Rage of a Demon King. Raymond E. Feist

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СКАЧАТЬ you didn’t seem to have any problems with that young serving girl later that night.’

      Jimmy smiled. ‘I thought you were asleep.’

      Roo shook his head. ‘I was, but you woke me up. I decided it was less awkward to feign sleep. Besides, I’ve had friends coupling a few feet away before, in camp.’ He glanced at Erik.

      Kitty, who had been standing behind Roo, filling ale tankards, said, ‘Oh?’ in a meaningful tone, then turned and walked away.

      Roo laughed, and so did the others as Erik began to blush. ‘What’s this, then?’ asked Duncan Avery. ‘Something going on between you two?’

      Erik said, ‘Not that I’m aware of.’ He glanced at Kitty’s retreating back. ‘I don’t think so, anyway.’

      ‘Think so?’ said Jadow Shati. ‘Man, there either is or there isn’t. That’s simple enough even for someone as dim as you, and that’s the truth.’

      Erik stood up. ‘I guess. Excuse me.’

      Jadow laughed as Erik followed Kitty. The Sergeant from the Vale of Dreams said, ‘Man, if that boy was any dumber when it comes to women, we’d have to kill him to put him out of his misery.’

      Jimmy glanced at his brother, and Dash said, ‘I don’t know. Kitty’s a strange girl. I think she just … likes having someone solid around.’

      Roo said, ‘Erik’s that.’

      Erik reached the bar and said, ‘Kitty?’

      ‘Yes, Sergeant Major?’ she asked coolly.

      ‘Ah …’ He blushed again. She fixed him with an unwavering glance. ‘I … uh.’

      ‘Spit it out before you choke.’

      ‘What did you mean, at the table?’

      ‘Mean?’ she asked, a skeptical expression on her face. ‘By what?’

      ‘By that “Oh”.’

      ‘Nothing. Just “Oh,” as in “Oh.”’

      Erik suddenly realized he was being made a fool of, and he felt his color rising. ‘You’re making sport of me.’

      She reached across the bar and patted his cheek. ‘It’s so easy to do.’

      ‘What is this?’ he asked, losing any sense of humor in the situation. ‘Are you mad at me?’

      She sighed. ‘I’m just mad at men in general.’

      Erik said, ‘Well, take it out on someone else.’

      Her eyes narrowed. ‘You’ve suddenly got a tender side for a man who’s killed dozens and bedded whores next to his friends.’

      Erik felt flustered. This girl’s attitude was getting under his skin. ‘What would you have of me?’ he asked in exasperation.

      Kitty studied his face a long, silent moment, then said in a low voice, ‘I don’t know.’

      Erik stared at her. The torchlight reflected off a faint sheen of moisture on her upper lip. She was perspiring lightly despite the cool of the evening.

      After a moment, she asked, ‘What do you want?’

      Erik shook his head. ‘I don’t know either, but I … I didn’t like the way things felt when you …’

      ‘Said “Oh”?’ she finished for him.

      Said that way, it sounded so silly Erik had to laugh. ‘Yes, I guess that’s what I mean.’

      ‘Come with me,’ she said. She gestured to one of the other girls that she was leaving, and led Erik through the kitchen, past the cook and his helpers, through a rear door into the courtyard behind the inn.

      For a moment Erik experienced an odd sensation of familiarity; he had grown up in such a yard, with the stable and forge, well and hayloft, behind an inn. There was a wooden bench around the well, used by those too short to pull up the bucket easily, and Kitty went and sat on it, motioning for Erik to sit next to her.

      Erik said, ‘It’s quiet back here.’

      Kitty shrugged. ‘I never noticed. I’m usually too busy.’

      Erik sat and Kitty leaned over and kissed him. He held still an instant, then he returned her kiss. After a long moment, she sat back, looking at him. Finally she said, ‘I’ve never done that before.’

      ‘Kissed a man?’ Erik said, his voice showing his surprise.

      ‘I’m a thief, not a whore,’ she said. ‘I’ve been raped and had men stick their tongues in my mouth, but I’ve never kissed anyone before.’

      Erik’s mouth hung open, and then he shut it. ‘What about Bobby?’ he asked finally.

      She shrugged. ‘What about him?’

      ‘Well, I thought …’ He hesitated. ‘Well, we just assumed you and he …’

      She looked down. ‘I would have, if he’d asked. He was good to me. Better than I deserved, I think. I mean, he treated me roughly that night you caught me, and he threatened to hang me and the like, but mostly he made me laugh. And he kept others from hurting me.’ She pointed to the back of the inn. ‘I’ve got to watch for Mockers, or anyone else nosing around, but what I am now is just a barmaid. That’s not bad, ’cause I won’t whore.’

      She looked down. ‘I would have lain down for Bobby, ’cause he was good to me, but he didn’t love me and I didn’t love him. Not that way.’ She looked at Erik. ‘I don’t think there was anyone he loved, maybe ’cept for Captain Calis.’

      ‘Bobby was devoted to him.’

      ‘I thought for a while he might be one of those men who love other men.’ She made a motion with her hand, as if flipping something over. ‘Not that I care – I’m no follower of Sung the Pure, but you do wonder. Then I heard he was a regular down at the White Wing, so I figure he’s just got it in his head to get his itch scratched by someone who’s …’ She searched for a concept.

      ‘Not special to him?’ Erik supplied.

      ‘Ya,’ she agreed. ‘That’s it. Like if he did it with me or someone else who wasn’t a whore, it might make things … you know, different.’

      Erik nodded that he understood.

      She sighed. ‘Bobby joked and made me laugh. At first I was scared of him, because he said he would kill me if I betrayed the Prince or the Duke, and I saw in his eyes he meant it. But after a while, when folks here treated me right, well, I stopped being afraid.

      ‘I’ve got no place to go, so like it or not, this is my home.’ She was silent awhile, looking at the inn. ‘It’s not a bad life. I know something big’s coming. You can’t work here and not figure out a few things. Soldiers who aren’t bragging on what they’re doing, СКАЧАТЬ