"Janrae Frank - Journey of Sacred King 1 - My Sister's Keeper" - читать интересную книгу автора (Frank Janrae)

Josh blinked and the lure of the water was broken. Yes, he thought, someone
always comes looking. Before Aejys, it had been just Branch and his grandchildren
and great grandchildren. The old Kwaklahmyn shaman had befriended him when he
was a child. Now there were many watchers, as if they all recognized the despair in
his soul. But his despair came from within. He had Aejys and others now who cared.
So long as they were around he did not feel that void as keenly and could distract
himself from his awareness of it. It was only there, pounding in his awareness, when
he found himself alone.


CHAPTER ONE. DEADLY PROMISES

The City-State of Vorgensburg sat on the northernmost point of Sophren Bay,
sheltered from the worst of the seasonal storms by the rainshadow of a long, jutting
northwestern spur of mountains. The wet temperate region was more suited to
fishing than farming with the lush growth of the northern rain forests, pines, fir,
evergreen and red oaks covering a rocky soil unfriendly to less substantial flora. The
fisher folk lived alongside a growing merchant class who bought furs, herbs and
delicately carved cedar boxes, furniture, and basketry from the Kwaklahmyn villages
to the north, which they traded in the south for spices, porcelains, incense, and a
great variety of drugs and medicines.

The Cock and Boar tavern was fuller than usual, owing to the fact that for the last
five days the three o'clock breeze had not come and the weather was unusually hot,
which brought folks seeking a satisfying tankard of the good Neridian ale the
proprietor had just laid in. All across the city those who could took refuge in the
cool shadowed taverns and taprooms of the city where they could comfort
themselves with a pint.

Becca deWythe, tavern master of the Cock and Boar and de facto seneschal of
Aejys' growing household and expanding properties, emerged from supervising the
kitchen, tray in hand. She felt bound and determined to make this a very good day
for the tavern. A very important discussion was going on upstairs between the owner
and the city-syndics, which could benefit all of them. Becca was one of those folks
who tended to jump in when a task needed doing or was not being done to her taste
rather than delegating it or brow-beating her employees. That late afternoon, in
addition to the over-flow of customers, They short-handed by two: one girl had run
off with a sailor and the other had come down ill. Aejys Rowan would not let her
people work sick. The gangling youth that had been recently hired was not ready to
handle the late afternoon rush that came with the return of the fishing fleet. So Becca
pitched in to help.

Until two years ago Becca had been a mere serving woman at the Cock and Boar,
waiting tables and occasionally turning tricks to make ends meet. Then her best
customer, Aejys Rowan, bought the place and promoted her twice, raising her to
heights she never dreamed of reaching. A bosomy woman with a tiny waist and
boyish hips, Becca stood five feet six. A wide-necked white blouse discretely
covered her high ample breasts. Her burgundy skirt hung to her calves and clung to
her legs and a triangle of matching cloth held her chestnut hair back. As she moved
from table to table, her hips swayed coquettishly, more out of habit than advertising,