"Lawrence Watt-Evans - Ethshar 2 - With a Single Spell" - читать интересную книгу автора (Watt-Evans Lawrence)

grass. He had not realized that land could be so flat; never before had he
seen any sort of terrain but the gentle hills and graveled beaches of his
homeland.
And when he glimpsed the Great Lighthouse in the distance, even before he
realized its actual size, that did not help at all; the single huge tower
thrusting up from this strange, level world had seemed almost threateningly
out of place. As the ship drew nearer and the palace dome appeared, followed
by the endless expanse of red-tiled roofs, his uncertainty grew steadily. Row
after row of buildings lined the sandy shores, leagues of them, it seemed, as
the ship worked its way up The Channel, past the Outer Towers, past the Outer
Docks, past the Inner Towers, and into Seagate Harbor.
The city even smelled strange; an odd, hot scent reached the ship,
compounded of smoke, fish, and tight-packed humanity as well as other things
he could not identify. No place in the Free Lands had smelled like that.
He stood at the rail, fending pole in his hands, and stared in
dumbfoundment. How could there be enough people in all the world to fill so
many buildings? What did they all do? Where did their food come from, with no
farmland inside the walls?
A fishing boat drifted uncomfortably near, and the next man aft from
Tobas fended it off, then cursed the Telvener roundly for his negligence.
Tobas woke up enough to turn his eyes from the shore to the surrounding water,
but even that was mind-boggling; more shipping was crowded into this one
harbor, he was sure, than could be found in all, the Free Lands of the Coasts
put together.
It was all too much for him, and when the ship was safely docked and the
captain called for all who were going ashore, he remained where he was,
hanging onto the rail and staring at the bustling streets.
A few moments later, the captain -- Tobas had learned two days out that
the captain's name was Istram and the ship's was Golden Gull, but he still
thought of the man simply as "the captain" and the vessel simply as "the ship"
-- came up behind him and asked, without preamble, "Aren't you leaving the
ship?"
Tobas jumped. "Ah... no," he said. "I think I'll stay on, if you don't
mind."
The captain shrugged. "An extra hand is welcome -- if you pull your
weight. You weren't much use with that pole coming into port, and you have yet
to show me any of the magic you claim to know."
"It's all fire magic," Tobas explained defensively, his hand falling to
the hilt of his athame. "What use is that on a ship?" He had settled on this
explanation when taunted by the crew and had gone so far as to use his single
spell to ignite his worst tormentor's bedding to prove his ability.
After that, no one had bothered him, but apparently word had not reached
the captain. "I've been lighting the galley fires, but what else can I do?"
"We don't need a wizard to light fires!" Istram said scornfully.
"I'm not asking for a wizard's pay!" Tobas retorted quickly. The captain
smiled. "Good, because you wouldn't get it. You haven't even earned the boots
we gave you or the food you've eaten. I'm a kind man, though, so if you want
to stay aboard, you may; our next port is Ethshar of the Spices, if you care
to leave us there; after that, it depends on what cargo we can get, probably
we'll head back west."