"Karl Edward Wagner - Undertow" - читать интересную книгу автора (Wagner Karl Edward)

"Inside." Mavrsal gestured with his cutlass to the lighted
cabin.
"I wasn't doing anything," she protested.
"Looking for something to steal."
"I'm not a thief,"
"We'll talk inside." He nudged her forward, and sullenly she
complied.
Following her through the door, Mavrsal locked it behind him
and replaced the lantern. Returning the cutlass to its scabbard, he
dropped back into his chair and contemplated his discovery.
"I'm no thief," she repeated, fidgeting with the fastenings of
her cloak.
No, he decided, she probably wasn'tтАФnot that there was much
aboard a decrepit caravel like the Tuab to attract a thief. But why
had she crept aboard? She was a harlot, he assumedтАФwhat other
business drew a girl of her beauty alone into the night of
Carsultyal's waterfront? And she was beautiful, he noted with
growing surprise. A tangle of loosely bound red hair fell over her
shoulders and framed a face whose pale-skinned classic beauty
was enhanced rather than flawed by a dust of freckles across her
thin-bridged nose. Eyes of startling green gazed at him with a
defiance that seemed somehow haunted. She was tall, willowy.
Before she settled the dark cloak about her shoulders, he had
noted the high, conical breasts and softly rounded figure beneath
the clinging gown of green silk. An emerald of good quality
graced her hand, and about her neck she wore a wide collar of
dark leather and red silk from which glinted a larger emerald.
No, thought MavrsalтАФagain revising his judgmentтАФshe was
too lovely, lieu garments too costly, for the quality of street tart
who plied these waters. His bewilderment deepened. "Why were
you on board, then?" he demanded in a manner less abrupt.
Her eyes darted about the cabin. "I don't know," she returned.
Mavrsal grunted in vexation. "Were you trying to stow
away?"
She responded with a small shrug. "I suppose so."
The sea captain gave a snort and drew his stocky frame erect.
"Then you're a damn foolтАФor must think I'm one! Stow away on
a battered old warrior like the Tuab, when there's plainly no
cargo to put to sea, and any eye can see the damn ship's being
refitted! Why, that ring you're wearing would book passage to
any port you'd care to see, and on a first-class vessel! And to
wander these streets at this hour! Well, maybe that's your
business, and maybe you aren't careful of your trade, but there's
scum along, these waterfront dives that would slit a wench's
throat as soon as pay her! Vaul! I've been in port three days and
four nights, and already I've heard talk of enough depraved
murders of pretty girls like you toтАФ"
"Will you stop it!" she hissed in a tight voice. Slumping into the
cabin's one other chair, she propped her elbows onto the rough
table and jammed her fists against her forehead. Russet tresses