"Lawrence Watt-Evans - Dragon Weather" - читать интересную книгу автора (Watt-Evans Lawrence)

to imagine what the city was like.
When he grew up he wanted to travel; he had
said so for as long as he could remember. His
grandfather had been a traveler in his youth, and
Arlian loved to hear him talk about it. He wanted to
see all the places Grandsir had
describedтАФBlackwater, and Deep Delving, and
Benth-in-Tara, and the groves of Nossevier.
And maybe he could even get to Manfort, as
Grandsir never had, to see the palaces there, and
the old shrines to the dead gods, and the lords and
ladies with their swords and horses, and the Duke
of Manfort, heir to the great warlords of old.
Grandsir had stayed clear for fear of being robbed,
or captured by slavers and sold, or killed by some
lord he had inadvertently offended, but Arlian was
certain he would be able to handle a visit there.
Or he might cross the Desolation to the
Borderlands, where, it was said, one could see wild
magic flashing across the southern skies, above the
wild landsтАФmagic was weak and scarce in the
Lands of Man, useful only to trained sorcerers and
severely limited even then, but Arlian had heard
that in the Borderlands beyond the desert magic
was so strong it danced like brightly colored fires in
the sky. The intervening Desolation was said to be
hot and almost waterless, a wasteland where anyone
losing his way would leave bleached bones in the
sand, and where bloodthirsty bandits roamedтАФbut
caravans still crossed it every year, and Arlian could
surely join one.
There was magic beyond the eastern seas, as well,
and ships sailed there from the ports of Benthin and
Lorigol, and stomeday Arlian might travel in one.
And maybe he would become a lord himselfтАФhe
would own a business, perhaps a caravan or a ship
or a manufactory, where others would labor on his
behalf, and he would carry a sword and dagger on
his belt and ride a fine horse.
But wherever he went, Arlian told himself, he
would come home at the last, to settle in his own
familiar village, just as Grandsir had. Arlian
thought he would find a pretty wife somewhere and
bring her back here and raise half a dozen children,
sons and daughters both, and he would treat them
equally and fairly and raise them to be good and
just people. And he would tell them stories of his
travels at the supper table, just as Grandsir did.
With that thought he realized that it was almost
time for the midday meal. Arlian wiped