"Mercedes Lackey - Owl Mage 2 - Owlsight" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lackey Mercedes)

тАЬKeisha?тАЭ When Keisha didnтАЩt answer, the fluting voice calling her name in the distance grew
noticeably impatient. тАЬKeisha!тАЭ
Keisha Alder ignored her sister ShandiтАЩs continued calls; she was in the middle of a job she had
no intention of cutting short. The sharp smell of vinegar filled KeishaтАЩs workshop, but she was so inured
to it that it hardly even stung her nose. Shandi could wait long enough for Keisha to finish decanting her
bruise potion, straining out the bits of wormwood with a fine net of cheesecloth. Keisha wrinkled her
nose a little as the smell of vinegar intensified; the books said to use wine for the potion, but she had
found that vinegar worked just as well, and there was no mistaking it for something drinkable - unless
your taste in wine was really wretched. A cloth steeped in this dark-brown liquid and bandaged against a
bruise eased the pain and made the bruise itself heal much faster than it would on its own, so despite the
odor the potion was much in demand. She needed so much of it that she always had several jugs or
bottles of the finished potion in storage, and more jars of it in various states of preparation. It had to
steep for six weeks at a minimum, so she tried to empty one jar and start another once a week.
Keisha held her hands steady; she didnтАЩt want to waste any of it in spillage. She even wrung the
cheesecloth dry, then reached for a stopper whittled from a birch branch and her pot of warm paraffin.
As soon as the last drop was sealed into its special dark-brown pottery jug, and the jug itself placed
safely on a high shelf, she knocked the soggy fragments of herb out of the wide-mouthed jar, added two
handfuls of freshly crumbled dry wormwood, and poured in vinegar to the top. Footsteps behind her
warned her that Shandi had come to the workshop looking for her, so she wasted no time in tying a
square of waxed linen over the top of the jar and setting it at the end of the row of nine more identical
jars.
She turned to face the door, just as Shandi stepped across the threshold into the cool gloom of
the workshop, blinking eyes still dazzled by the bright sun outside. Although not dressed in her festival
best, Shandi was, as always, so neat and spotless that Keisha became uncomfortably aware of the state
of her own stained brown breeches and far-from-immaculate, too-large tunic. Shandi wore a white apron
embroidered with dark blue thread, a neat brown skirt, and a pristine white blouse with the blue
embroidery matching the apron, all the work of her own hands. KeishaтАЩs tunic and breeches were
hand-me-downs from her brothers, plain as a board, indifferently shortened, and both had seen their best
days many years ago.
But what else am I supposed to wear for working with messy potions, dosing sick babies,
and sewing up bloody gashes? she asked herself crossly, annoyed at herself for feeling embarrassed.
This isnтАШt some tale where everyone wears cloth-of-gold and tunics with silk embroidery! Shandi
would look pretty sad after a half day of my work!
тАЬKeisha, are we going to the market or not?тАЭ Shandi asked impatiently, then screwed up her face
in a grimace as a whiff of vinegar reached her.
тАЬWeтАЩre going, though I donтАЩt know why you want to go so badly,тАЭ Keisha replied, hoping she
didnтАЩt sound as irritated as she felt.
тАЬDye,тАЭ Shandi replied promptly.
тАЬNo, thank you, I have too much to do right now,тАЭ Keisha said impishly, grinning as Shandi first
looked puzzled, then mimed a blow at her for the pun.
тАЬYou know what I mean!тАЭ Shandi giggled. тАЬYou never know what the hunters are going to bring
in, and IтАЩm still looking for a decent red, one that wonтАЩt fade the first time someone looks too long at it.тАЭ
She smiled. тАЬYou know I need to have you along. After all, you know so much more about these things
than I do. And youтАЩre better at bargaining; IтАЩd be sure to get cheated, and then youтАЩd be annoyed
because you werenтАЩt with me to save me from a sharp trader!тАЭ
KeishaтАЩs irritation had vanished, as it always did around Shandi. No one could stay irritated with
her sister for long; ShandiтАЩs nature was as sweet as her innocent face, and she played peacemaker to the
entire village of ErroldтАЩs Grove. Keisha and Shandi were almost the same height, with the same willowy
figures, same golden-brown hair and eyes, and almost the same features, but in all other ways they were
as different as if they had come from opposite sides of the world. Sometimes I think when the gods