"Maria V. Snyder - Poison 1 - Poison Study" - читать интересную книгу автора (Snyder Maria V)

тАЬIтАЩm not sure where my room is.тАЭ

Valek spoke as if talking to a slow-witted child. тАЬAsk the first housekeeper or kitchen maid you find,
theyтАЩre always scurrying about this time of day. Tell her youтАЩre in the west servant wing, ground floor.
SheтАЩll show you.тАЭ

The kitchen maid I snared into helping me was more talkative than Margg and I took full advantage of
her good nature. She guided me to the laundry room to obtain some linens for my bed. Then I had her
show me the way to the baths and the seamstressтАЩs work area. DilanaтАЩs piles of uniforms might come in
handy someday.

In my room, I opened the shutters to let in the fading light from the setting sun. Sitting down at my desk, I
wrote exhaustive notes on what I had learned that day, including a rough map of the servantsтАЩ corridors. I
considered more exploration of the castle, but Valek had been right, I needed my strength. I hoped I
would have time to explore later.

During the next two weeks, the training proceeded in a manner so similar to the first day that I lapsed into
a routine, arriving at ValekтАЩs every morning to train. After fourteen days of sniffing poisons, I found that
my sense of smell had heightened. But then Valek announced I was strong enough to begin tasting
poisons.

тАЬIтАЩll start with the deadliest one,тАЭ he said. тАЬIf you donтАЩt die from it, the other poisons wouldnтАЩt kill you
either. I donтАЩt want to waste all my time training you only to see you die in the end.тАЭ He placed a slender
red bottle on his desk. тАЬItтАЩs nasty. Affects the body immediately.тАЭ ValekтАЩs eyes lit up as he admired the
poison. тАЬItтАЩs called Have a Drink, My Love, or My Love for short because the poison has a history of
being used by disheartened wives.тАЭ He squeezed two drops of the poison into a steaming cup. тАЬA larger
dose would definitely kill you. With a smaller dose, there is a chance youтАЩll survive, but youтАЩll become
delusional, paranoid and completely disoriented for the next few days.тАЭ
тАЬValek, why do I have to taste My Love if it has immediate results? IsnтАЩt that what a food taster is for? I
taste the CommanderтАЩs food. I keel over, dead. End of the tale.тАЭ I tried pacing around the room but kept
tripping over stacks of books. Frustrated, I kicked two piles into their neighbors, scattering books into a
messy heap on the floor. ValekтАЩs gaze pierced me, draining the odd feeling of satisfaction I had gotten
from kicking the books.

тАЬA food tasterтАЩs job is much more complex than that,тАЭ Valek explained, pulling his hair back from his
face. тАЬBeing able to identify which poison taints the CommanderтАЩs food can lead me to the poisoner.тАЭ
Valek handed me the cup. тАЬEven if you only have a split second to shout out My Love before passing
out, it would narrow down the list of suspects. There are a number of assassins who are partial to My
Love. The poison is grown in Sitia, the southern lands. It was easy to obtain before the takeover. With
the closure of the southern border, only a handful of people have enough money to purchase it illegally.тАЭ

Valek went over to the mess on the floor and started restacking the books. His movements were so
graceful that I wondered if he had been a dancer, but his words betrayed to me that his fluid gestures
were those of a trained killer.

тАЬYelena, your job is very important. ThatтАЩs why I spend so much time training you. A shrewd assassin
can watch a taster for several days to discover a pattern.тАЭ Valek continued his lecture from the floor.
тАЬFor example, the taster might always cut a piece of meat from the left side, or never stir the drink. Some
poisons sink to the bottom of the cup. If the taster only sips off the top, then the assassin knows exactly