"Jeffrey Lord - Blade 19 - Looters of Tharn" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lord Jeffery)

"Yes--I knew. But-I did not know what would happen to it-or her. I knew life would be hard for them
both, so I did not want to go away. But-"

"We understand. Zulekia did, and so does your son. He will be happy to welcome you to Tharn."

"He-he is important there?" Blade realized that he was asking his question in a very ungodlike way. He
sounded more like a village idiot than a god. But he simply could not force his brain to absorb so many
stunning facts at one time. He was facing a situation that he not only had never faced before, but had
never in his wildest dreams imagined that he could face.

"Your son is King in Tharn," said Krimon simply. "Certain neuters who knew much of the legends of
ancient Tharn said that was the proper title for a man who ruled. Also, the Pethcines already used it. It
was easier to get them to accept your son's rule when he bore a title they knew. But it was not truly easy
even then. The Lesser War was a bloody affair. Fortunately your son was a man by then, a mighty
warrior. His vengeance upon the Outlaw Pethcines for his mother's death was terrible. They will not-"

Blade held up a hand. "Wait a minute." He wanted to shout it out, but didn't. "Zulekia is dead? And my
son old enough to be a warrior? How-?"

"Yes, Zulekia, Beloved of Mazda, is dead. She was slain in the Lesser War by the Outlaw Pethcines. A
long-delayed vengeance for the Great War. But they gained nothing by it. In fact even more of them died
than would otherwise have been the case. Your son-"

"My son," said Blade. The idea of his son seemed the only fixed point in a world that was whirling faster
and faster around him, threatening at every moment to explode into a thousand fragments. "How old is
my son?"

"I do not know how time is reckoned in the worlds where you have traveled," said Krimon. "Our wisest
neuters-" He broke off hastily as he saw Blade's face turn dark with impatience. "Your son has wives of
his own now, and they have borne him children old enough to run and ride and begin training in
weapons."

Blade nodded, keeping his self-control with a considerable effort. "Krimon, how do you measure time in
Tharn? Is the chronos still used, or-?"

"Oh no," said the neuter. "It is sometimes cold and wet, at other times hot and dry. We now measure
time by a complete cycle of these particular times. Your son-I think he has now lived through twenty-five
of these cycles. In fact, I know that for certain, because I was one of those present to watch over his
birth, though I have been kept aside from him since. But when it came time for the child of Mazda to be
born, none who had knowledge that might keep it and the mother alive were excluded. I-"

"Krimon," said Blade quietly. "I would ask you to be silent. If you go on babbling like this, I will pick you
up with my own two hands and bounce you off the walls of this cabin until you are quiet."

Krimon showed no sign of fear. Instead he smiled. "Mazda, it is your right to do with me as you choose.
But may I ask you not to kill me until after I have eaten some food? It has been a long time since I last
ate. I would like to die on a full stomach if I have the choice."

Blade laughed. He was beginning to like Krimon. The neuter might have been only of the 11th Level, but