"Lawrence Watt-Evans - Ethshar 7 - Night of Madness" - читать интересную книгу автора (Watt-Evans Lawrence)

wandering about the building, accomplishing nothing but the annoyance of other clerks.

Hanner wound his way through a maze of passages and antechambers and two flights of stairs before
arriving, finally, at Lord Faran's apartments-the apartments Hanner and his two sisters had shared with
their uncle since their mother's death two years before. He paused at the door to catch his breath, then
straightened his silk-trimmed tunic, opened the door, and stepped into Lord Faran's sitting room.

His uncle was standing there, resplendent in a fine cloak of dark green velvet that hardly seemed
appropriate to the season, while Hanner's sister Lady Alris, wearing a faded blue tunic and
dark-patterned skirt, sat in the window seat, ignoring the beautiful weather beyond the glass as she
glowered at Hanner and Faran. Their other sister, Lady Nerra, was not in sight.

Lord Faran's cloak was clearly for appearance, not warmth. Faran was, as always, elegant and graceful;
and as always, Hanner was reminded of his own shorter stature and heavier build. He was not, he
frequently told himself, actuallyfat, but he was definitely well rounded-quite unlike his trim, handsome
uncle. Hanner had taken after his long-vanished father's side of the family.

Lord Faran spoke before Hanner could. "Ah, Hanner," he said. "I have a dinner engagement, so I can't
spare more than a moment just now, but I must know if you learned anything important."

"I noticed that the canal stinks," Hanner blurted.

Faran smiled wryly. "I'll see to it before I leave," he said. "Anything else?"

"Not really," Hanner admitted. "I interviewed almost a dozen magicians, and none of them reported any
threats or abuse from the Wizards' Guild."

"You asked Mother Perr├йa?"
 "I spoke to her and her partner," Hanner said. "She insisted that it was her own decision to limit herself
to witchcraft and not accept her father's post as magistrate. The Guild's rules had nothing to do with it."

"Either that or she was sufficiently terrified that even now she won't speak of it," Faran said, frowning.

"She didn't appear at all nervous," Hanner said.

"You'll have to tell me more later," Faran said. "If I'm to chastise Lord Clurim for the state of the canal
and still reach my destination in time, I can't spare another second here."

"What's her name?" Hanner asked, smiling as he stepped aside.

"Isia, I think," Faran replied, his frown vanishing. Then he swirled past Hanner and was gone.

Hanner listened to the footsteps retreating down the hallway for a moment before closing the door. Then
he turned to Alris.

"He's off again," Alris said before Hanner could speak. "As usual. He spends more nights away than he
does here."

Hanner knew that was, at most, only a slight exaggeration. "It's not our business if he does," he said.