"Mel Odom - Forgotten Realms - Threat from the Sea Trilogy 03 - The Sea Devils" - читать интересную книгу автора (Odom Mel)

"Afraid?" A faint smile twisted Glawinn's lips. "He's a warrior, lady."
"Then why should he be afraid?"
"So that he might live, of course." Glawinn sipped his drink. "Warriors live with fear as they might a
lover. They never forget that fear, else they step closer to Cyric's cold embrace."
The ship's mage wrapped her arms even tighter around herself, losing the battle against the night's
chill creeping in against the banked coals filling the hostel's fireplace.
"Then where does that leave him?" she asked.
"He's dangerous," Azla commented. "He's dangerous to himself and to us."
"I don't think that's entirely true," Glawinn said.
The pirate captain shook her head. "I don't mean to disparage your beliefs, Sir Glawinn, but men
believe what they want to believe. Sometimes purely because they have nothing else to believe in."
"And to live a life with nothing to believe in?" The paladin looked directly at her and asked, "What
kind of life is that?"
Azla broke the eye contact, put on a deprecating smile, and said, "A very profitable one. If you're a
pirate."
 "Gold and silver assuages a wounded heart?"
Azla's eyes turned cold and hard. "You step over lines here, paladin."
"Forgive me, lady," Glawinn replied, though he showed no remorse, "I do indeed."
Sabyna watched the exchange in silence. She didn't know how Glawinn knew so much about the
pirate captain, but she was aware how close he was to the truth. Azla's own life was filled with tragedy.
The ship's mage reached for the hot tea she'd ordered and sipped it only to find that it was now cold.
"The thing that most concerns me is that your young friend didn't come here to take that pearl disk
back from Vurgrom," Azla said.
"Then what?" Sabyna asked.
Azla kept her voice quiet and still. "I think it's very possible that your young friend came here to die
as nobly as he can."
*****
"I can't kill him," Jherek said. He stood in the alley, his body pressed up against the man, and silently
damned all the events and the false pride that led to the point of holding a man's life at the edge of his
knife.
"Then let me." Talif stepped forward and lifted the short sword.
The man in Jherek's grip tensed, on the verge of fleeing and taking his chances.
Jherek swung his empty hand, balling it into a fist and rolling his shoulder to get most of his weight
behind the blow. His fist caught the pirate on the point of his chin and dropped him.
Talif knelt and grabbed the man by the hair. He swung his short sword toward the man's exposed
throat.
Jherek kicked Talif in the chest, knocking him back across the hard-packed earth of the alley. Talif
rolled instantly, coming up from the ground like a trained acrobat. His triangular face was a mask of rage.
The short sword came around in a glittering arc.
The young sailor stepped in close and brought up his left arm. His open hand smacked into Talif's
wrist and blocked the sword strike. Talif grunted in pain and anger. Before the mate could recover,
Jherek slipped his free arm under the man's outstretched one and flipped him over his shoulder.
Carried by his own weight and momentum, pulled by Jherek's strength, Talif landed hard on the
ground on his back. Murderous rage gleamed in his black eyes. "You're a fool," Talif snarled.
"That remains to be seen," Jherek said, "but I do know I am no murderer."
Talif struggled a moment to get free but couldn't.
"You knocked that man out, boy, but I've seen men knocked cold like that before. Sometimes they
come around in just minutes, none the worse for it. He could still come into the tavern after us and let
them all know we're among them."
"He doesn't know who we are," Jherek said quietly.