"Tamora Pierce - Circle Opens 3 - Cold Fire" - читать интересную книгу автора (Pierce Tamora)

sauce back into the pot. A long, smooth, green ribbon flowed neatly
down, without a lump in sight. "But I was sureтАж "
As Daja repaired the necklace and mended cracks in the gilt,
Anyussa drew out smooth spoonful after smooth spoonful. She tasted
the sauce and poured it into a dish: no lumps. When a baker's
apprentice came to argue with Anyussa over a bill, Daja slid over the
bench to sit close to Jory. The girl regarded the bowl with a puzzled
frown.
"You know," Daja said quietly, "if you can find a way to fix that
spell to a powder or liquid, you could sell it. Cooks everywhere will
sing your praises."
Jory blinked at her. She had Nia's large brown eyes and slender
nose, set in a face the color of brown honey, a shade lighter than her
southern mother's. She was lively, smile-mouthed, and a handful тАУ her
twin, Nia, was the quiet one. Her chief beauty (and Nia's) was the
masses of gold-brown crinkled hair that fell to her waist. "What
spell?" she asked Daja.
Daja smiled. "What spell? You unlumped your sauce. I can see
magic тАУ it's no good telling me you didn't spell that pot." She
inspected Jory's face, and frowned. The twins weren't hard to read.
"You didn't know?"
"I don't have magic," Jory insisted. "Papa and Mama had magic-
sniffers at me and Nia when we were two, and again when we were
five. Not a whiff." She grinned at Daja. "Maybe it was a spark. Things
glitter in here all the time."
 Daja got to her feet and draped her coat over her arm. Anyone who
saw magic would glimpse it all around this kitchen. There were runes
to keep out rats and mice, spells in the hearthstones to keep a few
embers alive until someone rebuilt the fires, and a spice cupboard
magically built to keep its expensive, imported contents fresh.
"You would know," Daja said. "If you do figure out what you did,
you should write it down."
"Oh, Anyussa just scraped from the bottom or something," Jory said
airily. "She wants everything perfect тАУ "
"Fire!" someone yelled outside. "Fire in the alley! Fire brigade, turn
out!" Jory fled, Daja assumed to warn her mother and the
housekeeper. The kitchen help streamed outside.
Daja put her coat down and followed them, wondering what "fire
brigade" meant. She was surprised that Anyussa had allowed everyone
to run off to gawk тАУ the woman was fair, but strict. When she reached
the courtyard Daja discovered her mistake in thinking the servants had
come to watch. A line of kitchen helpers stretched between the well
and the alley off the rear courtyard; they passed buckets of water out
the rear gate. Another line of people led from the large pile of sand
kept for use on icy paths. They passed buckets of sand the same way.
Daja followed the full buckets into the alley. The efficient assembly
stretched down its length to the nearby blaze, an abandoned stable
behind Moykep House. Daja viewed it with an intelligent eye, since
fire was mixed into her power. The stable was gone, that was certain.
The closest buildings might be in danger, but it seemed this strange