"Lawrence Watt-Evans - Ethshar 7 - Night of Madness" - читать интересную книгу автора (Watt-Evans Lawrence)

"You were talking to magicians all day, weren't you?" Alris demanded.

"Most of it, yes," Hanner agreed. "Three witches, a theurgist, two sorcerers, and four different wizards."

"Did any of them show you any magic?"

"Not really," Hanner lied. One sorcerer and two of the wizards had shown him a number of spells and
talismans, and one of the witches had read his mind and offered to heal some of the discomfort in his
soul.

Hanner did not have any discomfort he wanted cured, so he had refused the offer. He suspected that
whatever he might have cluttering up his soul was the result of his dissatisfaction with his own actions, and
he wanted that left intact, to give him incentive to do better in the future.

"I'll bet they did," Alris said enviously. "You just aren't admitting it."

Before Hanner could reply he heard footsteps; he turned to see Nerra and Mavi emerging from Nerra's
bedchamber.

Nerra was five years younger than Hanner's twenty-three years, five years older than Alris, and like her
siblings a little shorter than average. While not as stocky as Hanner, she was definitely heavier than Alris.

Mavi, on the other hand, was an inch or so taller than Hanner, and shaped very nicely indeed, in
Hanner's opinion-though of course he would never dare tell her so.

"I thought I heard your voice," Nerra said. "Has Uncle Faran gone?"

"He just left," Hanner replied.
"Does he still think the Wizards' Guild is plotting to take over the World?"

Hanner sighed. "Something like that," he admitted.

"Arethey plotting to take over the World?" Mavi asked with a sly smile. "Have you found any evidence
of their dire schemes?"

"They're enforcing their rules, just as they always have," Hanner said wearily. "No mixing different sorts
of magic. No mixing magic and government."

"It's stupid," Alris said from the window. "Why should they care?"

"They don't want anyone getting too powerful," Hanner explained, as he had several times before-but
never in Mavi's hearing, which was why he continued. "After all, some wizards live for centuries-if the
overlord were to live that long, who knows what he might do?"

Mavi and Nerra looked at each other, then burst out laughing. Hanner blushed. "Notour overlord," he
said. "I don't think Lord Azrad the Sedentary would ever get much done no matterhow long he lived. But
imagine if thefirst Lord Azrad were still alive, and had had two hundred years ..."

"What if he had?" Alris demanded. "What business is it of the Guild's?I wouldn't mind if old Azrad the