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

spring afternoons and puppies.
I came awake shivering, hours later. It was full dark and the tenuous warmth
of the early-spring day had fled. Nosy was awake as soon as I was, and together
we scraped and slithered out of the den.
There was a high night sky over Buckkeep, with stars shining bright and cold.
The smell of the bay was stronger as if the day smells of men and horses and
cooking were temporary things that had to surrender each night to the ocean's
power. We walked down deserted pathways, through exercise yards and past
granaries and the winepress. All was still and silent. As we drew closer to the
inner keep I saw torches still burning and heard voices still raised in talk.
But it all seemed tired somehow, the last vestiges of revelry winding down
before dawn came to lighten the skies. Still, we skirted the inner keep by a
wide margin, having had enough of people.
I found myself following Nosy back to the stables. As we drew near the heavy
doors I wondered how we would get in. But Nosy's tail began to wag wildly as we
got closer, and then even my poor nose picked up Burrich's scent in the dark. He
rose from the wooden crate he'd been seated on by the door. "There you are," he
said soothingly. "Come along then. Come on." And he stood and opened the heavy
doors for us and led us in.
We followed him through darkness, between rows of stalls, past grooms and
handlers put up for the night in the stables, and then past our own horses and
dogs and the stable boys who slept amongst them, and then to a staircase that
climbed the wall that separated the stables from the mews. We followed Burrich
up its creaking wooden treads, and then he opened another door. Dim yellow light
from a guttering candle on a table blinded me temporarily. We followed Burrich
into a slant-roofed chamber that smelled of Burrich and leather and the oils and
salves and herbs that were part of Burrich's trade. He shut the door firmly
behind us, and as he came past us to kindle a fresh candle from the nearly spent
one on the table, I smelled the sweetness of wine on him.
The light spread, and Burrich seated himself on a wooden chair by the table.
He looked different, dressed in fine thin cloth of brown and yellow, with a bit


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of silver chain across his jerkin. He put his hand out, palm up, on his knee and
Nosy went to him immediately. Burrich scratched his hanging ears and then
thumped his ribs affectionately, grimacing at the dust that rose from his coat.
"You're a fine pair, the two of you," he said, speaking more to the pup than to
me. "Look at you. Filthy as beggars. I lied to my king today for you. First time
ever in my life I've done that. Appears as if Chivalry's fall from grace will
take me down as well. Told him you were washed up and sound asleep, exhausted
from your journey. He was not pleased he would have to wait to see you, but
luckily for us, he had weightier things to handle. Chivalry's abdication has
upset a lot of lords. Some are seeing it as a chance to push for an advantage,
and others are disgruntled to be cheated of a king they admired. Shrewd's trying
to calm them all. He's letting it be noised about that Verity was the one who
negotiated with the Chyurda this time. Those as will believe that shouldn't be
allowed to walk about on their own. But they came, to look at Verity anew, and