"Kate Novak - Finders Stone 1 - Azure Bonds" - читать интересную книгу автора (Novak Kate)

those greengrocers who dabbled with the art, but probably wasn't skilled
enough
to cut it as just a sorcerer. Still, he ought to be capable of detecting
magic,
and he looked sincere. She needed to know more about the tattoo, and here was
this Turmishman offering his services for free She held out her arm. "I am
Alias. Magic does not frighten me, am be quick about it."
Akabar Bel Akash leaned over the symbols and began mumbling words quickly and
quietly. If the runes on her arm were magical, Alias knew, they would radiate
a
dim glow.
The merchant-mage chanted, and Alias felt the muscles of her arm writhe
beneath
her skin as though they were snakes. The symbols danced along her arm as if
mocking the Turmishman.
Suddenly, strands of hellish blue light, intense as lightning flashes, shot
from
the symbols on her arm, illuminating the whole room. The beacons of color
crackled along the beams overhead and were reflected off all the bottles and
armor in the tavern, turning the surprised faces of every patron in the room
to
a deathly blue.
Akabar Bel Akash had not been expecting so violent a reaction to his magical
inquiry. He toppled backward in surprise, chair and all. His flailing arm
caught
the half-drained mug of beer and sent it flying across the commons room. The
droplets of spilled ale took on the appearance of a cluster of blue fireflies.
Alias caught sight of the barkeep frozen in the blue light. An instant later,
the portly man regained his senses and dove like a sounding whale behind the
bar. His patrons were a tougher lot; many of them were desperately working
loose
the peace knots of their weapons.
Grabbing her cloak from the back of her chair, Alias twisted it tight around
her
arm to muffle the light. The blue glow leaked out of the cloak's edges, and
she
held the arm close to her body. In an overloud voice she announced, "No
problem,
no problem! My friend here was just showing me a new magical trick that he
hasn't quite learned yet."
Alias quickly circled around the table. She leaned over the tall mage's
sprawled
form and, to demonstrate that there was nothing wrong, helped pull him to his
feet. Already most of the patrons had returned to their drinks, but there was
a
good deal of scowling and muttering.
Grasping the collar of his white-striped crimson vestments, Alias held
Akabar's
face close to her own and whispered in the tight voice she reserved to
threaten