"Christopher Stasheff - Rogue Wizard 06 - A Wizard in Chaos" - читать интересную книгу автора (Stasheff Christopher)

"Tell that to the men who died in them! And if we just happened in on a day when
seventeen battles were in progress, what are the odds that it was an ordinary
day?"
"Fairly good," Gar agreed, "though coincidences do happen . . ."
"But not very often. Look at it this way-their ancestors got what they wanted:
no government. They just didn't expect it to result in open season for robbers."
"Oh, come now. Isn't that going at it a bit strong, calling the local
aristocracy robbers?"
"How do you suppose they got those castles? And how can they be aristocracy if
there's no king or queen to grant them their titles?"
"Why, they appointed themselves, of course," Gar said mildly. "That's what my


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ancestors did."
"But forgot to appoint a king," Dirk reminded him, "so there's no one to keep
them from chewing each other up every year or three, and the common people with
them." He shook his head. "No matter how you slice it, there's too much trouble
for the two of us to ferret out together-it'd take six months! If we're apart,
we can cover twice as much territory and find twice as many problems-or twice as
many solutions. Who knows? Maybe we just came down during a dynastic quarrel,
and all we have to do is help the right side win."
"Assuming we can define `right,' under these circumstances," Gar said dryly.
"Whichever candidate will be best for the people."
"Easy to say, not so easy to see. Besides, you don't really believe the
situation is that simple:"
"No, I don't," Dirk sighed. "The peasants are in too much misery to have been
oppressed by war for only a year or two. But it could be we're near the end of
the local version of the Hundred Years' War."
"Even five could do it," Gar said grimly. "My friend, if I say it's too
dangerous to split up, and I'm the one with the psi powers, then it's really
dangerous."
"It was pretty dangerous where I grew up," Dirk pointed out, "especially since,
if I'd been caught, I wouldn't have been only a runaway churl-I'd also have been
guilty of treason. But I survived, and I hadn't even met you."
Gar rode in silence, his face stony.
Dirk recognized the reaction to a telling point. "Besides, I'm the one who
doesn't have a virtual ESP arsenal, so if I'm suggesting we split up, I've got
to be fairly sure I'll be safe."
"Not necessarily; I know your dedication," Gar countered. "Still, I'm your
friend, not your master. If you want to go, I have no business trying to stop
you."
Dirk looked up sharply, wondering if he detected hurt, especially since his big
friend's face was still stony. "Don't worry, old son," he said gently. "We can
stay in touch with these new toys Herkimer made us." He touched the thick iron
brooch that held his cloak. Underneath the enamel, it was an integrated circuit
with a minuscule audio pickup; the whole surface acted as a loudspeaker. "Of
course, we don't want the peasants getting frightened by talking brooches, so if