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

stayed open through the midday. In the centre of the white plaza, public
fountains gushed and glittered in the cool sunlight. Around them a sea of
brightly-coloured sunshades rippled in the wind over the hundreds of booths.
Close to the fountains lay luxury goods such as silver work and brass ware,
oil lamps, silks, perfumes, jewellery, strangely shaped knives, and decorative
leather work, while the practical vegetable and fish stands stood at the
downwind edge of the market. Here and there a few performers struggled to get
the crowd's attention - inept tumblers, a clumsy juggler, a pair of musicians
who showed talent but needed practice.
'There's nothing here to compete with us,' Marka said. 'Good. And Myleton
knows us. Everyone will come running to see us. Particularly Ebany s act.'
'And so they should,' Keeta said. 'It's spectacular. I'm not prying into his
trade secrets, mind, but you can't help wondering how he gets those effects.
I've never seen him mixing chemicals or anything like that.'
'Do you want to know what's really strange? I don't know how he does it,
either.'
'Really?' Keeta stared for a moment. 'Well, by the Wave Father! Your man's a
tight-lipped fellow, that's for sure. I hope he's at least teaching Kwinto.'
'No, he's not. He keeps saying it's all real magic, just like they have in
Deverry. There's a funny name for it. Dwimmer or something. But Ebany said
Kwinto doesn't have the talent for it. That's why we have him juggling
instead.'
They walked a ways in silence, then paused by the fountains, where clean water
bubbled up into white marble basins.
'I know it sounds like I've gone mad myself,' Marka said at last. Talking of
magic, real magic I mean.'
'Well, yes, but what if it isn't mad? What if your husband's telling the plain
and simple truth? They always say that studying sorcery drives men insane,
don't they?'
'But it can't be true!'
'Why not? The sun rises and sets again on many a strange thing. If Ebany says
he calls fire out of the sky with magic - well, do we have a better
explanation?'
Marka merely shook her head.
'I keep thinking about Jill,' Keeta went on. "You remember her - she was
travelling with Ebany when we first met him, all those years ago now, but I
can still see her in my mind quite clearly. A wandering scholar, she called
herself. Huh. She was a lot more impressive than that.'
'Well, that's true,' Marka said. 'And Ebany was always trying to get her
approval for things, but he was afraid of her, too. I never knew why. Ye gods,
I was so young then! I don't suppose I really cared.'
'Well yes, it was a long time ago, all right. My memory could be playing
tricks on me, but you know, looking back, I really do wonder if Jill was a
sorcerer, and if your husband knew a great deal more about such things than we
would ever have believed.'
Marka could think of nothing to say. The idea made a certain bitter sense.
'Ah well,' Keeta went on. 'After the show tonight, when we know how much coin
we have to spend, I'll come back into town and start asking about the priests.
If one of them can drive out demons, everyone will know about it, and maybe
it's only a demon that's troubling Ebany so.'