"Tamora Pierce - Circle Opens 1 - Magic Steps" - читать интересную книгу автора (Pierce Tamora)

they had. done all they could to strengthen his heart and veins, he was vulnera ble
to another attack, A second one might well kill him; a third definitely would.

He managed, without a meddling fourteen-year-old for years, one voice said in her
mind.

He was younger then, argued a second.

Sandry growled with impatience—she had been, listening to this internal argument
for weeks—and flung her hands wide. The heavy draperies on the windows flew
apart to bare expensive glass panes. The thick gold ropes that held the curtains
open wrapped around the lengths of cloth and tied themselves, then let their tas
seled ends dangle neatly.

Getting her worries under control, Sandry followed her uncle to the main door. It
was open already, offering a view of the stone courtyard, a score of burning
torches, and a squad of the Duke's Guardsmen and their horses.
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 Tamora Pierce-BOOK ONE OF THE CIRCLE OPENS QUARTET: magic steps - Kurr




Duke Vedris waited for her to reach him and offered his arm. His dark eyes
searched her face intently. "Did I say anything to distress you, my dear?" he asked
quietly.

Sandry shook her head and made herself smile. "The only thing that distresses me
is the thought that you got up early this morning to read papers," she informed
him. "You're supposed to rest, Uncle!" As they walked down the stair to their
mounts, she thought, And what will Lark say if I stay with him?

* * *

"Pasco. Pasco, wake up."' He rolled over and moaned. A hand grabbed his
shoulder. "Pasco, you chuff, get ting up was your idea. Now do it—I want to go to
bed." Pasco Acalon sat up, blinking. His sister Halmaedy knelt by the bed, her
dark eyes amused. She was still dressed for the watch that had just ended, the
brown leather of her jerkin stark against her dark blue shirt and breeches.

Pasco rubbed his face, ordering his traitorous body to move. " 'S a disgusting hour
to be about," he grumbled.

"No arguments here. What's the deal, anyway?"

Pasco swung his legs out from under the blanket and leaned against his oldest
sister. Their long, amber- skinned faces labeled them as kin: the same winged
black brows over ebony-colored, eyes, noses a little too short, and. straight mouths
a little too wi de. At twelve Pasco was just starting to get his growth, his thin body
coltish as he wrestled with arms and legs that tended to go every which way.