Wandering Spark - Part 11
Varan did not tell anyone, not even father. He walked from table to table like a jellyfish in deep waters, mixed up shrimps with cottage cheese, and beer with chopsticks, when a smiling gentleman appeared in the doorway, making inquiries about Varan.
From behind the bar immediately appeared his father, shaking his fists like steel sinkers.
The smiling gentleman willingly ran into his suspicious look:
“To you, master, personally to you... We need to talk. Do you have a minute?”
The light came from below, from under the water. Outside, the sun was shining, hammered into a wide cave, like a sweet beer in a gaping mouth. It seeped through the underwater grid: the outlet to the sea was deeply blocked. The owner did not want the old snakes to go for a walk and accidentally fell into someone's greedy mouth.
And the serpents were very, very old. True, it could not be determined by everyone - it was affected by excellent food and careful treatment. Faded dull scales hid under silver plates, under false gems, and the rock made itself felt - both serpentines retained a proud bearing, both glittering with their eyes and inflating their nostrils, so Varan had to overcome some timidity before approaching them for the first time.
"We have a stall here," Nila said. "In a niche - scrapers, brushes, all sorts of things, everything is in perfect order, by the way. I took a scraper - put it back ... That's it. Clean before every departure and at night. To feed - twice a day, in the morning and in the evening, and watch that they do not overeat. When that shit - take a reticule, shit crawl and carefully here, into the basket, so that the water in the stall does not fizzle. And then the basket - up. Do you understand?"
Nila was older than Varana for a year and kept herself as the hostess. Once he saw her at the autumn fair - she was from Maleton, a daughter of a miner and one of the companions of the noble lady, illegitimate, but self-confident and rich. Mother, who shamed her from the shame in the tray, did not forget the Maleton and did not abandon her; she spoiled it with money, then with a sack of sushi, or with a new thing. Nila considered herself a horn, wore a sleeveless shirt in the season, and pants tucked to the knees, embroidered with colored stones, which were unaccounted for on the Maleton, and worked as a rider on the snakes - accompanied the rich and noble guests on a horseback ride through the labyrinth of underwater caves.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Part 10
