"David,.Peter.-.Sir.Apropos.3.-.Tong.Lashing" - читать интересную книгу автора (David Peter)

us over the side to a watery grave.
What I wound up doing was seeking out people who seemed as if they were having
trouble walking. Sure enough, I found a small group of folks who looked a bit
shaky on their feet for exactly the reason I expected they would be: They'd been
at sea and had just recently come off a ship. Their general deportment, plus
their decidedly non-nautical suitcases, told me they were travelers rather than
crewmen. If one wanted to be sure that a ship would see you safely to your
destination, my reasoning was to seek out recommendations from people who had
already made it from whatever port of call they'd just been to, to here.
Inquiring of the new arrivals, I learned that they'd been brought over on a ship
commanded by one Captain Stout. A worthy and hardy-sounding name, I had to
admit. As it so happened, I found the good captain tossing back some mead in a
corner of the bar. Large, gruff, and affable, he struck me as a solid seaman,
and his disposition certainly matched the glowing reports I'd received from his
recent passengers.
I had no place in particular I was planning to go, which as it turned out
dovetailed with Captain Stout's agenda. He had a cargo he was transporting to an
island continent called Azure. Azure was, by all accounts, a decent enough
place, albeit a bit colder than I was used to. But I believed I could get
accustomed to it, and besides, it wasn't as if we'd be staying there
permanently. If we liked it, we could; but if not, we could always find
somewhere else.
It was at that moment that I abruptly realized I was thinking of Sharee and I as
a "we." I had to remind myself that Mordant was part of the mix, but on some
level I was starting to regard Sharee and I as a pair. The thought was
staggering to me, and yet as the first waves of shock subsided, I slowly
realized that it was not an unpleasant notion. I began to wonder if she felt the
same way, and decided that she very likely did. After all, I reasoned, I had to
be getting the notion from somewhere. And where else could it reasonably have
been from, if not from hints or subtle suggestions from Sharee herself. And they
would have to have been subtle, because she was a magic user, and that's simply
how magic users tended to do things.
A loud throat-clearing noise from Captain Stout jolted me back to reality and I
realized that I'd drifted off into a daydream about Sharee and me. How truly
embarrassed I felt. "What say ye, lad?" demanded Captain Stout. "Any interest in
heading to the Azure Island? Quite lovely this time of year, I understand. And
we'll have a few other passengers aboard, so you'll have some company other than
just my crew."
"It sounds fine to me," I said. "Let me check with my friend and I'll be right
back with you. She's just around the other side of the pub."
"She. A lady friend." Captain Stout didn't seem especially thrilled. "Ladies on
sailing vessels aren't always a good mix, me lad. Sailing ships are crewed by
rough, battle-hardened seamen. Do you know what you get when you put women
together with seamen?"
"Pregnancies?"
"You get bad luck," he continued as if I hadn't spoken, which was probably a
good thing. "Now, I'm an open-minded man, and I'll bring your little lady along
if I must. But just keep her away from my crew. And pray to the water gods for
good weather..."
"Oh, well, we can guarantee that," I said, "since she's aЧ"