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

"Did ever friend of the people appear in a Looter war machine?" asked the woman.

"Is Mazda bound by what common men may or may not do?" replied Krimon. He was beginning to
sound annoyed.

Blade kept his mouth shut and his face still expressionless. He was beginning to feel exactly the same
way as the neuter. But Krimon had told him that he might find the people not quite ready to fall down and
worship someone stepping out of a Looter machine. He should-he would-keep calm, until those who
watched from the shadows made up their own minds. Even for those who had seen him the first time in
Tharn it had been twenty-five years. Memories fade.

"He is not so bound," said the woman grudgingly.

"Then do not doubt Mazda because he comes in a machine that he has taken from the Looters, a
machine whose secrets he has learned." That brought the woman's head up with a jerk and a gasp.

"He-"
Someone moved in the shadows of a doorway. Then a man stepped out into the light. A man standing
well over six feet tall, with an athlete's build and muscles, red gold hair that flamed in the sun-and a face
out of which Blade's own image stared at him.

The man wore a green tunic with a flaming golden sword embroidered on the chest, and two metal
swords hung from a wide leather belt at his waist. On his feet-but Blade found that he could no longer
notice such details. In his mind a voice was sounding.

This is my son.

The voice built to a roar. Blade opened his mouth and shouted out:

"This is my son! This is my son, borne by Zulekia beloved of Mazda, King of the People!"

The tall young man flung his long arms wide and tossed his massive head, making the long red-gold
hair-Zulekia's hair-swirl about like a halo. Then he drew both swords, cast them on the ground in front of
him, and knelt to Blade. "This is Mazda. This is my father, returned to his people. Hail father! Hail
Mazda!"

Chapter 13

Pandemonium followed.

People jumped down into the courtyard from the roof. They swarmed out of the doors and climbed out
of all the windows. They ran into the courtyard from outside the house. There were hundreds of them,
men, women, and children.

Everybody was waving something. All were jumping up and down and shouting, "Mazda, Mazda,
Mazda!" with all the breath in their bodies. The roar of the crowd half-deafened Blade. His ears could
pick up the cry spreading out beyond the King's House, out into the streets, through the city. No doubt it
would go on out into the country, until the houses were too far apart for a shout to carry from one to
another. Then people would run as fast as they could to their neighbors, bringing word that Mazda had