"Anthony, Piers - Xanth 04 - Centaur Aisle" - читать интересную книгу автора (Anthony Piers)

hand of an anonymous censor blotted out a scene of impending
fascination.

"Dumbo!" Irene exclaimed irately, staring at the still picture on the
wall. "My mother isn't watching us!"

"Got you off my case, though, didn't it?" Dor said smugly. "You want to
make like Millie the Ghost, and you don't have the stuff."

That was a double-barreled insult, for Millie-who had stopped being a
ghost before Dor was born, but retained the identification-was gifted
with magical sex appeal, which she had used to snare one of the few
Magicians of Xanth, the somber Zombie Master. Dor himself had helped
bring that Magician back to life for her, and now they had
three-year-old twins. So Dor was suggesting to Irene that she lacked
sex appeal and womanliness, the very things she was so assiduously
striving for. But it was a hard charge to make stick, because Irene was
really not far off the mark. If he ever forgot she was the palace brat,
he would be in trouble, for what hidden censor would blot out a
dream-turned-real? Irene could be awfully nice when she tried. Or
maybe it was when she stopped trying; he wasn't sure.

"Well, you better get that dumb essay done, or Cherie Centaur will step
on you," Irene said, putting on a new mood. "I'll help you spell the
words If you want."

Dor didn't trust that either. "I'd better struggle through on my
oy,,n."

"You'll flunk. Cherie doesn't put up with your kind of ignorance."

"I know," he agreed glumly. The centaur was a harsh taskmistress -which
was of course why she had been given the job. Had her mate Chester done
the tutoring, Dor would have learned much about archery, swordplay, and
bare-knuckle boxing, but his spelling would have sunk to amazing new
depths. King Trent had a sure hand in delegating authority.

"I know what!" Irene exclaimed. "You need a spelling bee!"

"A what?"

"I'll fetch one," she said eagerly. Now she was in her helpful guise,
and this was especially hard to resist, since he did need help.

"They are attracted by letter plants. Let me get one from my
collection." She was off in a swirl of sweet scent; it seemed she had
started wearing perfume.

Dor, by dint of phenomenal effort, squeezed out another sentence.