"Eric Van Lustbader - Sunset Warrior 4 - Beneath an Opal Moon" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lustbader Eric van)

 The scarred man leads his stallion left into a
narrow alley, crooked and filled with refuse and
excrement. There must be bones here, hidden
perhaps in the high dark mounds heaped against
the sides of the building walls. Human bones
stripped of all flesh, all identity. The stench is
appalling and he breathes shallowly as if the air
itself might be poisonous. His mount whinnies
and he pats its neck reassuringly.

The alley gives out at length onto Green
Dolphin Street with its dense tangle of shops and
dwellings. Again the air is filled with the singsong
cacophony of the city and spices blot out the
more noxious odors. Half a kilometer away, the
scarred man finds the straw-filled sanctuary of a
stable. Leading his mount to a stall, he reaches
up, removing his saddle bags, slinging them over
his left shoulder. He places two coins in the dark
palm of a greasy attendant before venturing out
onto Green Dolphin Street. He walks for a time
down this wide avenue meandering, pausing from
time to time to peer into shop windows or turn
over a piece of merchandise at a street stall. He
turns often to peer behind him as he moves from
one side of the street to the other.

At last he comes upon a swinging wooden sign
carved in the shape of an animal's face. The
Screaming Monkey, a dark and fumey tavern. He
enters and, skirting the multitude of jammed
tables and booths, speaks to the tavernmaster for
just a moment. Perhaps it is the din of the place
which causes him to put his lips against the other
man's ear. The tavernmaster nods and silver is
exchanged. The scarred man crosses the room
and mounts the narrow wooden staircase that
folds back upon itself. On the landing, midway
up, his gaze sweeps across the smoky room
bubbling with noise and movement. Natives of the
Sha'angh'sei region do not interest him;
outlanders do. He studies them all most carefully
and covertly before he completes his ascension.

He walks silently down the darkling corridor,
meticulously counting the number of closed
doors, checking to see if there is a rear egress
before he opens the last door on the left.

Inside the room he stands for long moments