"Robin Hobb - Assassin 1 - Assassin' s Apprentice" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hobb Robin)

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come along now, no, don't go off sniffing after that cat, come along now,
there's some good fellows.
The stables had been bustling, with Verity's men putting up their horses and
gear and Burrich finding fault with all that had not been done up to his
standards in his absence. But as we drew closer to the inner keep, the foot
traffic increased. Folk brushed by us on all manner of errands: a boy carrying
an immense slab of bacon on his shoulder, a giggling cluster of girls, arms
heavy with strewing reeds and heather, a scowling old man with a basket of
flopping fish, and three young women in motley and bells, their voices ringing
as merrily as their chimes.
My nose informed me that we were getting closer to the kitchens, but the
traffic increased proportionately, until we drew near a door with a veritable
crush of people going in and out. Cob stopped, and Nosy and I paused behind him,
noses working appreciatively. He regarded the press of folk at the door and
frowned to himself. "Place is packed. Everyone's getting ready for the welcoming
feast tonight, for Verity and Regal. Anyone who's anyone has come into Buckkeep
for it; word spread fast about Chivalry ducking out on the kingship. All the
Dukes have come or sent a man to counsel about it. I hear even the Chyurda sent
someone, to be sure Chivalry's treaties will be honored if Chivalry is no longer
about-"
He halted, suddenly embarrassed, but whether it was because he was speaking
of my father to the cause of his abdication, or because he was addressing a
puppy and a six-year-old as if they had intelligence, I am not sure. He glanced
about, reassessing the situation. "Wait here," he told us finally. "I'll slip in
and bring something out for you. Less chance of me getting stepped on ... or
caught. Now stay." And he reinforced his command with a firm gesture of his
hand. I backed up to a wall and crouched down there, out of traffic's way, and
Nosy sat obediently beside me. I watched admiringly as Cob approached the door
and slipped between the clustered folk, eeling smoothly into the kitchens.
With Cob out of sight, the more general populace claimed my attention.
Largely the folk that passed us were serving people and cooks, with a scattering
of minstrels and merchants and delivery folk. I watched them come and go with a
weary curiosity. I had already seen too much that day to find them of great
interest. Almost more than food I desired a quiet place away from all this
activity. I sat flat on the ground, my back against the sun-warmed wall of the
keep, and put my forehead on my knees. Nosy leaned against me.
Nosy's stick tail beating against the earth roused me. I lifted my face from
my knees to perceive a tall pair of brown boots before me. My eyes traveled up
rough leather pants and over a coarse wool shirt to a shaggy bearded face
thatched with pepper-gray hair. The man staring down at me balanced a small keg
on one shoulder.
"You the bastid, hey?"
I had heard the word often enough to know it meant me, without grasping the
fullness of its meaning. I nodded slowly. The man's face brightened with
interest.
"Hey," he said loudly, no longer speaking to me but to the folk coming and