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

of scent and massage oils, rugs sometimes, and, once, simpler variations on their own tunics and robes.
Those items that were predictable were always welcome: ropes and cording much stronger than anyone
else could make and much lighter, too; hammocks made from that same cord; amazing feathers; furs
unlike anyone else brought; leather tanned so that it was as supple and soft as their silks; rare woods; and
carvings in stone, ivory, and wood.
But sometimes, one called Steelmind came by himself, bringing strange ornamental or useful
plants, herbs, and seeds. Keisha liked him, for all that he never said one word more than he absolutely
had to; she also liked his bird, a slow and sleepy buzzard who was perfectly happy to accept a head
scratch from her.
Sure enough, Steelmind had tucked himself and his bird into the depths of the arbor, with
bare-root plants (roots carefully wrapped in damp moss) and an assortment of well-grown seedlings in
small plugs of earth arranged beside him. His blue eyes brightened when he saw Keisha, and he waved -
a welcome and an invitation to sit, all in the same gesture.
тАЬBarlen says you have some seeds?тАЭ she said, giving the bird his scratch before settling on the
turf beneath the arbor, her tunic puddling around her. She bent over to look at the plants heтАЩd brought,
and recognized the bare-root ones to be young rose vines.
Roses! She tried to imagine what Hawkbrother-bred rose vines would be like, and failed. She
resolved to take at least one of them home with her - maybe more. Mum - would love a climbing rose
going over a trellis at the front door - and it would be nice to have one plant in the herb garden
that isn тАШt useful for anything!
She felt the same avariciousness that Shandi must have felt over the dye - if there was one
weakness she had, it was for her garden. . . .
тАЬIt is spring, so mostly I have flower seeds and seedlings and these - тАЭ he gestured at the rose
vines, but she sensed he was teasing her.
тАЬMostly?тАЭ she replied.
тАЬOur Healer suggested a few others before I left,тАЭ Steelmind said and smiled, an expression that
transformed his face and made it obvious that he wasnтАЩt much older than she was. He laughed a little.
тАЬActually, it was stronger than merely suggestion.тАЭ He rummaged in a basket at his side and brought out
fat little packets of tough silk, sewn at the top to resemble tiny sacks of grain. Each one had a symbol
painted on it in a different color. тАЬThis stops pain, this stops cough, this is a balm, this stops itching from
insect bites and rashes. There are instructions in each packet on growing and use.тАЭ
тАЬThey work better than what I use now?тАЭ she asked skeptically.
He shrugged, and the beads woven into his hair clicked together. тАЬDifferent, thatтАЩs all I know.
Better? I donтАЩt know, IтАЩm not a Healer, and we do not know what you have to work with. No worse,
certainly. And I have been given orders that if you want them, your price is - nothing. Healer to Healer, is
what I was told.тАЭ
Nothing? They do trust me to know, what IтАЩm doing! And that these herbs were different
from those she had been using - she knew from her own experience that a medication that one person
responded well to might not work on another - and might make a third sicker. That was the peril of
working with herbs. тАЬIтАЩll take them, and thank your Healer very sincerely for me,тАЭ she replied. тАЬAnd how
much for the rose vines? It will be nice to have something in my garden that isnтАЩt for healing people.тАЭ
тАЬAnd who is to say that a rose cannot heal?тАЭ He smiled and named his prices, they haggled
amiably, and settled on a price that didnтАЩt leave either of them feeling cheated.
She gathered up her spoils - two rose vines, which would make everyone happy - and gave the
bird a second scratch, which he seemed to expect. Then she left the arbor to go find Shandi and tear her
away from the Fellowship booth.
Or try, anyway. If she got to talking embroidery and dye with the attendant, nothing less than a
miracle would take her away before the sun went down.
Keisha squinted against the bright sunlight, and peered up the street as a flock of crows flew
overhead, yelling cheerful insults at the village below. As she had half-expected, Shandi and the