"Mindy L. Klasky - Glasswright Journeyman" - читать интересную книгу автора (Klasky Mindy L)

The Touched girl grimaced. "Tending the children. Six more cases of firelung. All Touched."
The disease was spreading, working its greatest damage among the people of Moren who had
the least. Rani read Mair's concern in her friend's creased brow. Mair may have come to live
in the palace, but her heart was still in the streets, with the children she had raised, with the
troop she had led. With a visible effort, Mair set aside her worries, asking Rani, "What have
you been up to, that you look so surprised at my coming here?"

"I was reading Davin's newest treatise, about advancement to journeyman."

"Books." Mair snorted as she glanced at the volumes on the high table. Rani knew that her
Touched friend was able to read; Mair had mastered her letters at the same time that the girl
was learning how to survive in the city streets. Reading and writing were tools that helped a
Touched girl thrive, let her read the text of royal proclamations, let her draft markers for
loans.

Mair had harnessed her skills well, Rani thought, managing a troop of children with all the
aplomb of a general. The Touched leader had consistently directed her followers with a
combination of maternal love and mercenary zealтАФskills that were sometimes wasted in the
constraints of King Halaravilli's court. Mair said, "There are more important things than
books."

"Certainly there are, Mair," Rani sighed. "There are funeral pyres for all the victims who were
not consumed outright by the fire. There is food to distribute. There are blankets to give out.
But I can't be down there all the time. I can't watch over the damage all the time."

"They're your people, Rai."

"They're not mine!" Rani heard her voice ratchet higher, and she reminded herself to breathe,
to relax her throat. "I'm a merchant girl, not a noble."

"Merchant girl, guild girl, noble." Mair shook her head. "You're whatever you decide to call
yourself. The fact remains that the people need you. Your king needs you."

Rani snorted. "If he needed me, he would have included me in his discussions with the
ambassador from the Pepper Isles."
"You're still upset about that?"

"If I'd been there, we would have negotiated for more spices. We could have taxed the
cinnamon and the pepperтАФwe could have raised the salt tax. We'd have money to rebuild the
city by the end of summer."

"Rai, he obviously didn't see it that way."

"Of course he didn't! He doesn't understand how to bargain!"

"He understands how to be a king." Mair shrugged. "He's overlord of the Pepper Isles. If he
demands too much of them, they'll rebel. Morenia can hardly fight a battle now, not to keep
its outlying territories in line."

Rani did not bother to respond. If she had been involved in the negotiations, the matter would