"Janet Morris - Beyond Wizardwall" - читать интересную книгу автора (Morris Janet E)

The other sighed rattlingly and said something so low that Niko couldn't hear the words as he turned to
watch Tempus and his second-in-command, Critias, come down the line.
By the time they reached him, the words he'd heard and the drugs in his system had combined to make

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Niko's greeting abrupt: "If you're here to kill my mare to save the foal, you'll have to kill me first." He
crossed his arms and stood his ground.
Crit was about Niko's size. Tempus was taller and heavier and insurmountable: the Stepsons'
commander was undying, a quasi-immortal as strong as a bull whose flesh regenerated itself and whose
fighting skills had been honed through centuries on a multitude of battlefields.
It might be an acceptable way to die, picking a fight with the commander of the allied Tysian militias; it
wasn't a fight that Niko, despite his western training, could hope to win, and both his superiors knew it.
Crit said, "See what I mean, Commander? The bastard's addledтАФdangerous to himself and the rest of
us. Suicide's not an honorableтАФ"
"Crit, go tell Randal he can come now," Tempus ordered flatly.
Crit ran a hand through his short feathery hair and said, "Yes sir, Commander. Niko, when you're done
here, I want to see you in my quarters." Then, with a wry grimace, he headed for the barn door.
The young officer and his commander looked at each other in silence until Niko judged that Crit was
out of earshot: "Randal's not touching my mare. She's better off dying a natural death than living on,
beholden to wizardry." "And you, Stepson," Tempus said gently, "is that what you want?" The man
who was called the Riddler stared sorrowfully at the young soldier.
"Maybe. What if it is? It's my choiceтАФthe only one I've got left. I never wanted to pair with RandalтАФa
mage, an accursed sorcerer." Niko tried to stop himself, but the words came pouring out: "I can't take it
any longerтАФthe other fighters avoid me like a plague-carrier; the Sacred Band pairs say I've violated
the spirit of my oath; the Free NisibisiтАФeven my blood brother BashirтАФshun me. I'm a pariah, an
outcast in all but name. So let's call it like it is: I quit. I'm out of it, officially resigning my commission.
As of this moment, my mare and I are beyond your jurisdiction."
From inside the stall, a grunt of pain and frustration reached them.
Tempus watched the young fighter who had once been so promising but now, haggard, haunted, and
hunted by supernatural forces he wouldn't try to understand, teetered on the brink of madness.
"That might be best for all concerned," Tempus said slowly. "But let's end it properly: you and I should
be able to save both mare and foal, if you'll take direction from me this one more time. Then we'll keep
the foal and you can take the mare with you when it's weaned."
Niko squeezed his eyes shut, his mouth suddenly dry, feeling as if he'd been disemboweled. At least
he'd saved Tempus the painful duty of discharging him. It had to come to this, he told himself. It was
just a matter of time.

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Yet the shock of being separated from his unit officially was devastating. Numbly he said, "Fine. Let's
try it, Tempus," using his civilian prerogative to be impolite to the man he respected above all others.
In the stall, the mare's ears barely twitched; her breathing was too loud, too deep. Her distended belly
shivered.
Tempus knelt down beside her hindquarters and took out a dagger.
"No!" Niko protested.