"Raymond E. Feist - Conclave of Shadows 3 - Exile's Return" - читать интересную книгу автора (Feist Raymond E)

to circumnavigate a collapsed section.
By midday he was exhausted. He removed his shirt and tied it around his head as
a rudimentary covering. He didn't know how he knew, but he vaguely remember as a
boy being told that the body could withstand sunburn as long as the head was shaded.
He drank another swallow of water and then chewed the jerked meat. It was tough
and with little fat, and very salty. He resisted the urge to drink more, determined to
permit himself just one more mouthful when he had finished the food.
It took a while to chew the meat, but at last he finished and he took that one long
drink. He sat regarding his surroundings.
Kaspar was a hunter. Perhaps not the hunter Talwin Hawkins had been, but he
had enough wilderness lore to know he was in dire circumstances. Whatever rain
visited this harsh countryside did so infrequently, for there were no signs of vegeta-
tion save the tough trees that scattered the landscape. The rocks he sat upon had no
grass pushing its way up between cracks, and when he turned a stone over, there was
no moss or lichen growing on the shaded side. This country was dry most of the time.
He let his eyes follow the ridge upon which he walked and he saw that it ran
towards the south. To the east he saw nothing but broken plains, and to the west the
arid valley. He decided he would take this trail for a while longer, and look for
anything that would keep him alive. The nomads were heading south, and if he didn't
know anything else, he knew that eventually they would be heading for water. And to
survive, he needed water.
For that was the task at hand: survival. Kaspar had many ambitions at the
moment, to return to Opardum and reclaim the throne of Olasko, and to visit
vengeance on his traitorous Captain Quentin Havrevulen and Talwin Hawkins,
formerly of his household. As he walked, a thought arose. The two men weren't
actually traitors, he guessed, as he had condemned both to imprisonment on the isle
known as the Fortress of Despair, but whatever the legal niceties were, he'd have
them both dead.
He'd probably have to rally forces loyal to him and seize the citadel from them.
Most likely Talwin had forced his sister Talia to marry him, to claim his throne, and
Havrevulen was almost certainly in command of the army. But he'd find men who
remembered who was the rightful ruler of Olasko, and he'd reward them handsomely
once he was back in power.
His mind churned and he advanced plan after plan as he trod the roadway, but
whatever plan presented itself he first had to overcome several significant obstacles,
starting with the fact that he was on the wrong side of the world. That meant he would
need a ship and crew, and that meant gold. And to get gold he would have to contrive
of a way to earn it or take it. And that meant finding civilization, or what passed for it
on this continent. And finding people meant he had to survive.
He glanced around as the sun reached its zenith, and decided that right now,
survival looked improbable. Nothing stirred in any direction he looked, save a small
cloud of dust marking the passage of the nomads who had captured him.
However, he considered, standing still only guaranteed his death, so he would
keep moving as long as he had the strength.
He marched on.


CHAPTER TWO
Survival
KASPAR LAY DYING.