"Patricia A. McKillip - Alphabet of Thorn" - читать интересную книгу автора (McKillip Patricia A)

Nepenthe. She stood quietly, her long fingers tucked into her broad
black sleeves, trying to look skilled and creative, while wondering
what the scholar found wrong with her face. тАЭIt looks like an
alphabet of fish. Where did you come from?
тАЬDonтАЩt let her youth deceive you,тАЭ Daimon murmured. The
scholar shook his head absently, squinting at Nepenthe until she
opened her mouth and answered.
тАЬNowhere, Master Croysus. I was abandoned on the cliff edge
outside the palace and found by librarians. The last foundling they
took in was named Merle. N was the next available letter.тАЭ
Master Croysus made an incredulous trumpet sound through his
nostrils. тАЬIтАЩve seen that face,тАЭ he said abruptly, тАЬon a parchment
older than Raine. I donтАЩt remember what it was, except that the
ancient kingdom it came from lay far beyond the Twelve Crowns
and it no longer exists except on paper.тАЭ
 The librarian looked curiously at Nepenthe; she wished she could
take off her head and look at herself.
тАЬA clan of wanderers,тАЭ he suggested, тАЬremnants of the forgotten
kingdom. Perhaps they were passing through Raine when Nepenthe
was born.тАЭ
тАЬThere was no one тАФ ?тАЭ
тАЬNo one,тАЭ Daimon said simply, тАЬcame looking for her.тАЭ He paused,
added to clarify and end the subject, тАЬIt was assumed that whoever
left her in that precarious spot тАФ her mother, most likely тАФ flung
herself for her own reasons into the sea. The child was left in hope,
we also assumed, of a less difficult life, since she was left alive and
wailing with great energy when we found her.тАЭ
The scholar grunted, which seemed his last word on the subject.
He laid the manuscript bare and gestured to Nepenthe.
She stepped to the desk. They all gazed at the strange, elongated
ovals neatly imprinted on something that Nepenthe did not
recognize.
She brushed it with her fingertips. It was supple and tough at
once. Some kind of pelt, it seemed, though it was white as birch and
strangely unwrinkled.
тАЬWhat is this?тАЭ she asked puzzledly.
The scholar regarded her with more than fantastic interest.
тАЬGood question. No one knows. IтАЩm hoping that the contents may
indicate the tools.тАЭ He was silent a moment, his bushy brows raised
inquiringly at her, and then at the librarian. тАЬI can stay only as
long as the delegation from the Ninth Crown stays after the
coronation. IтАЩm traveling in the company of Lord Birnum, who will
pay his respects and go home to civilization as soon as he can. It is
a powerful gesture and a stirring custom for rulers to be crowned in
the palace of the first King of Raine, but not even he, with all his
ambitions, imagined the rulers of Twelve Crowns under his ancient
rool at the same time.тАЭ
тАЬAre you with Lord Birnum in the palace?тАЭ Daimon asked
delicately.
тАЬNo,тАЭ Master Croysus sighed. тАЬIn a leaky pavilion.тАЭ