Sword of Caledor by William King Read Free Book Online Page B

about Leiber and Leiber thought about him. He wondered if it was worthwhile trying to put his own thoughts into words and explain them to the man, but he realised that it could do no good, could cause only friction. Leiber would simply take it as an insult. Perhaps he would be right to.
    After all, the elves were a dying race and it looked like humans would inherit the world. Their civilisation was becoming more powerful by the year, spreading across the globe in an irresistible wave. Already there were probably more humans in the city of Lothern than there were elves, and Lothern was by far the most populous city in elvendom.
    He told himself that the ability to breed quickly and irresponsibly was not exactly a sign that the humans were the equals of the elves. They could not create art the way the elves could. They did not know magic the way the elves did. They were not the intellectual equals of the people of Ulthuan.
    But did that really matter in the eyes of the gods?
    The elves were becoming extinct. The humans were not. Did that mean they were simply better adapted to living in this new and dreadful world? Did it mean that their gods were more powerful than the elven gods? Did it mean anything at all or was he simply speculating uselessly?
    This was not really any of his business. He was a warrior not a philosopher. It was his duty to guard his people and he would do that to the best of his ability until the day that he died. He did not have any answers. He would need to leave that to people like his brother. And he was not sure that Teclis could get any better answers than he could himself.
    ‘Do you think that we are better than you?’ Tyrion asked, because he could not think of anything else to say.
    ‘You are certainly better than we are at killing mosquitoes, your honour, that’s for sure and I suspect that you are much better at killing almost anything. You have that look about you. And you’re a damn sight prettier than I am, that’s for sure. But I am not sure that you’re a better man than me.’
    ‘I am not a man at all,’ said Tyrion.
    ‘That’s not what I meant. Are you braver than me? Are you morally superior? Or were you just born luckier? I sometimes think that the noble in the big castle on the hill is not a better man than the peasant he looks down on. He was just born into better circumstances – ones that ensured that he got better food, a better education and better training with weapons, as well as the weapons themselves.’
    Tyrion could see that Leiber was talking about something he had given a lot of thought to. This was a matter that had deeply troubled the human for a long time. He was not really talking about the relationship between men and elves anymore – he was talking about the way humans lived, the way he himself had lived.
    ‘Why do you ask me this?’ Tyrion asked.
    ‘Can you see what I’m saying, Prince Tyrion? Can you see what I’m getting at? In my life I have met a lot of noblemen and a lot of them have looked down on me. Argentes for one. And the truth of the matter is that he was not any cleverer than I was, nor any braver nor any better. In the end, he is dead and I am still here. Who is to say who the better man is now?’
    Tyrion understood the point being made only too well. And perhaps Leiber was right to make it. Perhaps it was simply the fact that Tyrion had been born in a different place to a different people that made him feel superior.
    ‘I am still an elf, and you’re still human. It does not matter what either of us think about that, the world remains the same.’
    ‘Does it though, Prince Tyrion? The world is changing. Who knows what the coming centuries will bring?’
    ‘Most likely I will still be here to see. Will you?’
    Leiber did not have an answer for that. Tyrion had not expected him to. Leiber took another puff on his pipe and regarded Tyrion balefully for a moment, then he smiled and laughed out loud.
    ‘I should have known I could