"Anthony, Piers - Incarnations 04 - Wielding A Red Sword" - читать интересную книгу автора (Anthony Piers)

little snake. He set this ring on his smallest finger and
brought it covertly to his bandaged face.

"She?" he whispered in English.

The snake-ring came alive and squeezed his finger once.

The man removed the ring from his finger and returned
it to his hidden pocket. He paused, considering. How was
he to approach this lovely and talented woman, and how
would she receive him? He could get more specific advice
from the ring, but he preferred to work it out for himself,
as his possession of the ring could identify his nature if
it were seen by others.

In the end, he waited till dusk, when the throng dissi-
pated and the traveling show was closing up for the night.
He approached the covered wagon he had seen the woman
with the harp enter. He stood by it and clapped his hands,
gently, so as to attract attention without generating too
much of it.

The woman appeared. "Yes?" she inquired. Now her
lovely fair hair was bound in a heavy kerchief, and she
wore a functional skirt and jacket, but her beauty over-
came these restrictions.

The man opened his mouth, but did not speak. He ges-
tured helplessly.

"I am sorry," the woman said. "I can see that you have
been injured, but I do not speak the local dialect. Do you
know English?"




4 Wielding a Red Sword

The man tried again. His mouth worked, and finally the
sounds came out. "AhЧahЧahЧI do," he said.

She glanced sharply at him, tilting her head. "You are
shy?" she inquired. "There is no need to be. What is it

that you wish?"

The man struggled again to speak. "N-n-n-not sh-
sh-shy," he said. "I st-st-stu-stu-stutter."