"Juliet E. McKenna - Einarinn 1 - The Thief's Gamble" - читать интересную книгу автора (McKenna Juliet E)

more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea of finally getting my own
back on the misbegotten swine who had first brought me to this house. I
suppose, to be precise, quite a chain of events had brought me to this house;
the bastard with the nice collection of silver simply happened to be the last
link.
I had finally stormed out of what had once passed for my home after my
mother had lamented once too often about the ruin of her life, saddled with
the by-blow of a minstrel, one of the Forest Folk at that. I had already taken
to gambling which I had always been good at and was working small
deceptions to earn my meals. I had formed no real plans beyond some vague
idea of trying to find my wandering father and, looking back, I am surprised
it took so long for me to land in trouble. A panicking attempt to bluff my
way out of an inn without paying had left me thrown on the road with a
smarting arse and my few belongings taken in lieu of payment.
I had arrived in Hawtree two days later, tired and ravenous, dirty and
desperate. Neither of the decent coaching inns had let me past their doors
and I had ended up in a grimy hostelry next to the slaughterhouse. It had not
taken me long to realise why there were so many women sitting around the
tap-room and it was a measure of my ignorance and despondency that I
decided to try for a customer myself. Lack of food must have softened my
brain. It was not as if I was a virgin, I had thought, and my mother, ever
determined I should not get caught like her, had taken me off to a reliable
herbalist as soon as she had first caught the under-gardener fondling my
bottom. It had not occurred to me to worry about disease and, looking at the
competition, I had felt confident that I would be able to earn a meal at very
least.
I combed my hair with my fingers as best I could - I wore it long in those
days - and pinched my cheeks to heighten my colour. I was still using herbal
washes to bring out the red in my hair and cosmetics to make my eyes reflect
green rather than grey, and, despite its stains, my russet dress looked
sufficiently exotic in the dingy bar. Chances were none of these yokels had
ever seen a real Forest maiden so, their reputation being what it is, I decided
to increase my asking price. The next customer to survey the waiting women
was tall, dark and handsome in a sharp sort of way and he rapidly passed
over the others to catch my eye. The other whores looked away and muttered
among themselves. Naive as I was, I felt sure they were jealous.
'Well, well, you're not from around here, are you?' He came over and
gestured for wine, which I drank thirstily.
'No, I'm just passing through.' I did my best to look mysterious and
alluring.
'All alone?' His hand brushed mine as he poured more wine.
'I like to travel light.' I smiled at him and my spirits rose. He was clean
and young and looked wealthy; I could have done a lot worse. As I said, I
was very naive in those days.
'What's your name, sweetheart?'
'Merith.' Actually that's my oldest spinster aunt but who cared.
'This isn't a very comfortable inn. Could I offer you some hospitality?'
That was a new way of putting it but I wasn't going to argue. I smiled at
him from beneath my dyed lashes.
'I'm sure we could come to some agreement.' After all, I wanted some