"Katherine Kerr - Deverry 06 - A Time Of Omens" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kerr Katherine)

Bardek, 1098



Down in the public square LuvilaeтАЩs market spread out, a lake of brightly colored sunshades and little
stalls. Acrobats performed on improvised platforms; minstrels sat in the shade of trees and played for
coppers. Wearing bronze helmets topped with red plumes, the archonтАЩs men strolled through in pairs to
keep order. A warm breeze carried the scents of incense and roast pork, flowered perfumes and spiced
vegetables. Off to one side, behind a line of stalls that sold blue and purple pottery, a fortune-teller was
doing a reading for a client. In the midst of striped and faded blue sunshades and curtains, the two
women haggled over the price from either side of a low table. Draped in black as befitted her trade in
omens, the elderly one sank onto her cushions with a moist sigh. Dressed like a boy in a linen tunic and
sandals, the young woman knelt on a pounded bark mat and ran both hands through her mop of frizzy
black hair before she settled back on her heels. Wheezing a little in the heat, Akantha took an ebony box
from under the table and slid out the ninety-six tiles of polished bone. Most fell facedown, a good omen,
but as Akantha turned the few wayward tiles over, one slid to the ground. With a frown she snatched it
back.

тАЬHelp me mix them up, little one. Bring them over to the right side of the tableтАФmy right, that is.тАЭ

Marka laid both hands flat on the layer of tiles and mixed with a sound like thunder.

тАЬEnough,тАЭ Akantha said at last. тАЬDraw five to start with.тАЭ

The old woman turned the chosen tiles faceup to form a square. The two of spears and the four of golds
appeared, followed by three different tiles from the suit of flowers: the knave, the six, and finally the
princess, which Akantha laid in the center of the square.

тАЬIs that me?тАЭ Marka asked.

тАЬIt might be, it might beтАФor else, you will someday serve the princess. Not sure which yet. But I donтАЩt
much like the look of this knave. Hum. A lover, maybe; heтАЩs the same suit, but heтАЩs no prince, is he?
Watch out for him, girl. I do like the look of this six. Good fortune, girl, very good fortune indeed, though
not without some trouble.тАЭ She laid a long and bony forefinger on the two of spears. тАЬBut nothing your
wits wonтАЩt be able to get you out of, IтАЩd say. Three flowers in the first draw is very lucky, very lucky.
Now draw me four groups of three.тАЭ

Each group formed a triangle. For a long time Akantha sucked her teeth in silence while she studied the
layout; once or twice she started to speak, then merely shook her head. Marka knew just enough about
the tiles to understand that the expanded reading simply wasnтАЩt coalescing into a whole. Omens of
splendid good luck lay right next to signifiers of the grimmest bad fortune, while the minor, numbered tiles
contradicted all the important trumps around them. The first was the three of flowers.

тАЬWell, then, the reading should be a good one. HereтАЩs a flower coming up from the Earth. Now, weтАЩve
got the nine of swords for Air, so youтАЩre in for a bit of rough sailing, sure enough. And now for Water
weтАЩve got the queen of birds, which is not the kind of location IтАЩd like to see for that tile. No, water and
birds arenтАЩt a happy marriage, girl, not at all. But well, look at this! For Fire hereтАЩs the ten of golds! Very
good luck, the best there is. And finally, for the Ether, we have the . . . the prince of Swords? Oh, by the