"(ebook) Anthony Piers - Xanth 07 - Dragon on a Pedestal" - читать интересную книгу автора (Anthony Piers)

They crossed the moat, using the warped wooden draw-
bridge. Irene couldn't help glancing down into the green fluid
coated by slime and wrinkling her nose against the terrible
smell. No enemy in his right mind would storm this sewer!

A zombie water monster lifted its largely defunct head, but
did not bother them; it was used to the frequent passages of
the lively twins. Such a creature would not be very good for
real defense because it had lost most of its teeth, but naturally
it would not be polite for a visitor to remark on that. Zombie
monsters, like husbands, required careful management.

The interior of the castle was quite different, for this was
where Millie the Ghost held sway. The stone floor was clean,
and pleasant draperies covered the walls. The zombie centaur
did not go inside, and no other zombies were in evidence.

Millie stepped forward to welcome them. She was dressed
in a soft pink gown that fitted her very well. She had been in
her teens for eight hundred years, as a ghost in Castle Roogna,
but since then had had another twenty-nine years of real life,
just about tripling her mortal age. She had been an amazingly
supple creature, as Irene well remembered, and Irene had al-

Dragon on a Pedestal 5

ways been secretly jealous of that. But now Millie was plump-
ing out in the manner of a pampered housewife.

She still had her magic talent, though; Irene could tell by
the way Dor reacted. She felt a stronger tinge of jealousy.
Millie had been Dor's first love, in a fashion, for she had been
his governess while his parents were away for extended periods.
But Millie affected every man that wayЧand Millie's own
love was only for her husband the Zombie Master. So Irene's
jealousy was mainly a perfunctory thing, and she controlled it
rigorously. She had come to know Millie better in adult life,
and liked her personally. Millie was really very sweet and
permanently innocent. How she managed to be so after bearing
and raising two children was a minor mystery, and Irene was
also a bit jealous of that.

There was a small commotion outside, and the twins dashed
out to get in on the action. In a moment they escorted Amolde
Centaur to the interior. Amolde, no zombie, was much older
than Chet and Chem and showed it; he walked with a certain
stiffness and wore spectacles, and parts of his hide were turning
gray. He was a Magician, which magic had gotten him banished
from his original home on Centaur Isle, but his talent did not
manifest in Xanth itself. He was also highly educated and