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7

Fifth day of the month of the First Thunders

Variable Ka-Yi in the constellation Ma-Keyin

The rule of the lunar day: "Everything that you must do is based on everyday reality, embodied in tangible forms."

"Lotion of star rivers" recalls:

“Ka-Yi follows a course that sets a quivering sensitivity to comings from outside, which we feel with our hearts as clearly as we feel with our skin the hot breath of our beloved. But our existence is carried away by the same echo to the outside world, telling the infinite: “We are one.” A day of nature, wild and domestic, wild and familiar. It is very useful to take time for your household, including animals, possessions, gardens, ponds, and in general all living and non-living inhabitants of nature that occur during the day. A day of filling life with strength and meaning, a day of new beginnings and new responsibilities.

Antrea, the suburb of Holt, the mansion of daneke Tarma Thoris,

first third of the morning watch

Has your morning ever started with a cat? With four furry paws stomping heavily on the bed and pressing strands of your disheveled hair into the pillow? With a meow overflowing with insinuating gloating? Indeed, why not gloat a little, if you know for sure: no matter how agile a slumbering person is, he will still have time to touch his long tail with only his fingertips ...

Have you ever woken up to the gaze of unblinking eyes, round and yellow, like the full moon on those autumn nights when it's so nice to go crazy? Not? Didn't wake up? Then you will not understand the beauty of my awakening today.

- Me-ah-ah-ah-ah!

Almost in the ear, it stinks, you bastard. And why can't he sleep? After all, it was barely dawn... However, in order to establish this fact, I had to slightly part my eyelids, and the fleeting movement of the eyelashes did not go unnoticed: the cat repeated its call even louder.

- He went in-oh-oh-oh-he!

No matter how hard I try, I can’t give my voice the same nasty and annoying intonation, which Mikis easily succeeds, an impudent black beast of six years old, a favorite and an autocratic (albeit illegal) owner of the house, under whose roof I have the good fortune to find myself.

An attempt to deal with the problem by verbal methods was not successful. Yes, you can attribute the failure to the fact that animals do not understand human language. Unless, of course, these animals come from the magic laboratory of some lover of nature and spells ... Crap. They understand everything. And they even know how to read, he was convinced. At least the pictures are different from each other. So, cattle, constantly disturbing my sleep, are able not only to distinguish words and correctly determine their meaning, but also to capture the slightest shades of feeling that accompanies them. And since I tried to drive away the annoying beast without the proper firmness in his voice, he rightly judged that he was on the right track. And continued his dirty work.

- Wow, I said! - Another circle on the pillow almost made me say goodbye to a few curls. - Get out!

The order, coupled with a blind wave of the hand, had an effect, but did not eliminate the cause of my misadventures: the cat jumped out of bed, but did not go far.

- Me-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah! The demand became even more insistent and repulsive to the ear.

I reluctantly opened my eyes.

So early! Yes, even on a legitimate day of rest after a busy and eventful week of work! Shaggy scoundrel... However, no. Shaggy - me: the hand, intending to scratch the back of the head, stumbled upon something that very much resembled a mat. Oh, how everything is running ... What did I do yesterday?

To the delight of the little monster, I sit up on the bed and put my feet on the floor, with the result that my knees are at chest level. No, my legs are not that long. But the bed does not have them. Legs, I mean.

Good bed, wide: after all, a marital bed. And it was presented for the wedding by the bride's loving parents with the wish of "unforgettable nights." Yes. I will never forget how chewed up by wood-boring bugs (judging by their appetite, they have been starving for more than one winter), the legs gave way, and I, along with the frame and feather bed, collapsed to the floor. Ask why not with his wife? Because we sleep separately. In different rooms. And in different parts of the city. But this story is not exactly what you want to resurrect in your memory on a lazy hangover morning. Hangover…

Oh, I remembered! Yesterday I drank. Well, that's right: the next watch has defended, and you can relax! And since relaxation in this way is forbidden to me on work days ... No, I do not abuse it. I don't even like to get drunk. But tell me, what else to do on a cloudy spring evening, when there is no desire to return to an empty house, and weather magicians predicted a thunderstorm all night? Quite right! The most pleasant thing is to look at the light in one of the quiet establishments, where from midnight they pour “only for their own”, and skip a mug or two. Preferably not by the mouth. I did not miss, judging by the reflection in the mirror.

The face is swollen. Ay-yai-yai, at such, one might say, a young age (I’m only in my 40s), and I already can’t stand the extra drink so badly ... It’s a shame. I have more children to raise. More precisely, one. When I do. You need to pull yourself together and, finally, make physical exercise a permanent part of the daily routine. Well, yes, you understood correctly: in order to drink without consequences. At least on the face.

Nothing, in a couple of hours I will be fresh and alert - confirmed by repeated experiments. But something needs to be done with the hair ... Maybe cut it off, and that's it? Look, the neighbors from the Bitter Land generally shave their skulls bald. And there are no difficulties, you don’t even need to wash your hair: rub it with a cloth to a shine, and order!

Reflection in the mirror thoughtfully passed the crest of the fives through the tangled ash-gold tresses.

No, I'll leave it as is. Firstly, in a city where every second one is a sailor (and every first one considers himself to be such, even though he has never been to the sea), they wear only long hair: no shorter than shoulder length. And I'm just a little below the shoulder blades. And secondly... Nais will laugh. So I hear the sarcastic: “Did you decide to shorten your hair, dear dan? Are the insects tortured? Nais is my wife. First and only. And dearly beloved, only she does not suspect about it, and I am in no hurry to inform her ... However, there is also a "third" one. Long hair suits me. Ideally, they should have reached to the heels, but I could not allow such a mockery of myself, and through prolonged tantrums on the verge of decency (and eyewitnesses and participants claim that it is far beyond the limits), I finally achieved permission to look like all normal people. Although in my case it would be more appropriate ... No, not now! And it's so boring.

The reflection in the mirror scratched her chin with her nails.

The bristle began to break through, which means that the vaunted ointment of the court doctor is valid for a week at most. And thanks for that. Shave every day - you won’t wish such torment on your enemy! You can, of course, grow a mustache and a beard, but ... Men with clean-shaven faces are now popular at court. Such a fad. And, as one tipsy maid of honor confessed to me in secret, not all ladies like to kiss with mustachioed-bearded gentlemen. Because the mustache is prickly and often wet, like a brush used to scrub the deck. I'm certainly not a ladies' man...

The reflection in the mirror grinned wickedly.

I give up. Pleasant, pleaser! As far as strength and desire. And if you know in advance about the possible obstacles on the difficult path of seduction, isn't it easier to eliminate them even before they arise? That's it! The seducer from me, however, is not very important, because without the wine heating of the consciousness there is no proper courage, and when I drink ...

So yesterday evening ended in the usual way. Moaning on the topic: "Daneke do not like me." I hope that by that time Savek had already dispersed all random visitors, and the regulars for so many years managed to get used to my “performances”, although at first they took it seriously and even tried to comfort me. For which they received in the face and gave change. Me, of course. And I called for help the furniture and utensils of the Bloody Reef inn, respected in narrow circles of connoisseurs of good drinking, for which the next day I apologized to its owner, confirming my sincere repentance for what I had done with a handful of coins.

So, come on, let's see: the knuckles are not bruised, there are no bruises on the face. So there was no fight. And what's that? Lilac, with yellow edges, an oblong spot on the lower leg. Really... No, it was me who stumbled on the bed frame while falling. Or first stumbled, and then fell? What's the difference? Worse than the other: a strip of lace along the hem of the nightgown is torn off. I'll have to ask Eina to put my sleeping clothes in order. Actually, I wear this spacious dirty trick precisely because of the underage niece of the mistress of the house: daneke Tarma, as soon as she found out that I prefer to sleep in what my mother gave birth to, she set a categorical condition: either I will observe decency, or I will go to look for another place of residence. I, as a person whose laziness and practicality go hand in hand from birth, weighed all the pros and cons and ... I accepted the proposed rules of the game. Truth,

Boom - a push under the knee. Dissatisfied. Well, of course! Do you want to say: he got up, but forgot about me? Forget how! And I would like to...

Hey, where's the water on the floor from? The carpet will ruin it, completely! Strange... The balcony door is closed. Then what is the reason for the origin of the little swamp? And, of course: after the winter, the frame was slightly bent, and a small gap formed, which was completely invisible until ... Until the showers began. I'll have to call a carpenter: either he will change it, or he will cheer me up, but he will cut the lock into another place, otherwise it will flood me. Over the ears.

And what a beautiful weather!

I can not resist and go out to the balcony. What for? Say: "Good morning." To whom? City. To my city. Antreya is a treasure located in the delta of the full-flowing Lavuola.

How beautiful you are, my love! And yesterday, frowning more gloomily than the canopy of bluish clouds, and today, wrapping pale shoulders in the pink haze of dawn ... If there is a place in the world where you would like to be born and die, then this is you, Antrea. Only you.

— Good morning, dear!

Slap.

A foul-smelling, viscous drop hit my nose. Above. I shook my head.

And there is. Zar-raza! You again?!

The pigeon on the roof eaves pretended not to notice me.

Well, I'll get to you! Crossbow, perhaps, to steal from Cyrus? I poke the whole house with arrows, but your filthy carcass ...

- Me-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah!

And you are there too! We talked, didn't we? Okay, let's leave the bird for dessert, but first let's take care of the cat.

Let's go, yes. A cursory examination of the contents of the cellar revealed that the fish, bought for a pet, ordered a long life. In the stomach of this very pet, and, what is most offensive, just yesterday. Because on the kitchen table, pressed down by a bowl, a note of a simple and understandable content was waiting for me: “Dan Raiden, don’t take the trouble to buy Mikis fish before I return.”

Dear Tarma visits her relatives, and on my aching shoulders she hangs the care of a seasoned beast that has been boring me since the morning with its yellow eyes-bowls? Great start to the day. Although ... Something good can be extracted from any trouble. There is a reason to shake on the way to the market and back. Just in time to unload the night's catch. Decided! Just rinse and put on something more suitable for walking around the city than a nightgown. And you, lady of my heart, I will not take. And don't even wink with the glare of the guard! I have a day of rest, and you have a decent weight, besides, it’s reluctant to once again expose your cheeks to the damp kisses of the sea air. And generally speaking…

Well, what can happen to me in the early morning at the fish market?

***

Road to the Lower Port

No, something needs to be done about these half-educated wizards from the Guild! Did they promise a thunderstorm? Wonderful! And who will pick up? Just don’t tell me fairy tales about how a thunderstorm is “a weather phenomenon that has nothing to do with the joint practical exercises of the Water and Air Wings” [5]! I don't believe even if they pay. However, depending on how much they agree to pay ... No, I still won’t believe it. Because I know for sure: all last night and almost all night, magicians tormented the sky with their spells. On the subject of starting the spring exams in the management of the elements. No, the ability to agree amicably with the weather is a good thing, I do not argue. But have they ever seen the consequences of their activities? Suppose the ships in the port and on the roads suffered little: if the sailors were not too lazy, it would take a day, no more, to dry the sails, but the water itself rolls off the deck. But what should the unfortunate townspeople do, in the windows and roofs of whose houses rain streams beat all night long? Or those who have to trudge early in the morning, regardless of the circumstances, through the whole city along the wet pavement?

Ah-ah-ah!

Here is a clear example: he almost slipped on a stone that treacherously exposed its smooth side from the paving stones. The heel slipped off. If it were not for the innate grace and the sense of balance developed by long and hard training, I would certainly measure the depth of the nearest puddle. I’m lying, of course: I kept myself from falling by a miracle, because I didn’t think at all about where to put my foot.

What were you thinking about? About different things.

For example, about how well done I am that I chose the house of the venerable Tarma Toris for living: approximately the same distance goes to all duty stations. However, it is precisely this reason that makes me, gritting my teeth, put up with some whims of the hostess and other household members. And there are these quirks ... A lot. Yes, and I must admit, a guy with oddities. But you never notice a speck in your own eye, right?

The main charm and benefit of a stormy downpour is a cleanly washed city, because not only the face needs to be refreshed with water from time to time. The air just rings with freshness. Raindrops left on the foliage shimmer in the sun. And what smells! There is nothing more pleasant than the bitter aroma of fresh herbs with a subtle note of mirena brushes pouring white. You can spend the whole day in the shade of lush bushes ... Hmm. Perhaps this will have to be done: the sun has been in the sky for an hour or two, and the haze still does not dissipate. It will be a hot day. Quite summer, although there are still three weeks before the onset of real summer. Oh ho ho! I must hurry, otherwise I will bring home already thoroughly rotten fish, which Mikis, of course, will not eat. So, it will be necessary to look for other food ... And again to bother my poor tired legs with walking. To allow such blasphemy? Not, a thousand times no! I'd better speed up now.

Before reaching the Lower Port of a couple of blocks, I turn onto a narrow crooked street, popularly called Zagogulin. How the official city plan in the Royal Library called it, I did not know when I was born, but every local resident answered the question “How to get to the Fish Market?” he will gladly explain: “This is for you, dear dan, you have to go along that fence ... Well, yes, that stone one, where the pieces of iron are stuck on top. And when it's over, don't miss it! - Zagogulin will start immediately to the left. You don’t see that it winds a lot: it will bring it to the market faster than the straightest streets!” What is true is true, by the way: the path along it always turns out to be shorter, although it seems that you are walking a quarter of an hour longer. A mystery with no explanation. Rumor has it that the creator of this strange passage (which parted the houses in some places, and in some places - cut in half) was a magician in a state of light (or maybe not very) drunk, and the reason was the desire of the aforementioned magician to quickly get from one part of the city to another, bypassing crowded places. So he paved the way, but not straight, because at that moment he would not have connected even two points with a straight line, spaced from each other by the width of a palm ... In general, would have met him, would have said “thank you”. sincere.

Speaking of fish: why am I sure that I can find what I need? It was stormy yesterday since lunch, and the fishermen returned early to the port. It remains to be hoped that among them was a daredevil who waited out the storm behind the Amber Chain and delivered a fresh catch early in the morning.