"Doris Egan - Ivory 01 - The Gate of Ivory" - читать интересную книгу автора (Egan Doris)

I shrugged. "If you really want to know, pay me." To my surprise he
brought out another coin and laid it on the ground before me. I shifted
position on my rug. "Know, oh gracious sir, that this humble person who
is I was born on Pyrene, far fromтАФ"

"You can skip the formalities. I'm not paying you as a storyteller."

I sighed. "I left Pyrene and went to Athena as a student. A classmate of
mine had a father who was first mate on the Queen Julia, one of those big
luxury liners out of Tellys. One of his wealthy passengers had reserved a
suite for the full run, from Tellys to Athena to Ivory, and left at Athena. My
friend talked his father into letting him use the suiteтАФit was booked round
tripтАФand take some friends along. It seemed like a great opportunity. You
knowтАФI mean, the gracious sir must be aware of what starship passage
costs. If I hadn't gotten a scholarship to Athena, I'd never have gotten even
that far. So I came along. That was two years ago."

When I stopped he said, "But you're still here."

"The gracious sir asked me how I came here. Not why I remain."

He dropped another coin. I scooped it up and added it to the others in
my pouch. "I spent a happy month on your lovely planet, which is how
long the Julia was in orbit. We went to the Lantern Gardens, the Great
Obelisk, and the Lavender Palace. I'd heard about the sorcerers and
magicians of Ivory, and while I knew they were fakes, I still wanted to see
them. How many chances would I get to play tourist? My friends weren't
interested in phonies, though. The night before we were due to leave they
wanted to visit the Lantern Gardens againтАФ they were fascinated by the
naked floorshow, we don't have things like that on Athena. So I left them
and went off to the Street of Gold Coins by myselfтАФ"

"Why the Street of Gold Coins?"

"Well, I didn't know where else to find a sorcerer. And I'd heard you
could buy anything there."

He nodded. "Go on."

"I wish I could; unfortunately, I don't remember a lot of what happened
next. I don't even know which building I went in. I have a vague memory
of a small woman in a green robe, with black hair down to her knees,
opening a door." I began shuffling my cards. This next part was
embarrassing. "I woke up the next afternoon in an alley. My money was
gone."

He laughed. "You were rolled."

"I was rolled." Because it's an old story doesn't make it funny. "The