"Alex Irvine - Wizard's Six" - читать интересную книгу автора (Irvine Alexander C)

not met PaulusтАЩ gaze. Paulus began to wonder what had passed between him and
Myros; or was his demeanor caused by the Brancheforts?
No matter.
тАЬI come from The Fells,тАЭ Paulus said. тАЬMy instructions are to gather the girl
he spoke to. For service at the Agate Tower.тАЭ
At this, Philo looked up and Paulus and put a hand around his daughterтАЩs thin
shoulders. Now it was Paulus who wanted to look away. He forced himself to hold
PhiloтАЩs eye. тАЬSheтАЩs my only, sir,тАЭ Philo said. тАЬAnd my wife, weтАЩre too old to have
another.тАЭ
 тАЬPhilo,тАЭ Paulus said. тАЬI have no quarrel with you. My errand is my errand.тАЭ
He watched the awful calculus of the peasant on PhiloтАЩs face. One fewer
mouth to feed. Giving his daughter over to a life of service with the wizards of The
Fells, where she would spend the rest of her days forgetting what it was like to go to
bed hungry. And against that....
тАЬMay we visit her, sir?тАЭ
тАЬWhen she has been gone a year,тАЭ Paulus said. He was a poor liar, but this
provision he remembered from his own journey to The Fells as a boy, when he had
been taken into the KingтАЩs Acrobats.
His mother had never come. After a year he had stopped expecting her.
тАЬBefore that,тАЭ he said, тАЬshe will still long for home. You may write as long as
you do not ask her to return. Censors at the guild will destroy your letters if you do.тАЭ
Philo was nodding slowly. тАЬWe do love her, sir,тАЭ he said. тАЬSheтАЩs our only.тАЭ
And through all this, the girl Sophia spoke not a word.
тАЬI will return in the morning,тАЭ Paulus said.
****
The ruse had cost him a day, and cost him, too, any chance of a better meal
than jerky eaten under a tree. Paulus had started back to the manor house, then
veered away from the road into a copse of beech and spruce. He had already lied
more that day than during the previous ten years, and could no more maintain his
fabrications than strike down young Sophia of Branchefort Valley in her fatherтАЩs
presence. So he hobbled his horse, found dry ground beneath the spreading
branches of a spruce tree, and prayed until sleep came. Then he dreamed of his
mother, refusing to look at him as he craned his neck to see through the wagon gate
and cried out Mama, good-bye, Mama.
****
In the morning, Sophia was waiting in the lambskin coat Philo had been
wearing the afternoon before. Rabbit fur wrapped her feet, and she held a small
satchel in both hands. Philo and her mother stood behind her, each with a hand on
her; the womanтАЩs hand moved to smooth the coatтАЩs collar, tug a tangle out of
SophiaтАЩs hair. Philo reached down and took his daughterтАЩs hand.
тАЬMay she write us?тАЭ the woman said.
тАЬAfter a year, maтАЩam,тАЭ answered Paulus. тАЬShould she prove unsuitable, I will
bring her back myself, with no dishonor to you. ItтАЩs many a child isnтАЩt meant for the
wizardsтАЩ service.тАЭ
тАЬNot unsuitable, not our Sophia,тАЭ Philo said. He swallowed.
 тАЬPhilo,тАЭ Paulus said. тАЬCan you spare this coat? She will be warm on the
journey.тАЭ
тАЬIтАЩd like her to have it,тАЭ Philo said. тАЬItтАЩs all we can give her.тАЭ
Paulus could come up with no convincing reply. тАЬThereтАЩs fresh eggs and
bread in the bag,тАЭ SophiaтАЩs mother said.