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

different!" She unbuckled her sword-belt, let it fall to the floor, and gave it a savage kick
before stalking out.

A short silence followed this scene. At last Talona remarked, "Well! I suppose the rest o
you are going to follow that pathetic example." Her eyes swept her remaining students,
including Gethina, who was still standing in the middle of the floor, breathing hard.

"Not bloody likely," Amaryllis muttered.

"What was that?" Once more Talona sprang-this time in the purely figurative sense. "Spe
up, young lady! If you nave something to say, say it so that the whole class can hear."

For an instant, Amaryllis toyed with the idea of making up another lie. Then she dropped
The one about Rushy Glen hadn't worked worth spit. She knew she was a poor liar, and
besides, she was angry. Why shouldn't she. be able to come late to class because she'd stop
to browse at Hamid's? Why couldn't she indulge in her favorite occupation anymore, simply
because it wasn't proper for a sword-maiden? She opened her mouth to speak and what cam
out of it was as honest as her heart could make it:

"I said not bloody likely! And you know why it's not bloody likely as well as we all do.
Santorma's father is the richest king for leagues around and she's his only child! If any one o
our fathers had half his money and if any of us were our kingdom's only heir, we'd be out of
place so fast it would melt your buckler! But we're not rich and we're not sole heirs, so we
can't marry swineherds and turn them into princes. That would be a picnic. But, oh no, we'v
got to marry princes, only there are hardly enough of them to go around since the Witches'
Auxiliary turned so cursed many of them into frogs!"

"It wouldn't be so bad if they'd just left it at turning them into frogs," Pucina sighed. "The
we could kiss them, break the spell, and they'd have to marry us. But as soon as they becom
frogs, those odious witches nab them for the brewing of their triply-damned Vorn's Soverei
Essence! You can't kiss a cup of frog consomm├й."

"You can," Amaryllis corrected her. "But you don't get bang-all for your trouble."

"I blame the government," said Princess Rika of Yellowcrag. "If the Interkingdom Allian
hadn't cut off all funding for the black arts, the Council Sorcerous wouldn't have slashed the
budget for the Witches' Auxiliary and they never would have needed to start such an aggres
fund-raising project in the first place."

Talona held up a chiding finger. "No politics in class," she said. Then she returned her
attention to Amaryllis. "Whining never helps, whether you're princess or swordswoman. In
free market economy, the laws of supply and demand become the facts of life. Our remainin
princes know they can afford to be picky; you can not. Not if you want to become a bride. A
the moment, it strikes their fancy to marry only swordmaidens. It's become a bit of a status
symbol with the boys, realty. We ought to be pleased that they're no longer afraid of strong
women. Now as I see it, you have three choices: Wait for princess brides to come back into
style-" (Amaryllis looked dubious) "-leave this school and accept a life of single cursed-ne
(Amaryllis looked aghast) "-or sit down, shut up, and do your work!"

Amaryllis sat down and shut up, but that was as far as she was going to go. While the oth