"John Norman - Counter Earth 05 - Assassin of Gor" - читать интересную книгу автора (Norman John)

hill. He was now welcome. Kuurus smiled to himself.
The man did not greet him, nor did Kuurus lift his hand to the man, palm inward,
saying "Tal."
The man was a strange man, thought Kuurus. His head was totally devoid of hair,
even to the lack of eyebrows. Perhaps he is some sort of Initiate, thought
Kuurus.
Without speaking the man took twenty pieces of gold, tarn disks of Ar, of double
weight, and gave them to Kuurus, who placed them in the pockets of his belt. The
Assassins, unlike most castes, do not carry pouches.
Kuurus looked curiously down at the remains of the pyre. Only a bit o fwood now,
here and there, missed by the chilled wine, clung to flame; some of the logs,
however, still smoked, and the others held as though within themselves the
redness of the fire they remembered; but most were simply charred, now dead,
stained with the oil, wet from the wine.
"Justice must be done," said the man.
Kuurus said nothing, but only looked at the man. Often, though not always, they
spoke of justice. It pleases them to speak of justice, he said to himself. And
of right. It eases them and gives them peace. There is no such thing as justice,
said Kuurus, to himself. There is only gold and steel.
"Whom am I to kill?" asked Kuurus.
"I do not know," said the man.
Kuurus looked at him angrily. Yet he had in the pockets of his belt twenty gold
tarn disks, and of double weight. There must be more.
"All we know is this," said the man, handing him a greenish patch.
Kuurus studied the patch. "It is a faction patch," said he. "It speaks to me of
the tarn races of Ar."
"It is true," said the man.
The faction patches are worn in Ar by those who favor a given faction in the
racing. There are several such factions, who control the racing and compete
among themselves, the greens, the reds, the golds, the yellows, the silvers.
"I shall go to Ar," said Kuurus.
"If you are successful," said the man, "return and you will receive a hundred
such pieces of gold."
Kuurus looked at him. "If it is not true," he said, "you will die."
"It is true," said the man.
"Who is it," asked Kuurus, "that was slain? Who is it that I am to avenge?"
"A Warrior," said the man.
"His name?" asked Kuurus.
"Tarl Cabot," said the man.
Chapter 2: Ar
Kuurus, of the Caste of Assassins, entered the great gate of Ar.
Guardsman did not detain him, for he wore on his forehead the mark of the black
dagger.
Not for many years had the black tunic of the Assassins been seen within the
walls of Ar, not since the siege of that city in 10,110 from its founding, in
the days of Marlenus, who had been Ubar; of Pa-Kur, who had been Master of the
Assassins; and of the Ko-ro-ban Warrior, in the songs called Tarl of Bristol.
For years the black of the Assassins had been outlawed in the city. Pa-Kur, who
had been Master of the Assassins, had led a league of tributary cities to attack
Imperial Ar in the time when its Home Stone had been stolen and its Ubar forced