"Michael Moorcock - The Runestaff 3 - The Sword of The Dawn" - читать интересную книгу автора (Moorcock Michael)

"Aye. A remote, barely inhabited land, peopled by
a few dark-brown barbarians who live in holes in the
ground. After my play Chirshil and Adulf had in-
curred the displeasure of certain elements at Court, I
deemed it wise to retire there for a while, leaving my
enemies to take for themselves all goods, monies, and
mistresses I left behind. What know I of petty poli-
tics? How was I to realize that certain portions of the
play seemed to reflect the intrigues then current at the
Court?"

"So you were disgraced?" Hawkmoon said, looking
narrowly at Tozer. The story could be part of the
man's deception.

"MoreЧI almost lost my life. But the rural exis-
tence near killed me as it was ..."

"You met this philosopher who taught you how to
travel through the dimensions? Then you came here
seeking refuge?" Hawkmoon studied Tozer's reaction
to these questions.

"NoЧah, yes . . ." said the playwright. "That is to
say, I did not know exactly where I was coming . . ."

"I think that you were sent here by the King-Em-
peror to destroy us," Hawkmoon said. "I think, Master
Tozer, that you are lying to us."

"Lying? What is a lie? What is truth?" Tozer grinned
glassily up at Hawkmoon and then hiccupped.

"Truth," Hawkmoon replied evenly, "is a coarse
noose about your throat. I think we should hang you."
He fingered the dull black jewel imbedded in his fore-

head. "I am not unfamiliar with the tricks of the Dark
Empire. I have been their victim too often to risk being
deceived again." He looked at the others. "I say we
should hang him now."

"But how do we know if he is really the only one
who can reach us?" D'Averc asked sensibly. "We can-
not be too hasty, Hawkmoon."

"I am the only one, I swear it!" Tozer spoke ner-
vously now. "I admit, good sir, that I was commis-
sioned to come here. It was that or lose my life in the
prison catacombs of the Great Palace. When I had the