"Gordon R. Dickson - Dragon Knight 02 - The Dragon Knight" - читать интересную книгу автора (Dickson Gordon R)

It stopped talking. Jim had the uneasy feeling that it had stopped talking permanently, at least on that
subject. He called it a couple more times, but it did not answer.

Left not knowing where he stood, he suddenly remembered the business of breakfast and gloomily went
down the winding stone stairs from the solar level of the keep.

тАЬ... You might as well tell me the truth,тАЭ Angie was saying, an hour later over their breakfast platters, at
the high table of the castleтАЩs main chamber. тАЬSomething happened just before I opened my eyes; and I
want to know what. I can always tell when youтАЩre trying to hide something from me.тАЭ

тАЬHonestly, Angie,тАЭ Jim was saying, when his answer became beside the point entirely, as he changed
once more into a dragon.

тАЬEEEEE!тАЭ exclaimed Angie, at the top of her lungs.

Pandemonium erupted in the hall, which was large enough to contain somewhere between thirty and
forty people of both sexes, either concerned with the business of seeing that the Baron and his Lady got
their breakfast, or ranging from the armed guard of about eight men-at-arms who were normally there
through a selection of other castle personnel and servants down to May Heather, at thirteen years of age
the youngest and least-ranked of the kitchen staff.

Danger was something everyone lived with. The unexpected was the expected-in general terms-and
weapons of all kinds were never hard to find in an establishment of this kind. Within a couple of minutes,
everybody there had some sort of edged or pointed instrument in their hands, had formed into a rough
hedgehog-shape with the men-at-arms in point position, and were about to advance on this dragon that
had suddenly appeared in the hall.

At this point Angie, having gotten an instinctive, healthy, and rather refreshing scream out of the way,
took charge of the matter. The hem of her wine-red morning robe swept the stone floor as she bore
down regally upon the hedgehog.

тАЬStop there!тАЭ she ordered it sharply. тАЬThereтАЩs no danger here. What you see is simply our Lord, who
has made use of his magic talents to momentarily put himself into dragon form. May, put that battleaxe
back on the wall, at once!тАЭ

May had possessed herself of a battleaxe belonging to the former baron. She was now carrying it on her
shoulder like a woodsmanтАЩs tool; and it was very doubtful if she would have been able to do anything
with it, even if she had been able to get it off that shoulder safely. But there was always one thing you
could say about May Heather. She was willing.

Abashed now, however, she turned back toward the wall on which the battleaxe had originally been
hanging.

The rest of the servants and retainers scattered back to their original duties, looking at each other
meaningfully, but bottling up the story they would now be able to tell of Sir James turning himself into a
dragon at breakfast time.

Happily, a second later, he was back in human form again, though his robe had split apart and was in
rags at his feet.