"02 - The Wyvern's Spur - Jeff Grubb & Kate Novak [4.0]" - читать интересную книгу автора (Finder's Stone)

A skinny fop, attired in bright-colored raiment and wearing the most unusually
large boots, strode down the center of the street. Dressed as he was, he might
have been an adventurer or a merchant, but from the way he hadn't bothered to
conceal the bulging coin purse in his cloak pocket. Olive judged him to be a
noble. He looked sober and pretty alert, which made him just the sort of
challenge Olive had been waiting for. She took her hands out of her pockets,
intent on following him. As he passed the alley, though, a feeling of
recognition tickled at the back of Olive's brain, and she held back.
"Are you watching a parade, Olive, or are you just screwing up your courage to
make a grab?" someone behind her whispered.
Olive's heart pounded in her chest, but no visible sign betrayed how startled
she was. She did not turn to look at her taunter; she did not need to. She could
picture the person in her mind: a human woman, nearly six feet tall, slender,
with a mop of short hair the rust-red color of bugbear fur, bright green eyes
twinkling with merriment, and a face identical to one of Olive's previous
companionsЧAlias of Westgate.
Olive kept her attention on the fop and whispered, "Jade, where in the Nine
Hells have you been for the past ride? I've missed you, girl."
"It hasn't been ten days, only six," Jade whispered back. "I've been visiting
family," she explained. Olive could hear the playful smile in her voice.
Olive furrowed her brow in puzzlement. For six months Jade had been her
protegee, her partner, and her friend, and Olive knew things about Jade that not
even Jade knew. Furthermore, as far as the halfling knew, Jade had no family.
Jade herself had told the halfling she was an orphan. "What family?" Olive
whispered, her eyes following the fop's progress down the street.
"It's a long story. Look, are you going to pluck this pigeon?" Jade asked,
indicating, with a toss of her head. the dandyish noble now moving away from
them. "If not, I'd like a crack at him. He looks ripe."
"Wait your turn, girl," Olive replied. "Age before beauty, and I win on both
counts," the halfling added with a smirk. She then slipped away from her partner
and padded silently down the street after the fop. She swiveled her head
nonchalantly to the right and left to make sure she and her target were alone on
the street.
He's not only a fat pigeon, Olive thought, once again focusing on the nobleman,
but an easy pluck, too. You'd think someone would warn him about letting his
purse strings dangle out of his pocket.
Ordinarily Olive would have offered such an easy job to Jade The human woman was
just getting started in business and really depended on it for her living.
Olive, on the other hand, didn't need the money; her adventures the previous
year had left her almost as wealthy as her wildest dreams. She had to have a
closer look at her mark, though. Where have I seen him before? she wondered.
As she closed the gap between herself and her target, her furry feet as silent
as cat paws, Olive could hear the fop half singing, half humming softly to
himself. Good sense of pitch, Olive critiqued silently, but no sense of rhythm.
"Oh, listen to the story, of the scandal of the wyrms, red
Mistinarhm-hmm-hm-hmm, rumored mad and quite infirmЧ"
Olive stopped dead in her tracks. He's singing one of my songs! she realized.
That piece I composed on the spur of the moment to distract the old red dragon
and save Alias's life.
A small flower of pride blossomed within Olive, and for half a moment she