"Andrew J. Offutt - Cormac 02 - The Tower of Death" - читать интересную книгу автора (Offutt Andrew J)

тАЬItтАЩs forgetting the casket ye seem to be,тАЭ the Gael murmured, and set down his helmet beside his leg.
тАЬTime and to spare,тАЭ returned the merchant, dissembling too late. тАЬOne doesnтАЩt wish to be hurried. By Saint
Augustine! Frankincense!тАЭ
The aroma pervaded the room above that of the lamps.
тАЬAnd more of the like yonder,тАЭ Cormac told him. тАЬSpices, gums, jewels, and rolls of silk still dry in their
covers. Our finest haul yet, so let us be having no more natter of how bad is trade nowadays. Your hands do
betrayal on ye, man. ItтАЩs downright palsied with eagerness they are.тАЭ
тАЬHтАЩm. A splendid haul, yes. Not to be denied, but suchтАФdistinctivenessтАФbrings its own problems, good my
sirs. Makes it all but impossible to dispose of, do you see?тАЭ The fingertips of Balsus now massaged his
palm.
Cormac stared back at him, unwinking. His hard boned face looked more sinister than ordinarily. Wulfhere,
no fool, did not try to match that intimidating performance. He simply looked benign, and patient with his
fellow manтАЩs gaucheries.
Into the room and the moment, breaking the tension, came BalsusтАЩs daughter Clodia.
A shrewd, spirited presence she, possessed of redbrown eyes and dense red-brown hair, with hips a-sway
and skirt a-rustle. The tray she bore upheld an ale-jug large as a bucket, and four pewter tankards. Had been
a goodly feat of strength on her part to bring it upstairs, but she knew it would last, in this company, one avid
breath after it was poured.
The healthily-constructed young woman set it down on the table with gusty relief.
тАЬCaptain Wolf!тАЭ
She perched on his knee, took CormacтАЩs face between her hands and kissed him with knowledge and
willingness enough to melt the grimness from his mouth. Nor was Cormac over susceptible. She knew him
from the days when he had led his own crew of reivers from Eirrin, wherefore she and her father called him
тАЬCaptainтАЭ even yet, for courtesyтАЩs sakeтАФa fancy to which Wulfhere was not mean-minded enow to object.
тАЬAnd our walking menhir all shaggy with lichen!тАЭ she added, bussing Wulfhere with equal warmth. тАЬYou need
not tell me. My beloved father has been trying to cheat you again.тАЭ
She poured the heavy brown ale. The three did not so much drink as breathe it in. She poured again, this
time including her father in the round, and that finished the jug. Clodia put it aside.
тАЬGarthтАЭтАФthis was the chucker-outтАФтАЭwill be waddling in like a goose with a keg in his arms. Sausage and
cheese and a roast sucking-pig will come after; the man who ordered it will be desolate to hear that it fell in
the fire, but weтАЩll feed him costless on something elseтАФohh!тАЭ
Her eyes had fallen on the Egyptian sigil. She picked it up with a murmured, тАЬBeautiful,тАЭ and was about to
slip it over her head when Balsus snatched it away. He did more. He struck her fiercely and snarled a curse.
Seeing CormacтАЩs eyes upon him, coldly speculative, he muttered something about тАЬthe jadeтАЩs getting above
herself.тАЭ
The Gael knew well there was more. Balsus AmmianтАЩs daughter had a business head as good as his own,
and better judgment of men. Not only for her services as barmaid did her father have her attend such
meetings as this. No. Something about the pendant itself had aroused his touchy possessiveness. Balsus
must be deeply moved, else heтАЩd conceal it better.
That, Cormac thought, will increase our profit from this night.
He wondered what the baubleтАЩs significance might be.
Clodia had retreated to Wulfhere for comfort, which he charitably provided with a hand up her skirt. Her tears
quickly dried, she fussed and wriggled and slapped him lightly without making aught of real efforts to get
away; she did glance sidewise to see the effect of this byplay on Cormac. He was paying not the least
attention; no care on him if Wulfhere were to set her astride his lap and go him to work in earnest.
The edge removed from his thirst, Cormac poured down his ale at a slower rate. His custom was not to touch
wine until business was settled, and until they had food in them, their trading would not even be discussed.
But there was news to be had that did not bear directly upon business, and Cormac had always an ear for
news.
Balsus dropped the winged serpent on the table beside the casket.