"Robert Don Hughes - Pelman 01 - The Prophet Of Lamath" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hughes Robert Don)

wasn't good. The great head named Vicia turned to stare at the fat merchant once more, and began slowly dropping
out of the sky toward him. Closer and closer it came, until one eye gazed into Pezi's face from only a yard away. Pezi
had backed into his animal, and now the horse, too, was spooked. The dragon rarely came this close to a living thing
he did not intend to eat.

"I don't believe you," Vicia hissed. He spoke quietly, Vicia thought, but at this distance the noise rattled through Pezi's
relatively empty skull, and the merchant slammed both hands over his ears. Heinox had by now surveyed the entire
length of the caravan, eyeing everything carefully and throwing a terrible scare into all present. He investigated
particularly a curtained litter that was being carried by a team of eight slaves, all Maris. It was a nobly carved carriage,
from what he could see, but what most attracted his attention were the drapes. They shimmered as only fish-satin
shimmered, and they were interlaced with threads of finely spun gold. Only a member of the royal house of
Chaomonous would travel in such a booth as this, and the dragon knew it.

"Is this your cargo?" Heinox thundered from right above the litter. Pezi jerked around to look up at the head high
above, but he quickly turned back to look at Vicia as the left-hand head snorted behind him: "I was talking to you,
merchant!" "Oh, ah, yes, ah . . ." "Is this the cargo, merchant?" Heinox roared behind him, and Pezi looked around
again, but: "Answer me, merchant!" Vicia snarled, and that was all for Pezi, at least for the moment. He fell into a dead
faint beneath his trembling horse.

"Now what have I done?" Heinox murmured.

"I was only asking him a simple question," Vicia grumbled. Then he growled loudly, "Can't any of you answer me?
You!" Vicia-Heinox zeroed in on a pale rider in blue and lime who held tightly to the pommel of his saddle to keep from
shaking all the way out of it. As Heinox darted down from nowhere to look him in the face, the rider threw up his hands
in dismay . . . and fell out of the saddle, flat on his back. Had he, too, passed out? "You are faking. Get up!" Heinox
ordered. The rider stayed put. "Get up or I'll eat you!" Still the rider lay in peaceful silence on his back, and
Vicia-Heinox threw up his heads in disgust. He was focusing four eyes ,on the entire caravan, preparing to burn it all
away, when someone spoke: "Excuse me, your Dragonship, but perhaps I can shed some light on this situation." The
dragon stopped in mid-bum and looked himself in the eyes. Vicia dropped down to look at the speaker, a ragtag
character near the end of the line.

"Are you of the family of Ognadzu?" the dragon asked. "You are certainly not dressed for it . . ."' "I am not of the
house of Ognadzu, nor of any of the trading houses. I am Pelman, sometimes called Pelman the player, lately of
Chaomonous. I was enslaved by the King for making an allusion to one of his mistresses in an ill-received play." "The
Player? I've never heard of the family of Player," Vicia observed.

"But you can't be a slave," said Heinox. "You see, I've just eaten." "Which I take as a stroke of great luck," Pelman
admitted.
"What is this caravan for. Player? It's too early, I'm still full!" "I suppose it comes as no shock to a dragon of your
experience that these merchants are not in business entirely for your benefit," Pelman said quietly. Vicia shook his
mighty head, and looked at Heinox.

"Did I understand that?" "I didn't, did I?" "I don't think so." "There is a trade war going on right now, your
Dragonship. Each house is striving to get the better of the other houses. In the struggle, one might say the ethics of
the League of Trade have . . . slipped, somewhat." "Ethics?" said both heads together. Vicia-Heinox was amazed at this
little spokesman. Not only was Pelman the player not trembling, he even took his eyes off of the dragon as he spoke.
He behaved as if he conversed with a peer at the gaming tables.

"Now what is happening here is an indication of the kind of thing that has been taking place in Chaomonous for some
time," Pelman continued. He motioned the dragon to come closer. Both heads moved fluidly down to listen as he