"Dragonlance - Deathgate Cycle 02 - Elven Star" - читать интересную книгу автора (Deathgate Cycle)

All except me, thought Paithan. And thaf s because Calandra's brought me up properly.

"I don't believe you," said his sister.

"Yes, you do." Paithan was enjoying himself. "You know the guv-sorry, slip of the tongue-Father's crazy enough to do just about anything."

"How did you find out?"

"I popped-stopped in at old Rory's last suppertime for a quick one before going to Lord-"

"I'm not interested in where you were going." A line had appeared in Calandra's forehead. "You didn't hear this rumor Хfrom old Rory, did you?"

" 'Fraid so, Sister dear. Our batty papa had been in the pub, talkin' about his rockets and comes out with the news that he's sent for a human priest."

"In the pub!" Calandra's eyes widened in horror. "Were there . . . many who heard him?"

"Oh, yes," said Paithan cheerfully. "It was his usual time, you know, right during winetime and the place was packed."

Calandra emitted a low groan, her fingers curled around the frame of the abacus, which protested loudly.

"Maybe he ... imagined it." Her tone sounded hopeless, however. Their father was sometimes all too sane in his madness.

Paithan shook his head. "Nope. 1 talked to the birdman. His faultless3 carried the message to Lord Gregory of Thillia. The note said that Lenthan Quindiniar of Equilan wanted to consult with a human priest about travel to the stars. Food and lodging provided and five hundred stones."4

3A winged fowl of the segrouse family used for long-distance communication. A faultless, once properly trained, will fly unerringly between two points.

The medium of exchange of Equilan. It is a paper equivalent of stones, whkh themselves are extremely rare, being found generally only at the very bottom of the world.

12*

WEIS AND HICKMAN

Elve n Star

Х 13*

Calandra groaned again. "We'll be besieged!" She gnawed

her lip.

"No, no, I don't think so." Paithan felt somewhat remorseful at being the cause of such agony. He reached out and patted his sister's clenched hand. "We may be lucky this time, Callie. Human priests live in monasteries and take strict vows of poverty and such like. They couldn't accept the money. And they have life pretty good in Thillia, not to mention the fact that they have a strongly organized hierarchy. They're all answerable to some soft of father superior, and one couldn't just pack up and head out for the wilds."

"But the chance to convert an elf-"

"Pooh! They're not like our priests. They haven't time to convert anybody. They're mainly concerned with playing politics and trying to bring back the Lost Lords."

"You're certain?" Calandra had regained some color in the pale cheeks.

"Well, not certain," Paithan admitted. "But I've been around humans a lot and I know them. They don't like coming into our lands, for one thing. They don't like us, for another. I don't think we have to worry about this priest turning up."