"Pierce, Tamora - The Circle Opens 01 - Magic Steps" - читать интересную книгу автора (Pierce Tamora)

"Murder at Rokat House," Pasco murmured. "That's got a jagged edge to it." How
would Papa look into it? he wondered. Who might have done such a crime? There
were all kinds of possibilities, as he knew from listening to the harriers in
the family talk about their work. There were all sorts of angles to consider.
"How so?" asked Sandry. She needed to decide what she could do about the boy
right at this moment and what she could put off to another, more convenient
time.
"Only that Rokat House is the biggest importer of myrrh around the Pebbled Sea,"
Pasco explained, thinking aloud. Working it out as he'd been taught, he briefly
forgot her nobility and her prettiness. "They're from Bihan, but they've houses
in every big port. That's serious coin, and headaches for the harriersЧ,"
"Harriers?" she interrupted. "What does that mean?"
"Provost's Guards are called harriers," he told her, still trying to remember
his lessons on crime. "For the brown leather and the blue shirts they wear. Folk
say it's a bit like some harrier hawks. And the watch-houses, in each district,
they're called coops."
Sandry nodded, to show her understanding. This was an aspect of town life that
she had never considered.
"Anyway, they got to get right to the case and catch who done Jamar. Killed him,
that is. The other Rokats here in Summersea'll be on his grace like pods on peas
till the murderers gathered up. Begging your ladyship's pardon." He yawned, and
excused himself again. "Not that you need worry. Like as not, they'll have the
killer in a cat's whisker."
Sandry looked at him, amused. "You sound very sure of that."
Pasco shrugged. "Mostways, a murderers known to the one they killedЧthat's what
my kinfolk say. Family, a friend. It's easy enough to track 'em down."
"So are you going to take up provost's work, too?" Sandry inquired.
The boy grimaced. "Both sides of my family are in it. It's not like I have a
choice."
"If you were a mage, you'd have a choice," Sandry remarked slyly. If she could
make learning magic attractive to himЕ
Pasco shook his head, his face set. "Lady, you don't know my family. The only
kind of mage they'd want me to be is a harrier-mage, one that tracks blood back
to the one that shed it. One that can lay a truth-spell on folk I never heard of
no harrier mages dancing what they do. I never heard of no dancing mages,
either, not ever"
Sandry fidgeted. She had to catch up to her uncle. Before she could do that, she
had to make this boy understand what had happened to him and his need for study.
He didn't seem very convinced. If she could prove he was a mage, though, he
would have to give in. "Make a bargain with me," she suggested.
"A bargain for what?" he asked warily.
"I'll meet you here, tonight, when the boats come in," she said. "If their catch
is better than it's been in the last month or so, will you agree to talk some
more about magic?"
He shook his head. "And I'm telling you, lady, you're plain mistook. I've got no
magic."
Sandry frowned. "You say the word like it's a disease."
He bowed. "Beg pardon, lady. I meant no disrespect."
"Have we a bargain? We'll meet here tonight, and we'll see who has the right of
it." If he'd had any training, he would have felt her magic hooking into his.