"Patricia C. Wrede - Magician 1 - Mairelon the Magicia" - читать интересную книгу автора (Wrede Patricia C)

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Unconsciously she flexed her fingers, making the bag rus-
tle. Five pounds would buy a lot more than chestnuts. The
skinny toff hadn't asked her to nick anything, she reminded
herself, just to look around and tell him what she saw and
whether the magician kept a particular bowl in his wagon.
The toff had claimed it was a bet- He might even be telling
the truth; swells'd bet on anything.

She stepped aside to let an oyster-seller push his barrow
past. It didn't feel right. The gentry cove had been too keen
on her finding that bowl. He'd gotten positively excited when
he started describing itтАФsilver, he'd said, with a lot of carv-
ings and patterns whose details Kirn had seen no reason to
bother remembering,

Kirn frowned. Curiosity was her besetting weakness. And
five pounds was five pounds- it wasn't as if she'd be doing any
harm. She finished the last of the chestnuts and stuffed the
bag into one of her many pockets, in case she found a use for
it later. She'd do it just the way the toff had asked: go in,
look around, and slip out- Mairelon would never know any-
one had been there.

And if she did happen to find that bowl, maybe she'd see
what was so special about it. But she wouldn't mention it to
die skinny toff. She'd collect her money and leave- She might
even come back and warn Mairelon about the swell that was
showing so much interest. Market folk should stick together,
after all- She smiled to herself; that'd serve the skinny toff a
bit of his own soup! Whistling cheerfully, she strolled off to
see if the puppet show was still stopping at the far end of the
market.

Evening found her lurking near Mairelon's wagon once
more. This time she stood in the shadows next to Jamie's
stall, leaning on one of its support posts- As the crowd grew
larger, she let herself be pushed back until the open rear door
of the wagon, which formed one side of Mairelon's stage, all
but hid the performance from her sight.

Mairelon was as good as his word. He did not, as far as
Kirn could tell, repeat any of the tricks he had used in his
earlier performance. This time, he made three unbroken silver
rings pass through each other, locking and interlocking them
in intricate patterns- He bought an apple from a passing
vendor and cut it open to reveal a shilling at its core- The