"Bud Sparhawk - Magic's Price" - читать интересную книгу автора (Sparhawk Bud)

Jacob reached out to touch his father's hand. “Sit down, Dad. I ... I need to talk to you about what I
said to Tash Pallas. I was just bragging, trying to impress her. You know. I didn't mean any harm.”

His father smiled. “I know how it is,” he said quietly. “Good looking girl, that, for all her strangeness.”
He paused, “Ah, what did you say?”
 “Didn't Arthur Thomas tell you? I thought that's what the two of you were talking about.” Then he
couldn't hold back and poured out the whole story; all the stupid idiotic things he had said, all of the
rambling dreams he had blurted out, all of the boastful statements that made her think him unfit for the
tinker's trade.

His father said nothing for a long time. A strange, bemused smile continued to play across his face.
“Sounds to me like the act of a boy that's a bit smitten,” he said at last. “Listen, trying to impress a pretty
girl isn't a sin, Jacob. Done more than a bit of that in my own time,” He flashed a quick, embarrassed
grin. “Just like you, I regretted it after, but that's normal. Wouldn't worry about it if I were you.”

Jacob was beside himself. He couldn't understand why Arthur Thomas had failed to deliver the bad
news. Hadn't Tash told him of his prideful boast?

“Arthur Thomas did mention you,” his father drawled. “Said he'd like to talk to you a bit more about the
test—find out what it is that you really want to do.”

Jacob was startled. A test? He hadn't taken any sort of test. All he'd done was talk to Tash. He thought
hard, could that string of words she threw at him have been a test? If so, it was the strangest test he'd
ever taken, one in which he'd given no answers at all.

Maybe Tash had been able to read the expressions on his face to see how he reacted to her words. No,
that couldn't be, her eyes had remained closed the whole time. Besides, what could she possibly have
learned from his dumfounded look of total incomprehension and confusion?

“When does he want to see me?”

“Tomorrow, after he finishes meddling with the tower. Says to stay away, doesn't want us at risk, but I
think it's just an excuse to keep us from learning what he's up to.” His father stood up. “Well, time I got
some sleep. Damn magicians making too much extra work for all of us.”

Jacob felt numb. Things were not as bad as he'd imagined. Tash Pallas’ declaration seemed of little
consequence to his father and the old magician wanted to speak to him, alone. It was more than he could
comprehend. He had expected far worse.

“In the morning you'll have to haul snow,” his father continued. “With three more drawing on the cistern
we'll soon run a bit short.”

Jacob nodded. The hard work involved with hauling clean snow to the cistern was the furthest thing from
his mind at the moment. He had been granted a reprieve and that was enough. He followed his father
back to the house with the glowing ember of hope in his heart.

The magician wanted to talk to him.
****

Jacob dumped another cubic meter of snow, which would produce less than a liter of water, into the