"Elizabeth Haydon - Symphony of Ages - Threshold" - читать интересную книгу автора (Haydon Elizabeth)

flapping rose from the eaves of a boarded mudbrick building near the well; a flock of roosting pigeons
started and took to the sky, squawking angrily.

For fifteen long minutes the great bell kept sounding, the clanging trailing off into silence after a few
sustained moments, only to resume in its earsplitting furor again and again. Hector continued to stare into
the darkened alleyways, enduring the cacophony without wincing, until finally a dark outline of a man
appeared at the end of a street near the well. The man waited until Anais paused in his pounding of the
bell, then shouted down the empty street.

тАЬHave him stop immediately, or I will order him shot.тАЭ

тАЬIt would be an unwise order to give,тАЭ Hector shouted back, as the three who surrounded him leveled
their crossbows, тАЬand your last.тАЭ

A ragged chuckle came from the bony figure, and the man at the alleyтАЩs end came forward, limping
slightly into the afternoon light as the bell began to crash once more.

тАЬHold, Anais,тАЭ Hector yelled as the thin man stepped into the square the same moment the ringing paused
again. He watched impatiently as the man leaned on his walking stick and turned his head to the south to
scan the distant wall. The others did not lower their weapons.

тАЬWhat, pray tell, do you think you are doing?тАЭ the ragged man asked in a mixture of annoyance and
inquisitiveness. тАЬBesides disturbing the pigeons and my afternoon nap.тАЭ

тАЬA final rescue ship has come into the harbor. I am here to make one last attempt to save what remains
of the kingтАЩs people.тАЭ

The bony man broke into a wide smile graced intermittently by teeth.

тАЬAh,тАЭ he said smugly, running a thin hand over the gray stubble on his face. тАЬNow the source of our
misunderstanding is clear. You are merely confused.тАЭ His tone turned conciliatory, with a hint of
exaggerated condescension, as if he were speaking to children. тАЬYou see, these are not the kingтАЩs
people; they never were. The king forgot about this place long ago, just as his father and his grandfather
before him did. I am king of this place nowтАФwell, they call me the Despot, actuallyтАФnow that anyone
with actual power has long ago left. These aremy people.I say whether they come or go, live or die.тАЭ He
leaned forward on his walking stick, his patchy smile growing brighter. тАЬAnd I say they are staying. So go
about your business, sir knight; run along and board your ship. We do thank you for your kind offer, but
respectfully, as king of those who remain, I decline.тАЭ

тАЬYou are king of nothing,тАЭ Jarmon shouted scornfully.

The Despot laughed. тАЬWell, I have something in common with Gwylliam, then. How repulsive. I am more
king than he ever was, he who frightened the people with his visions, his predictions of cataclysm, and
then left them, a king who abandoned his birthright to save his own hide. At least I stayed with my
peopleтАФheld my post. Unlike Gwylliam, I am not a coward.тАЭ
JarmonтАЩs expression blackened and he raised his bow sight to his eye.

тАЬGive the word, Hector,тАЭ the old guard said angrily. тАЬI want this one.тАЭ

тАЬThere is no time for your games, your foolishness,тАЭ Hector said tersely to the Despot, raising a