"Robert Jordan - Conan The Indomitable" - читать интересную книгу автора (Jordan Robert)

day has gone. This fool insulted me and he shall pay for it!"

Conan, whose sword remained sheathed, spared a glance at Elashi, then at Lalo. "Perhaps," he told
Lalo, "if you apologized to Bent Nose here, this matter could be resolved peacefully."
"Bent Nose? Who are you calling Bent Nose?"

Conan said, "Have you never used a looking glass?"

"I suspect the last one he gazed upon shattered when forced to reflect such a heinous image," Lalo
observed.

"You help matters not at all," Conan told the grinning man.

"Yaahh!" With that exclamation, Bent Nose charged, sword uplifted to split Lalo like a stick of kindling.

Conan had plenty of time to draw his own weapon and block the attack, but as he pulled his sword free
of the sheath, One Ear stood and threw his wine bottle at Conan's head.

While the Cimmerian's reflexes were fast, even he could not slap the bottle from the air with the flat of
his sword and then have sufficient time to block Bent Nose's strike at Lalo. As the glass bottle shattered
against Conan's sword, Bent Nose's blade came down upon the hapless LaloтАж

No! He missed! Lalo danced to one side, and the sword that would have cleaved him hit a thick table
top instead, burying the blade to half its width in the wood. Bent Nose jerked on the handle, but the
sword was stuck fast.

What Lalo did then was quite amazing. He danced back toward Bent Nose, grabbed his wrist and
underwent some kind of contortion, twisting and turning as he dropped to his knees on the floor. Bent
Nose screamed and flew over Lalo's head to dive face first into the nearest wall.

Conan had no more time to marvel over this maneuver, however, as One Ear charged, brandishing his
sword and howling like a demented wolf. He sought to run Conan down, a mistake most costly. Conan
merely extended his sword to arm's length and One Ear spitted himself on the point. Half of the sword's
length emerged from the man's back, carrying upon its tip blood from his lanced heart. One Ear fell, and
Conan managed to jerk his blade free as the man went down. He bent and wiped the gore from the iron
on One Ear's tunic, not doubting for a moment that the man was dead.

So much for a peaceful evening by the fire.

Conan turned, to see Lalo and Elashi examining Bent Nose. From the angle of the downed man's head,
it was clear that his neck was broken; and from his impact against the wall, likely his skull was broken as
well.

Such proved to be the case. Elashi stood and said, "He is dead."

Conan moved toward Elashi and Lalo. Around them, the inn's other patrons sat frozenтАФso many figures
in a paintingтАФafraid to move.

"I have never seen that type of wrestling before," Conan said. "Very efficient."