"Dave Luckett - The Girl The Dragon And The Wild Magic" - читать интересную книгу автора (Luckett Dave)

"Just the new fire ward. It... won't work."
Rhianna knew what a fire ward was. It was a spell to stop fires. Her father needed one, because the
smithy had a fire going all the time, and there were houses all around. An accident might mean a bad fire.

Meg dished up peas. "I didn't know you needed a new one. Didn't you renew it just last month?" she
asked.

Loys nodded. "Yes, I did. And it's failed already. I got Spellwright in to make it again, and he said he
couldn't get it to work. He thinks the spot where I built the smithy is cursed. There's no magic there to
make the spell, he said. It won't work, anyway."

Meg put down her spoon. "Won't work? That's not right. Spells have to work. If you make them
properly, that is. Perhaps you--"

Loys shook his head. "Look, all I can tell you is what Spellwright told me. I'm no magician. He said
there's no magic in that spot, and if I want the smithy insured against fire, I'll have to move it. I can't
afford to move it, and I can't afford the risk of not having a fire-ward spell. I don't know what to do
about it."

No magic there at all? Rhianna stared at her parents. Loys looked at his plate, glum and silent, and Meg
watched him in turn, for what seemed like a long time.

Then Meg seemed to shake herself. She dipped into her pocket and pulled out the letter. The paper tore
across as she brought it out.

Loys glanced at it. "What's that?" he asked.

"It is... well, it used to be... a letter from Mrs. Greenapple. Saying that Rhianna is doing very badly at
school, and warning..."

Loys took the paper from her. He held it in two fingers, and it tore under its own weight. "It came home
like this?" he asked. "Brown, tatty, falling apart?"

"Yes. Strange, isn't it? As if the writing spell was... was...

"Failing." They sat in silence around the table, and the silence echoed back at them.

Then Loys nodded, as if to himself. "Spellwright says he's asked for a wizard to come out from the
Queen's own court. All the way from Avalon. Something has to be done, he says. Too many spells have
failed lately. It doesn't bother me much, except for this fire ward, but everyone else is suffering."

That was all he said for the rest of dinner. Afterward, Rhianna excused herself and went back to her
room to work on her books again. It was just as it had been before. The spells skittered around in her
head like a flock of chickens, hard to tell apart, always just a little out of reach, struggling and wriggling
even when she caught one.

At bedtime her mother came in to say good night, as usual. A little line came and went on her forehead,
smoothing out when she thought of it, returning after a moment.

"Time for bed, Rhianna," she said. "You've done as much as you can tonight."