"Katherine Kerr - Deverry 10 - The Black Raven" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kerr Katherine)

and sob. Involuntarily Verrarc shuddered in disgust. It looked up, saw him,
and disappeared. Locked in her chant, Raena never noticed either of them.
Slowly, silently, Verrarc made his way out of the ruins. The air outside had
never smelled so sweet, despite its biting cold, and he realized that he had
felt close to vomiting, watching Raena plead with her spirits. For some while
he stood among the tangled blocks of stone and looked down at the mists rising
from the warm lake, Why was he waiting for her, he wondered? She would find
her own way home easily enough. With a shrug he picked his way back to the
path. By the time he got back to the house, he was tired enough to go back to
bed, and this time he slept through till morning.
When he woke, Raena lay next to him, curled up on her side and breathing
softly. Around the shutters a gleam of grey light announced dawn. In her sleep
she smiled, a curve of her mouth that seemed to hint of secrets. He left their
bed without waking her, and when some while later she joined him for
breakfast, he said nothing about the night just past.
Dressed in green she sat down across from him at the little table near the
fire. For a while they ate porridge in silence.
'My love?' Raena said at last. 'Is it that you must be about council business
this afternoon?'
'It's not, truly, unless some sort of messenger does come from the Chief
Speaker.'
'That gladdens my heart.'
'Indeed? Why?'
She shrugged, ate a few more mouthfuls, then laid her spoon down in the bowl.
'I did wish to walk about the town, tis all,' Raena said, 'and I fear to do it
alone. The citizens, they do stare at me so, and I know they do whisper about
me, too, behind my back.'
"Well, curse them all! One day soon, Rae, I do promise you, you'll be my wife,
and none will dare say one word.'
'But till then -'
'True spoken. It would do me good to get out of this house, too. Well have our
stroll.'
In winter air Loc Vaedd steamed. From Citadel, the town below round its shore
lay hidden in white mists. On the public plaza that graced the peak of the
island, the cobbles lay slick and treacherous. Bundled in their winter cloaks,
Verrarc and Raena walked slowly, side by side. In the brief daylight a number
of other people were about, mostly servants of the wealthy and important souls
who lived on Citadel. Some hurried past with buckets of water, drawn from the
public well across from the Council House; others had been down in town,
judging from the market baskets and bundles they carried.
About halfway through their slow circuit, however, they met Chief Speaker
Admi, waddling along wrapped in a streaky scarlet cloak much like Verrarc's
own - a mark of their position on the town council. Admi bobbed his head in
Raena's direction with a pleasant enough smile, but when he spoke, he spoke
only to Verrarc.
'And a good morrow to you, Councilman,' Admi said. 'There be luck upon me this
morn, to meet up with you like this.'
'Indeed?' Verrarc said. 'Here, if you wish to speak with me, you be most
welcome at my house.'
'Ah well, my thanks, but truly, just a word with you will do. I did speak last