"Lisle,.Holly.-.Vincalis.The.Agitator1" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lisle Holly)

He came in and sat down, and for a moment said nothing.
УThank you,Ф Wraith said. УYou saved my life. Those three had orders to give me to the market wizardЧhe said he wanted to take me apart to see what I was made of.Ф
УReally?Ф
Wraith nodded.
УWhat did you do?Ф
УIТm not sure. I went through the market like the other people in the square, and put food into a basket, and left out the same gate through which they all left, but when I left, someone shouted that I was stealing food.Ф
УDid you lose your credit amulet?Ф
УMy what?Ф
The boy reached into his shirt and from beneath it pulled out a small white disk on a gold chain. УThis. What happened to yours?Ф
УI donТt have one of those. What does it do?Ф
УTakes money from your family account to pay for whatever you purchase. The shields around each business are spelled to read your amulet andа.а.а.Ф He shook his head. УYou should know this. Why donТt you?Ф
Wraith shrugged. УWe have no credit amulets in the Warrens. No open markets. And what are shields?Ф
The boy sat down and rested his elbows on the table and his chin on his fists. УWhy would you have been in the Warrens? No one goes there.Ф
УI live there.Ф
УWith the riots and the murders and the mind-drugs and the crime lords and the prostitutes andа.а.а. IТve seen the nightlies. None but criminals live there.Ф
Wraith tried to figure out what Solander was talking about. УYou must have heard of a different place. ThatТs nothing like where I liveЧthe Warrens are the quietest place in the city.Ф
УIf you lived in the Warrens, you wouldnТt be here,Ф the boy said. УBecause the Warrens are gated to keep the criminals in; you couldnТt have gotten out. And you certainly couldnТt have come to Oel Artis Travia.Ф
УI just walked here. Walked out of the Warrens, too.Ф
УHow?Ф
УThe same way I ran into your yard.Ф
УThe gates in the Warrens are malfunctioning, too? My father will have a fit. HeТs going to be upset enough that somethingТs wrong with our gate. Lucky for you those guards didnТt try it.Ф
УThe Warren gate worked the same way all gates work for me. I can walk through any of them that donТt have real locks on them.Ф
The boy shook his head. УNonsense. I saw you go through the gate. It lit up, but it didnТt do it right.Ф
УThey always look like that when I go through them.Ф
Solander thought about this for a moment, staring down at the floor and frowning. УYou mean our gate might be working? If IТd told the guard the gate was malfunctioning and heТd tried to cross, he might have been killed? Oh, hells, I would have gotten into trouble for that.Ф The boy gave Wraith a speculative look, and then a tentative smile. УMy name is Solander Artis,Ф he said.
УI know. I heard you tell the guards.Ф
УNow youТre supposed to tell me your name.Ф
УItТs Wraith.Ф
УWraith what?Ф
УJust Wraith.Ф
УThatТs a funny sort of name.Ф
Wraith shrugged. УI liked it. ThatТs why I picked it.Ф
УYou picked your own name?Ф
УYes.Ф
УWell, thatТs different. Wraith, I want you to show me how you got through our gate.Ф
УAll right.Ф The two of them rose, walked out into the yard together, and after Solander checked to see that no one who mattered was looking, Wraith walked through the gate. The lights played over himЧand then he was on the other side. So he turned around and walked back.
The boy frowned. УThat canТt be. It looks like itТs working, butа.а.а. Wait right here. I have to go get something. DonТt go anywhere,Ф he said, and raced to the big house.
Wraith waited, and waited, and at long last the boy came racing back, carrying a small bag full of greenish lumpy balls.
УYou took long enough.Ф
УItТs a big house,Ф the boy said, Уand I had to get the testers out from under the watchmanТs nose without him catching me.Ф
УTesters?Ф
УGates only attack living human beings. Otherwise, they would have to be constantly raised and lowered for deliveries of supplies and other things that come via mage-carts. Pets and birds and other wildlife wouldnТt be able to pass through them, either, and the families do love their deer and peacocks and griffonelles. TheyТd be most upset to find their expensive pets roasted by a gate. So it used to be that the only way to test a gate was to shove a prisoner through it. Only now prisoners are used in work gangs, and theyТre too valuable to just roast; so the wizards had to develop gate testers. You throw one through, and the gate thinks itТs a person who isnТt supposed to be there, andа.а.а.Ф He pulled one out of the bag. УHere. IТll show you.Ф
He tossed the ball through the gate. The lights erupted again, but this time, along with the light, Wraith heard an eerie hum, and the ball stopped dead in midair, turned a brilliant glowing red, and exploded into dust with a crack so loud and sudden and emphatic it made both boys jump.
Wraith closed his eyes. HeТd seen the gates work on something other than testers before, and all because of his stupidity in thinking that if he could walk through them, anyone could.
УItТs working,Ф the boy whispered.
Wraith nodded. УThey always are, I think. Gates just donТt work on me. The man in the market who sent his guards after me pointed his finger at me first, and the same sort of light came out of it. But that didnТt do anything, either, though IТm pretty sure he expected it to.Ф
Solander leaned against a wall and closed his eyes. УOh, dorfing hell-dogs! Master Faregan took a shot at you and it didnТt do anything? Drowning dorfing hell-dogs! No wonder he wanted his guards to grab you.Ф He stared at Wraith, his expression an eloquent testimony to awe. Without another word, he traced a short series of loops in the air. To WraithТs amazement, a line of light glowed in the air in the wake of the boyТs finger. УCover,Ф the boy said.
The loops coalesced into a thin, wavering sphere of light that bobbled through the air to Wraith, touched himа.а.а. and popped like a soap bubble, disappearing without a trace.
УHow did you do that?Ф Solander asked.
Wraith said, УI didnТt do anything. I donТt do anything when I go through the gates, I didnТt do anything when that man pointed his finger at me and hit me with light. I donТt ever do anything.Ф