"Joel Rosenberg - 04 - The Heir Apparent" - читать интересную книгу автора (Rosenberg Joel C)

to him in the Coliseum. Then, after Karl Cullinane had freed the sewer dragon, when Ohlmin attempted
to capture him, Karl Cullinane killed him, and more than twoscore good guildsmen. And again, in
Melawei, whenтАФ"

"I know all this, butтАФ"

"тАФand the time when Thermyn thought he had trapped Karl Cullinane outside of Lundeyll, and..." The
guildmaster leaned back in his chair and took a thoughtful sip from his water goblet. "Worst was the last
time you went up against him, when you tried to use the Middle Lands war as a source of supplyтАФ"

"Which it should have been."

"Indeed, it should have been," Wencius said, his very agreement infuriating.

Yryn pursed his lips. "But it wasn't, Master Ahrmin. Instead of a profitable venture, we stood a sizable
loss: powder, guns, and more good guildsmen than I care to think ofтАФ"

"Then let me hire mercenaries! IтАФ" He raised his hands to his face and bowed his head into them. "I
apologize, Guildmaster. Please continue."

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Yryn smiled. "Now, both Bieme and HoltunтАФand increasingly the rest of the Middle LandsтАФare closed
to us.

"This is not good, Master Ahrmin, not good at all. For the sake of the guild, we will leave Karl Cullinane
alone. Let him be distracted by the ruling of his little empire; the guild can survive that, at least for his
lifetime. We can survive him, Ahrmin."

Ahrmin didn't answer at first as he brought his fingers up to touch the ravages of the right side of his
face.

Karl Cullinane was a very popular man indeed. There had been a time, years and years before, when
Ahrmin had watched this popular man, this gem of a human being, run through the passageway of a
burning ship, while Ahrmin lay on the deck, writhing with the pain of his shattered jaw, his crushed
fingers reaching for the bottle of healing draughts while the fire raged....

Again, Yryn tapped his finger on the parchment. "There is more. I have been talking with the Wizards'
Guild. They don't want to have anything to do with himтАФthere is that damned sword involved, and that
is... involved with Arta Myrdhyn. None of that guild want to involve themselves with Arta Myrdhyn; the
last time that Grandmaster Lucius went up against Arta Myrdhyn, they turned the Forest of Elrood into
the Waste of ElroodтАФdo you want to see the Waste of Pandathaway? Do you want to leave that as a
tribute to our time as masters of the guild?"

No, Ahrmin thought, that's not at all what I want to leave behind. What I want to leave behind is Karl
Cullinane's head.