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

That matter resolved, Giogi bounced back to his feet and wandered from the
parlor to his home's entrance. With the stone tucked awkwardly in his belt, he
rummaged through the hall closet under the stairs. He'd left his boots in the
front of the closet, but they had somehow vanished. He rustled about the cloaks
and capes hanging from their separate hooks, and kicked through a number of
shoes that littered the floor. Then he began pulling from the closet all manner
of walking sticks, abandoned clothing, and curiesЧwhich were gifts from
relatives, and so could not be thrown away, but which were too ugly to place
anywhere but in the relative darkness of the closet.
Finally, having moved half the closet's interior into the hall, the young noble
gave up and let out a bellow.
"Thomas!" he shouted toward the back hallway. "Where are my boots?"
Alerted by the sound of chests, shoes, and walking sticks being thumped about,
Thomas had already decided to investigate the racket and had put aside the
silver tureen he'd been polishing. He was just coming out from the kitchen as
Giogi called his name. Beneath the archway separating the front hall from what
Giogi termed "Servant Land," the gentleman's gentleman paused.
Thomas looked askance at the closet's contents strewn about the hallway and
tried not to blanch. He wasn't more than three years Giogi's senior, but many
more years of responsibility had given him an aged, wiser-than-thou look. It was
a look that the servant used now on his employer.
"Is there something that Sir requires?" Thomas asked evenly.
"I can't find my boots," Giogi declared. "I know I left them in here."
From the chaos before him, Thomas drew out a pair of recently polished black
boots with narrow heels and sharp, pointed toes. "Here you are, sir," he said
without a trace of annoyance.
"Not those things. I won't wear them ever again. They pinch my feet. Take them
away and burn them. I want the boots I bought in Westgate. The knee-high,
brown-suede dodders with wide brims. They're the most comfortable boots in the
Realms."
Thomas raised a single eyebrow. "Comfortable they may be, sir, but they are
hardly a gentleman's boot."
"Tish! I'm a gentleman, and they're my boots, ergo, argumentum ab auctoritate,"
came Giogi's riposte. "Et cetera," he added.
"I thought, sir, now that your travels are through, that you would wish to
dispense with the accoutrements of your journey. I have already retired the
boots."
"Well, bring them out of retirement, and please hurry. I need to leave for
Redstone."
"I understood that your Aunt Dorath was not expecting you until after supper."
"That's right, and since I thought I would walk to Redstone and would like to
arrive on time, I need to leave now." Giogi sat on the hall bench and kicked off
his silk slippers, anticipating that Thomas would produce his boots out of thin
air.
Thomas surveyed his master with disbelief. "Walk, sir?"
"Yes. You know, one foot in front of the other," Giogi explained patiently.
"But what about your own supper, sir?"
"Supper? Oh, sorry, Thomas. Write supper off. After that magnificent lunch and
all those wonderful raisin cakes at tea, I'm completely full up. Couldn't eat
another thing. Thanks anyway."