The Serpentwar Saga. Raymond E. Feist

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СКАЧАТЬ shook his head and laughed ruefully. ‘You’re right. I didn’t like hearing that.’

      ‘Your father only got that way with rage. If he was angry, he’d rather have seen his enemy injured and in pain than dead. But that was the only time.’ His voice lowered. ‘Stefan was worse. He really enjoyed watching people suffer. He got … excited by it. Your father had to bribe more than one father off because his daughter was … damaged.’

      ‘What about Manfred?’

      Owen shrugged. ‘Given who his parents are, he’s a decent enough person. You’d like him, given a chance to know each other, but that’s neither here nor there.’ Owen studied Erik, then said, ‘I’ve known you a long time, since you were a baby, Erik, and while you have some of your father in you, you don’t have only your father’s blood in you. Your mother can be a hard woman, but she was never a mean one. She’s never hurt anyone for pleasure. And you can bet that Stefan was the worst mix of his father and mother.

      ‘I think I can understand why you’d be so ferocious with the man who killed the girl. You were fond of her, I take it?’

      ‘In a way.’ Erik smiled. ‘She tried to cozen me into her bed so she could be the village smith’s wife.’ He shook his head in regret. ‘She was so obvious and there was no art to it, but in a way …’

      ‘It made you feel good?’

      ‘Yes.’

      Owen nodded. ‘We all have our vanity, and a pretty girl’s attentions are rarely unwelcomed by any man.’

      ‘But it doesn’t explain why I wanted to see that man hurt so much. I can still feel it, Owen. If I could raise him from the dead and cause him to scream in agony, I think I’d do it.’

      ‘Justice, maybe. The girl died in agony, and he got a simple death in return.’

      A voice from the dark said, ‘Sometimes revenge goes disguised as justice.’

      Both Owen and Erik turned to see Nakor entering from the darkness. ‘I was out walking and heard you talk. Sounds like an interesting discussion.’ Without asking their leave, he sat down.

      Erik said, ‘I was telling Owen here what happened today. Have you heard?’

      Nakor nodded. ‘Sho Pi told me. You were in a rage. You wanted to cause this man pain. Bobby kept you from indulging in his suffering.’

      Erik nodded.

      Nakor said, ‘Some men take to the pain in others the way other men take to strong drink or potent drugs. If you recognize that appetite in yourself early and learn to master it within yourself, you’ll be the better man for knowing, Erik.’

      ‘I don’t know what I wanted,’ Erik admitted. ‘I don’t know if it was that he didn’t suffer enough or if I really wanted to see something in his eyes as he died.’

      Owen said, ‘Most soldiers are struck by others’ death after the fact. That you got sick –’

      Nakor said, ‘You got sick?’

      ‘Like I had eaten green apples,’ admitted Erik.

      Nakor grinned. ‘Then you’re not a man to eat poison and like it. If you hadn’t gotten sick, it would be because that poison of hate found a home in your gut.’ He reached over and poked a finger into Erik’s side. ‘You ate the hatred, but your body threw it up as if it were those green apples.’ He smiled, apparently satisfied with the explanation. ‘Do your reiki each night and let your mind seek calmness and you will survive the terrors you’ve just met.’

      Owen and Erik exchanged looks that said neither man knew what Nakor was talking about. Erik said, ‘Now tell me how you came here?’

      Owen said, ‘That was due to you.’

      ‘Me?’

      Owen said, ‘When you were caught, my lady Mathilda and your half brother raced to Krondor, to ensure the Prince knew you were to be hung without question.

      ‘When we got there, I asked a friend in the Prince’s court to grant me an audience with Nicholas, and I tried to give him some idea of how you’d been dealt with as a child.’ He shrugged. ‘It obviously didn’t do any good, as you were to be hung, and the Dowager Baroness discovered I had tried to intercede upon your behalf.’ He looked at Erik and smiled. ‘I was asked to retire from my office. Manfred said he regretted to ask, but she is his mother, after all.’

      ‘I’ve never met her, but she seems a most persuasive woman, by all reports,’ offered Nakor.

      ‘That’s one way of putting it,’ said Owen. ‘Well, there isn’t a great demand for discharged Swordmasters, so I applied to the Prince’s Guard for a billet. I was prepared to stand down to man-at-arms if needs be, or to attempt to gain a commission on the frontier. Failing that, I was going to try my hand at the mercenary trade, providing escort for merchant trains down into the Vale of Dreams and Great Kesh.

      ‘But that black heart Bobby de Loungville found me at a tavern and got me very drunk, and I woke up the next day and discovered I was going to be running like a madman from Questor’s View to Land’s End on one errand or another for Prince Nicholas and Calis.’

      Owen continued, ‘That’s a strange customer, our Captain. Did you know he ranks in the court as a Duke?’

      Erik said, ‘I only know him as –’

      ‘The Eagle of Krondor,’ finished Owen. ‘I know. He’s important, that’s all I know. But when the dust settled, I was on the Freeport Ranger, with a list of missions to last three months, and one month to finish them when we made port in Maharta.’

      Erik finished his food and said, ‘Sorry to have put you to this, Owen.’

      Owen laughed. ‘It was in the cards, as the gamblers say. And truth to tell, I was growing bored at Darkmoor. The wine’s the best in the world, and the women as fair as anywhere, but there’s little else to stir a man there. I’ve grown tired of hanging bandits and running escort from one safe city to another. I think it’s time for something grand.’

      Nakor shook his head. ‘There’s little grand ahead of us.’ He stood up, yawning. ‘I’m going to sleep. We have three long days ahead.’

      ‘Why?’ asked Erik.

      ‘While you were killing those men, we got word of a rendezvous.’

      ‘What is that?’ asked Erik. ‘I’ve heard that term before.’

      ‘Meeting,’ said Owen.

      ‘A great camp,’ offered Nakor. With a grin he said, ‘It is where the two sides in this war will come to make offers for the service of companies like ours. It’s where we will find the army of this Emerald Queen, and then friend Greylock’s adventure will begin.’ He wandered off into the gloom.

      Owen said, ‘He may be the strangest man I’ve met. I’ve only talked to him a couple of times since yesterday, but he has some of the oddest notions I’ve ever encountered. But he’s right about one thing: it’s a long day tomorrow and we both need to sleep.’

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