"Esther M. Friesner - The Way To A Man's Heart" - читать интересную книгу автора (Friesner Esther M)

"Vorn's Sovereign Essence can bring back the dead for all I care," Talona shot back,
smacking the unlucky bottle out of Gethina's hand. "I still would never have it under my roo
is manufactured solely by the Witches' Auxiliary of the Council Sorcerous as a fund-raising
item. One of the principal ingredients, as any ninny Knows, is consomme of frogskin. Out o
simple good taste and sensitivity I refuse to stock it in the school infirmary, and I am surpri
that you-a princess born!-would be in possession or such filthy brew, let alone suggest usin
it!"

"Oh, don't be surprised. Teacher." Santorma's nasty, insinuating voice came scraping at
edges of Amaryllis's returning consciousness. "Gethina never had a hope of finding a decen
husband before the great disaster, so why should she care a fig for the rest of us now; or for
good taste?"

"That's a lie!" Gethina flashed a scathing look on Santorma. "Before the disaster I was
engaged to be married to Prince Reston of Beverlita."

Santorma's scornful laugh was every bit as nasty and insinuating as her voice. "More lik
Princess Beverlita of Reston, if you set my drift, and don't you just. I hear tell that he looke
much tike a frog to start with that the witches didn't need to cast more than half the frog spe
over him before boiling him down for consomme."

Gethina let loose a bloodcurdling shriek and threw herself on Santorma. Swords flashed
and met in midair. The classroom rang with the alarm of steel biting steel, and the grunts an
curses of the combatants.

Talona clapped her hands rapidly to get the attention of the other girls. "All right, ladies
you know the drill: Papers out, pencils flying; I'll be collecting your observers' notes on thi
skirmish afterwards."

Pucina, lately princess of Treb, raised her hand. "Will we be getting graded on this?"

"Only if both of them survive," Talona replied. "If one or both dies, you will write a
five-page essay on the winning strategy, due tomorrow."

Pucina's eyes widened. "For the love of all the gods, you two, don't die!" she shouted.
 By the time Amaryllis had managed to pick herself up off the floor and borrow a pencil,
set-to was over. Both combatants had survived, though both were also bleeding from a num
of superficial wounds, besides which Santorma sported a shiner. Their teacher observed th
with an expert's eye and pronounced, "Not bad. Neither one of you would nave lasted five
minutes against one of the girls from my old regiment, but you fight well enough to deceive
prince who wants to have a swordmaiden for a wife."

Santorma did not accept her teacher's praise graciously. She spat a gob of blood studded
with a couple of her smaller teeth and decreed: "I quit." She touched her blooming black ey
and added, "If our remaining princes have gotten so cursed finicky about having to wed a
swordmaiden, then I say to the netherpit with them! I'm going home. First I'm going to have
nice, hot bath, then I'm going to marry my father's swineherd, and then I'm going to bribe as
many minstrels as it takes to spread some cockamamie fairy tale about how he was really a
prince in disguise. And I will personally slice the head off anyone who says anything