinds of civilization to back them
up. It looks to me like we might have found this place before the Trogites
did. Tell the crew not to start waving swords and spears. We donтАЩt want
to make these folks nervous. Those woods are pretty close to the edge of
that village, and IтАЩd rather not sprout a dozen or so arrows while IтАЩm
trying to talk to the head-man of the village. Take the Seagull on into the
bay, Ox, but weтАЩll drop anchor a little ways out from the beach. IтАЩll take
the skiff and go a little bit closer and then stop. I expect the villagersтАЩll
get my point. I want to talk, not to pick a fight.тАЩ
Ox grunted and eased the Seagull into the inlet. When she was about a
hundred yards from the beach, he ordered the crew to drop anchor, and
several crew-men lowered Hook-BeakтАЩs skiff.
тАШIтАЩll stay within bow-shot,тАЩ the captain said to Ox, тАШbut tell the crew to
keep their weapons out of sight - unless things start getting sticky.тАЩ Then
he climbed over the side and lowered himself into his skiff. He set his
oars in place, rowed in a ways, then stopped and waited.
Several people from the village came down to the beach, and they
seemed to be holding some kind of discussion. Then a tall lean man with
long blond braids and wearing leather clothing got into a kind of canoe,
and the other villagers pushed the canoe into deeper water. Then the
blond man paddled out to where Hook-Beak waited. He seemed to be
very skilled at it. As he came closer and the men on the Seagull could see
him more clearly, Sorgan felt a brief chill. This was obviously a man to
be taken seriously. He was quite lean, and his face was hard. It was his
eyes, however, that had so chilled the captain of the Seagull. There was a
sort of determination there that Sorgan had seldom seen before. When
this particular native wanted something, he would obviously go to any
lengths to obtain it. Sorgan was fairly certain that it was time to tread
very carefully.
тАШWhat do you want?тАЩ the stranger asked. He didnтАЩt sound particularly
belligerent, and Hook-Beak took that to be a good sign. He was just a bit
surprised that the other man spoke the language of the Maags. That
should make things a lot easier. тАШWe arenтАЩt here to cause any trouble,
friend,тАЩ he said. тАШWeтАЩre strangers in these parts, and we donтАЩt know
exactly where we are.тАЩ
тАШThis is the Land of Dhrall,тАЩ the other man replied, тАШand this is the
Domain of Zelana of the West. Does that answer your question?тАЩ
тАШI donтАЩt believe IтАЩve ever heard of Dhrall before,тАЩ Sorgan said. тАШOf
course, weтАЩre a long way from home, and that might explain why. Is this
Zelana your king, or something along those lines?тАЩ
тАШNot exactly. YouтАЩll be meeting her before long, I expect. YouтАЩre
Sorgan Hook-Beak, arenтАЩt you?тАЩ
тАШHow did you know that?тАЩ Sorgan was startled.