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

tumbled over her face like a veil, so that Mavrsal could not read
the emotions etched there. In the hollow of the cloak's parted
folds, her breasts trembled with the quick pounding of her heart.
Sighing, he drained the last of the wine into his mug and
pushed the pewter vessel toward the girl. There was another
bottle in his cupboard; rising, fie drew it out along with another
cup. She was carefully sipping from the proffered mug when he
resumed his place.
"Look, what's your name?" he asked her.
She paused so tensely before replying, "Dessylyn."
The name meant nothing to Mavrsal, although as the tension
waxed and receded from her bearing, he understood that she had
been concerned that her name would bring recognition.
Mavrsal smoothed his close-trimmed brown beard. There was
a rough-and-ready toughness about his face that belied the fact
that he had not quite reached thirty years, and women liked to
tell him his rugged features were handsome. His left earтАФbadly
scarred in a tavern brawlтАФgave him some concern, but it lay
hidden beneath the unruly mass of his hair. "Well, Dessylyn," he
grinned. "My name's Mavrsal, and this is my ship. And if you're
worried about finding a place, you can spend the night here."
There was dread in her face. "I can't."
Mavrsal frowned, thinking he had been snubbed, and started to
make an angry retort.
"I dare not... stay here too long," Dessylyn interposed, fear
glowing in her eyes.
Mavrsal made an exasperated grimace. "Girl, you sneaked
aboard my ship like a thief, but I'm inclined to forget your
trespassing. Now, my cabin's cozy, girls tell me I'm a pleasant
companion, and I'm generous with my coin. So why wander off
into the night, where in the first filthy alley some pox-ridden
drunk is going to take for free what I'm willing to pay for?"
"You don't understand!"
"Very plainly I don't." He watched her fidget with the pewter
mug for a moment, then added pointedly, "Besides, you can hide
here."
"By the gods! I wish I could!" she cried out. "If only I could
hide from him!"
Brows knit in puzzlement, Mavrsal listened to the strangled
sobs that rose muffled through the tousled auburn mane. He had
not expected so unsettling a response to his probe. Thinking that
every effort to penetrate the mystery surrounding Dessylyn only
left him further in the dark, he measured out another portion of
wineтАФand wondered if he should apologize for something.
"I suppose that's why I did it," she was mumbling. "I was able
to slip away for a short while. So I walked along the shore, and I
saw all the ships poised for flight along the harbor, and I thought
how wonderful to be free like that! To step on board some
strange ship, and to sail into the night to some unknown
landтАФwhere he could never find me! To be free! Oh, I knew I