"Robin McKinley - Damar 2 - The Hero and the Crown" - читать интересную книгу автора (McKinley Robin)

Teka had silently exchanged the finer royal plates for these earthenware ones several years ago, after
Galanna had found out that the red-and-gold ones that should only be used by members of the first circle
of the royal houseтАФwhich included AerinтАФwere slowly disappearing. She had one of her notorious
temper tantrums over this, caused crisis and dismay in the whole hierarchy of the hafor, and turned off
three of the newest and lowliest servant girls on suspicion of stealingтАФand then, when no one could
possibly overlook the commotion she was making, contrived to discover that the disappearances were
merely the result of Aerin being clumsy. тАЬYou revolting child,тАЭ she said to a mutinous Aerin; тАЬeven if you
are incapableтАЭтАФthere was inexpressible malice lurking behind the wordтАФтАЭof mending the settings
yourself, you might save the pieces and let one of us do it for you.тАЭ
тАЬIтАЩd hang myself first,тАЭ spat Aerin, тАЬand then IтАЩd come back and haunt you till you were haggard with
fear and lost all your looks and people pointed at you in the streetsтАФтАЭ
At this point Galanna slapped her, which was a tactical error. In the first place, it needed only such an
excuse for Aerin to jump on her and roll her over on the floor, bruise one eye, and rip most of the lace off
her extremely ornate afternoon dressтАФsomehow both the court members and the hafor witness to this
scene were a little slow in dragging Aerin off herтАФand in the second place, both the slap and its result
quite ruined GalannaтАЩs attempted role of great lady dealing with contemptible urchin. It was generally
consideredтАФGalanna was no favoriteтАФthat Aerin had won that round. Of the three serving girls, one
was taken back, one was given a job in the stables, which she much preferred, and one, declaring that
she wouldnтАЩt have any more to do with the royal house if saying so got her beheaded for treason, went
home to her own village, far from the City.
Aerin sighed. Life had been easier when her ultimate goal had been murdering Galanna with her bare
hands. She had continued to use the finer ware when she ate with the court, of course; when she was
younger she had rarely been compelled to do so, fortunately, since she never got much to eat, but sat
rigidly and on her guard (GalannaтАЩs basilisk glare from farther down the high table helped) for the entire
evening. But at least she didnтАЩt break anything either, and Teka could always be persuaded to bring her a
late supper as necessary. On earthenware plates.
She lifted her eyes to Teka, who was still standing motionless behind the tray. тАЬTeka, IтАЩm sorry IтАЩm
so tiresome. I canтАЩt seem to help it. ItтАЩs in my blood, like being clumsy isтАФlike everything else isnтАЩt.тАЭ She
walked over and gave the older woman a hug, and Teka looked up and half smiled.
тАЬI hate to see you ... fighting everything so.тАЭ
AerinтАЩs eyes rose involuntarily to the old plain sword hanging at the head of her tall curtained bed.
тАЬYou know Perlith and Galanna are horrid because theyтАЩre horrid themselvesтАФтАЭ
тАЬYes,тАЭ said Aerin slowly. тАЬAnd because IтАЩm the only daughter of the witchwoman who enspelled the
king into marrying her, and IтАЩm such a desperately easy butt. Teka,тАЭ she said before the other had a
chance to break in, тАЬdo you suppose it was Galanna who first told me that story? IтАЩve been trying to
remember when I first heard it.тАЩтАЩ
тАЬStory?тАЭ said Teka, carefully neutral. She was always carefully neutral about AerinтАЩs mother, which
was one of the reasons Aerin kept asking about her. тАШ тАЬYes. That my mother enspelled my father to get
an heir that would rule Damar, and that she turned her face to the wall and died of despair when she
found she had borne a daughter instead of a son, since they usually find a way to avoid letting daughters
inherit.тАЭ
Teka shook her head impatiently.
тАЬShe did die, тАЬAerin said.
тАЬWomen die in childbed.тАЭ
тАЬNot witches, often.тАЭ
тАЬShe was not a witch.тАЭ
Aerin sighed, and looked at her big hands, striped with callus and scarred with old blisters from
sword and shield and pulling her way through the forest tangles after her dragonsтАФDragon-KillerтАФand
from falling off the faithful Talat. тАЬYou would certainly think she wasnтАЩt from the way her daughter goes
on. If he was going to turn out like me, it wouldnтАЩt have done my poor mother any good to have had a