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

coin out of this, not just a warm bed and food.
He offered me his arm and I flaunted out of the gloomy tap-room,
attributing the sudden buzz of conversation behind us to disappointed
hopes.
Ten years on, I stood in the dark and looked at the windows thoughtfully.
That was the salon where he had taken me, I was sure. He had shown me in
and told me to wait. My spirits rose at the thought of food and clean sheets
and the business to come even promised to be quite enjoyable. I wandered
round the room and noted the fine tapestries, the polished furniture and the
superb Tormalin silver on the mantel shelf. Stories from the ballads I had
heard my father sing began to echo in the back of my mind - virtuous
maiden falls on hard times and is rescued by a handsome noble, that sort of
thing.
When I heard the door, I turned with a welcoming smile but my host was
not bringing the supper he had promised. He locked the door behind him and
his lips curved in an ugly smile as he ran a dog-whip through his hands. He
was stripped to shirt and hose and flushed with anticipation. I moved to put
the table between us; from the glint in his eye, I would not have bet on my
chances of talking my way out of this. I may have been naive but I wasn't
that stupid. I realised I was in serious danger.
'Come here, whore,' he commanded.
'If you want something more lively than plain sex, I want more money,' I
countered boldly. If he thought I was going to play, he might get careless
and I would be out of there like a rat from a burning barn.
'You'll get what I decide to give you.' He was not talking coin; he lunged
at me and the lash flicked my cheek.
I screamed as loudly as I could but all he did was laugh. 'My servants are
paid well to be deaf, you slut. Scream by all means. I like it.'
I could see that he did too. He moved and so did I, we circled round the
table and he began to frown.
'Come and see what I've got for you,' he leered, lifting his shirt.
I dashed for the window but he was too fast and grabbed a handful of
hair. He threw me to the floor and raised the whip but I rolled under the
table. He cursed obscenely and snatched at my ankle. I kicked and twisted as
he dragged me out but he was too strong. He ripped at my skirts with his
other hand and my head smacked against the chair legs. He laughed as he
saw the blood and oddly, that was what finally made me lose my temper.
I went limp. As he relaxed his grip, I drew my knees up. He laughed again
as he straightened up to unlace himself, then I brought both of my feet up
into his stones. He collapsed, retching, and I scrambled to my feet. I grabbed
a fallen chair and smacked it hard into the side of his head and ran for the
window a second time. As I fumbled with the catches, I heard him groan and
curse. I have never been so frightened in my life, utterly occupied with
opening the window, not daring to lose a moment of time by glancing
behind me. After what seemed like an age, I had the casement open and the
shutter beyond. I risked a glance at the bastard on the floor; he had got to his
knees but was clutching himself with screwed-shut eyes. I swung out of the
window and dropped to the road. With the first stroke of luck I'd had in a
long time, I didn't hurt myself, and I ran as far and as fast as I could.
The first time I'd told Halice that tale, she'd been astounded I could be so