"Janrae Frank - Journey of Sacred King 2 - Sins of the Mother" - читать интересную книгу автора (Frank Janrae)

–Old Waejontori proverb.


CHAPTER ONE
HOMECOMING
Every morning before opening the tavern master inspected the place, starting with
the common room and bar where most of their business was done. Becca, a
bosomy woman with a tiny waist and boyish hips, standing just half past five feet
tall, strictly maintained the high standards that were responsible for the Cock and
Boar's growing reputation. A triangle of black silk scarf held her chestnut hair back.
A narrow sleeved, wide-cuffed scarlet shirt covered her high ample breasts, tucked
into the wide waistband of black trousers that fit tight in the seat and loose in the
legs, ending in a pair of practical low-heeled black boots. Her hips swayed
coquettishly when she moved, more out of habit than advertising though she had
done a fair bit of that in less prosperous times, turning tricks to make ends meet.
Until late last summer she had worn dresses like the rest of the women in
Vorgensburg, but after getting into an "anything you can do, I can do better" match
with one of the two female owners of the Cock and Boar, which involved unloading
a wagon load of supplies, she had been forced to admit the practicality of pants,
bought her first pair and discovered she liked them. Now there were no dresses in
her entire wardrobe. Giving away her dresses, many of them beautiful and expensive
– purchased since the upturn in her fortunes – had brought an odd pleasure: For
much of her life she had been the recipient of hand-me-downs, now, for the first time
in her life, Becca had done the handing, taking them down to the poor quarter and it
felt good. She would have given them to the household servants, but the majority of
them had followed her into pants as a way of setting themselves apart as members of
Aejys Rowan's household.

Zacham, the scullery boy, his wealth of shiny black hair tousled and mixed with
straw from sleeping in the stable loft, shoved a push-broom with a handle that was
longer than he was tall through the common room past Becca. The tables and chairs
stood stacked in the corners to allow this daily cleaning. One of the adults would
come through later with a mop, which Zacham was not yet strong enough to
manage. The Cock and Boar, the cleanest establishment near the wharves, attracted
as many traders and mid-level merchants as they did sailors, which had not always
been the case; it had only been since Aejys Rowan and Tagalong Smith purchased it
that the Cock and Boar stopped being a cheap dive and became a first rate tavern.
And, since last spring, when Aejys lured away the Duke of Beltria's best pastry chef,
it had begun to get the occasional wealthy merchant and guild master with a sweet
tooth.

Becca nodded at Zacham, appraising his efforts and finding them adequate. He
flashed her a grin, then ducked his head in the self-conscious way some children had
simply because he did not know what else to do. She had just started toward the
kitchens, the Cock and Boar would be opening for breakfast soon and the regulars
would be pounding on the doors if she did not get them open on time, when a flash
of blue light erupted in front of her, stopping her in her tracks.

"What in Nine Hells!" Her hand dropped to her pocket where the ends of a sling