"Garry Kilworth - The Sculptor" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kilworth Garry)

on suspicion, before I reached the Tower.
"The river is a deadly place, as you know. Then there are the pirates . .
. I stood far more chance of being murdered on the water, than I did from
dying of hunger or thirst out on the sands."
"That's true, and it's also true that you could cross the desert
relatively undetected, until you came within sight of the Tower, of
course. Yet . . . you took me along with you, knowing the risk. I might
have been one of his spies."
He stared at her.
"Yes, you might. I think you were - and still are. It is fascinating, and
horrifying to me, that people like you are prepared to go through torture
for the sake of discovering his enemies. It's an enigma I don't think I
shall ever solve . . . but I am glad for my father's sake that he has his
devoted servants."
"You wrong me," she said, looking into his eyes.
"No," replied NiccolЄ, "I don't think so. You are still besotted with the
mystique of the man, and you think that if you can uncover some plot
against him, he will reinstate you, and you'll return to his favour. You
have been blinded, Romola, but I shall restore your sight."
NiccolЄ dispatched the statuette to da Vinci by courier. Then he asked
Romola to walk down to the river with him, so that they might cross, and
gain audience with the High Priest, once that man had had time to gaze
upon the final figurine.
On their way down to the river, NiccolЄ said to her, "You have been asked
to guard me, haven't you?"
She stared at him, then nodded.
"Yes. That's why they let me out of prison."
"I thought so. Da Vinci would never let me run around loose, of that I was
sure. So it had to be you."
They reached the jetties, and waited for a boat to come which would carry
them across.
A short while afterwards a barge came down the river with a giant man at
the tiller. He had a gentle face, a good face, and he was wearing a
knitted waistcoat that looked new. When his boat reached the jetty he
clambered ashore. The Holy Guardians swarmed over his craft, inspecting
every spar, every beam, before allowing the dockers to unload his cargo.
The only goods permitted to be carried by river barge, were food and
drink, and if you were found with any other freight you were executed on
the spot, no excuses excepted. The big man nodded to the two people who
watched him amble past them.
When the big man returned, his barge had been unloaded, and his craft
stood high in the water.
"Will you take us across?" asked NiccolЄ.
"Two sesterces," growled the giant.
"Agreed."
The three of them boarded the barge, and the giant raised the lateen sail,
and the craft caught the current. They headed downriver, towards the sea.
Romola looked puzzled, stared at the far shore, then into NiccolЄ's face.
"Where are we going?" she snapped.
"Away from here," answered NiccolЄ.