"Modesitt, L E - Corean Chronicles 3 - Scepters v1.1" - читать интересную книгу автора (Modesitt L E)

Chapter 3
Dekhron, Iron Valleys

The two men were seated in wooden armchairs before a desk in a
study. On the serving table between the two were tall beakers of
ale, half-full. The summer sun beat through the glass of the closed
windows, but both men wore heavy tunics and trousers.

"I worry about the herder, still," observed the round-faced trader in
the blue tunic trimmed in dark gray. His voice was so low that no
one more than a fraction of a yard away could have heard the
words. "Have you followed him, Tarolt?"

"He returned to his stead two years ago. He has built up his flock
and devoted himself to his wife and family. Has he once shown an
interest in what lies beyond his stead and Iron Stem?" replied the
older-looking man, his words equally muted.

"No, but he destroyed the Matrial, as well as Aellyan Edyss and
more than ten pteridons. Then he traveled the Tables and killed
one of ours, and came back and obliterated the Table in
TempreЧalthough it was close to failing, in any case. And after
that, he single-handedly killed more than twenty bravos who tried to
ambush him. With the four hundred golds that costЕ"

"They were only coins, Halanat, and a pittance compared to what
we have gathered and will gather." The white-haired man smiled
coldly. "I do believe he got the message. It took him nearly a
month to recover from that, and he has, as you noted so well,
scarcely looked beyond his own stead in almost two years. In that
time, we have accomplished much. We have a working group here,
and a new and fully functioning Table now in Salaan. We have
assisted the Regent of the Matrial in finding informers, although
she knows it not. We have more and more true believers, or, if you
will, followers of the True Duarchy. Adarat will soon strike the first
blow in the south. These followers will grow and create the
necessary distraction and dissension all across Corus, all in places
well away from where we operate. And we have also made a
healthy profit in dealing with Adarat. Before long we will even
control the Regent of the Matrial. With all that, we will be able to
build more Tables and translate more true Efrans, and this world
will once more be ours, as it should have been for the past
millennium."

"What if the herder discovers what we have accomplished? It took
much lifeforce to wrench the Table into place in Salaan, and we
have not solidifiedЕ"

"When he has not been south of Iron Stem in two years? That was
one reason why we ensured that his wife's father is now receiving