"Robin Hobb - The Inheritance" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hobb Robin)

that should have come to him when his father died. Now sheтАЩs gone,
and the house and land revert to my father. ThatтАЩs life.тАЩ She tossed the
plundered casket onto my grandmotherтАЩs stripped bed and left the
room.
тАШI loved her,тАЩ I said quietly into the stillness. Rage burned bright
in me for an instant. It was an old family dispute. Her father was the
son of GrandfatherтАЩs first wife, and the rightful heir to all, as they so
constantly reminded me. It counted for nothing with them that my
grandmother had raised their father as if he were her own child. It
scalded me that Tetlia would claim my grandmother as kin for the sake
of being entitled to her jewellery, but deny that I had any right to share
the family wealth. For a second I clutched that anger to me. Then, as if
I could feel my grandmotherтАЩs gentle hand on my shoulder, I let the


2
strength of my just wrath leak away from me. тАШUseless to argue,тАЩ I told
myself. In my grandmotherтАЩs looking-glass I saw the same defeated
resignation I had so often seen in her eyes. тАШItтАЩs not worth fighting for,тАЩ
she had told me so often. тАШScandal and strife serve no purpose. Let it go,
Cerise. Let it go.тАЩ I looked at the gaping ring in my hand, and then
slipped it onto my finger. It fit as if made for me. Somehow, it seemed
an appropriate inheritance.
I left the room and went to my own chamber to pack. It did not
take long. I had one set of clothes besides my own, and her old TraderтАЩs
robe of soft saffron. I hesitated before I put it in my rucksack. I had
never seen her wear it. Once I had asked her about that only unused
garment in her chest. She had shaken her head. тАШI donтАЩt know why I
kept it. It has nothing to do with my life any more. In Bingtown, Trader
families wear them when they go to the TradersтАЩ Council to vote on
Trader matters. Saffron was my familyтАЩs colour, the Lantis family. But I
gave all that up years ago.тАЩ
I fingered the soft wool. It was cut in an archaic style, but the
wool would be warm, I told myself. Besides, I had no intention of leaving
it for my cousins. Now that my grandmother was dead, her little house
on the seacliffs and the sheep pastures behind it would go to my uncle.
And I, the sole daughter of her daughter, would have to make my own
way in the world. My uncle had scowled at me when I had told him last
night that I had nowhere to go, and asked his leave to stay on for a
week.
He replied heavily, тАШThe old woman was dying for two years,
Cerise. If, in two years, you couldnтАЩt make a plan for your future, you
wonтАЩt do it in a week. We need this house, and itтАЩs lawfully mine. IтАЩm
sorry, but youтАЩll have to go.тАЩ
So I went, but not far. Hetta, the shepherdтАЩs wife took me in for
the night. They were as angry with my uncle as I was, for he had
already announced to there that he was raising their rent. In all the
years that they had been my grandmotherтАЩs tenants, she had never
raised their rent. Hetta was older than I, but that had never kept us