"David Gemmell - Winter Warriors" - читать интересную книгу автора (Gemmel David)

it. They're sending me home,' he said. 'All the older men are going home.'

'Don't you want to go home?'

'I was one of the first to join the White Wolf,' he said. 'Back when Drenan was beset on all sides
and the king's army had been all but destroyed. We beat them all, you know. One after another.
When I was a child my country was ruled from afar. We were just peasants. But we changed the
world. The king's empire stretches for -' he

seemed to struggle for a moment with the mathematics. '- thousands of miles,' he concluded lamely.

'He is the greatest king who ever lived,' she said, softly, hoping that was what he wanted to
hear.

'His father was greater,' said Bison. 'He built from nothing. I served him for twenty-three years.
Then the boy-king for another twenty. Twenty-six major battles I've fought in. There. Twenty-six.
What do you think of that?'

'It's a lot of battles,' she admitted, not knowing where the conversation was leading. 'Come back
to bed.'

'It's a lot of battles, all right. I've been wounded eleven times. Now they don't want me any
more. Eighteen hundred of us. Thank you and goodbye. Here's a bag of gold. Go home. Where's home,
eh?' With a sigh he moved to the bed, which creaked as his huge frame settled upon it. 'I don't
know what to do, Palima.'

'You are a strong man. You can do anything you want. Go anywhere you want.'

'But I want to stay with the army. I'm a front ranker! That's what I am. That's what I want.'

Sitting up she cupped his face in her hands. 'Sometimes - most times - we don't get what we want.
Rarely do we even get what we deserve. We get what we get. That's it. Yesterday is gone, Bison. It
will never come again. Tomorrow hasn't happened yet. What we have is now. And do you know what is
real?' She took his hand in hers and lifted if to her naked breast, pressing his fingers to her
flesh. ''This is real, Bison. We are real. And at this moment we are all there is.'

His hand fell away, then he leaned down and kissed her cheek. He had never done that before. In
fact she couldn't remember the last time a man had kissed her cheek. Then he rose. 'I'd better be
getting back,' he said.

33

'Why not stay? I know you, Bison. You'd feel better afterwards. You always do.'

'Aye, that's true. You are the best, you know. And I speak from a lifetime of having to pay for
it. But I have to go. I'll be on charges. The Watch is probably looking for me.'

'What have you done?'

'Lost my temper. Tapped a few soldiers.'