Читать книгу Fain The Sorcerer - Steve Aylett - Страница 6

In which Fain provokes the crew

In the middle of the Purge Sea it became clear that the crew hated Fain. He had dressed himself in a silk shirt and some baggy Turkish pantaloons, though he kept his coat on for warmth and for the production of the crew’s wages. He had to haul hundreds of gold pieces from his pockets every morning to keep the monstrous sailors sweet, but the sheer accumulated weight of this bounty soon had the ship riding low in the water. ‘Women are bad luck,’ said the crew, looking at the Princess, ‘as are men who dress like women,’ they added, looking at Fain. They sneered that Fain’s magic was weak compared to that of the mighty Thorn, and complained that they had nothing to eat but fish. Fain warned them to stand back and, announcing that he would give them abundant food by sorcery, conjured hundreds of sardines from thin air. Roaring with indignation, the crew threw him overboard.

Though Fain could swim, he realised that he was sinking like a stone, weighed down by the gold in his pockets. He jettisoned handful after handful of gold but the pockets continually re-filled as he descended through the dark brine. ‘Though it’s extremely useful in a thousand other situations,’ he reminded himself pragmatically as he fell into unconsciousness.

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