"Barbara Hambly - Sun Wolf 2 - Witches of Wenshar" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hambly Barbara)

reaction of most of the people in the fortress.
Nanciormis waved a deprecating hand, chubby but strong with its
ancient rings of worn gold. "Oh, I'll admit the woman has
magic-perhaps some of those poor fools who follow her do as well.
But why pursue it? What can it buy you that money cannot? It's been a
hundred and fifty years since the old city of Wenshar in the desert was
destroyed because of the witcheries practiced there, but, believe me,
the local feeling toward it hasn't changed."
 Sun Wolf cocked his head a little, remembering the way the girl in
the inn had made the sign against evil. But she's a witch, she had said.
"Why is that?" he asked. "What happened in Wenshar?"
The doors of the solar opened, and Tazey emerged without her
governess, looking anxious and preoccupied. Nanciormis glanced at
the dark doorway behind her and said softly, "Least said of that is best.
Have you paid for rooms in town, Captain? Osgard will want to see
you in the morning, I'm sure. We can offer you bunks in the Men's Hall
... " He gestured toward a wide arched door halfway down the Hall. "
... and the Women's." His nod took in the narrow entrance beyond the
hearth. "Or if you choose, we can give you a cell to share down near
the stable courts, in the empty quarter of the fortress. It's mostly old
workshops, kitchens, and barracks, but the closer rooms still have
roofs and they're shuttered against storms, should one rise in the night."
Sun Wolf recognized by the inquiring gleam in the commander's
eye that the offer was prompted as much by curiosity as by hospitality;
he said, "We'll take the room out by the stables," and saw the big man
nod to himself, as if he'd satisfied in his mind the relationship between
the two partners and how he must deal with them.
From the solar door, the Bishop Galdron emerged, looking
fastidious and disapproving; behind him came Kaletha, the gold
lamplight deepening the lines of tiredness and disapproval on her
fine-boned face, showing up her age, which the Wolf guessed at a year
one side or the other of thirty. Anshebbeth fussed at her heels, as if
Kaletha's comfort, not Tazey's, was her primary concern. But Tazey,
standing near her uncle Nanciormis' chair, said nothing-evidently she
understood her governess' discipleship. From across the room, the two
other disciples hurried toward their teacher's side, only the novice
keeping his watchful distance.
Pointedly ignoring Sun Wolf, the little group made for the doors.
Sun Wolf sighed. He had wanted to put this off until they were not
in public, but his sense of timing warned him that to do so would only
make the situation worse. There were some things which had to be
done at the first available opportunity. He got to his feet and said,
"Lady Kaletha."
 Her step wavered. She was debating, he thought, whether to
make him call out to her and follow her. If she does, he thought grimly,
with a momentary vision of shaking her until her pearly teeth rattled ...
Then he let it go. Whatever she had, it was what he desperately
needed. He would have to ask for it, in whatever fashion she dictated.
Stubborn, cake-mouthed female ...
Kaletha took another step, then seemed to change her mind, and