"01 - A Difficulty With Dwarves" - читать интересную книгу автора (Gardner Craig Shaw)

'Alea, please!' When the dragon snorted this time, flame shot from his nostrils. 'Must we air our dirty laundry in front of our fans?'

'Exactly.' Alea looked at the rest of us with a knowing smile. 'And let me tell you, you've never dealt with dirty laundry until you've cleaned up after a dragon!'

She walked quickly over to where I stood. Somehow, I found her arm intertwined with mine. I remembered then that I had meant to tell this woman that our days of easy familiarity were over. But what with one thing and another, I hadn't quite gotten around to it.

'This all has to do with you, Wuntie.' Her face was all too close to mine. Why did it always get warmer when Alea was around? 'It's about your song: "The Ballad of Wuntvor'V

'The Ballad of Wuntvor?' Snarks repeated.

52 '

'A deep and meaningful ballad!' Hubert boomed. 'Perfect the way it is!'

'How could anything called "The Ballad of Wuntvor" be perfect?' Snarks interjected.

'I feel we have gone slightly astray,' Alea admitted. 'We thought that by showing your fallibility, it would make your deeds that much grander. We wanted to show the human behind the hero. I'm afraid, Wuntie, that we made you a bit too human.'

I realized then that I had heard bits of 'The Ballad of Wuntvor' when I had come to fetch Damsel and Dragon earlier that day. I reconsidered the verses I had overheard in the theater. Now that I thought of it, that verse about my complexion had been a bit much. I told Alea I agreed with her, for that very reason.

'Complexion?' she replied a bit uncertainly. 'Oh, yes, we did have a verse about that, didn't we? No, I'm afraid it was another verse entirely that made me realize we'd gone too far. The one about the stomach noises.'

'Stomach noises!' Hubert retorted. 'That verse? I'll have you know that I thought that particular verse was among the best. . .' The dragon hesitated. 'Oh, dear. That was the one with the growl/howl rhyme scheme, wasn't it?' Gray wisps wafted upwards as Hubert cleared his throat. 'Damsel, you may have a point.'

'Complexion?' Snarks considered. 'Stomach noises? Maybe "The Ballad of Wuntvor" is perfect after all. Do you have a verse about posture?'

'No, we don't,' Alea said thoughtfully. 'Perhaps that would make a good substitution.'

'Yes, of course!' the dragon replied. 'We don't have to explore every nuance of Wuntvor's character. I think the twenty-eight verses we've already written cover most of his faults, anyway.'

53

'Twenty-eight?' Alea asked, slightly surprised. 'Oh, did you finally come up with a good rhyme for "dandruff"?'

'No, I had forgotten all about that. I'm afraid I'd gotten caught up in that verse about nose hair. Thank you for reminding me, damsel. Perhaps we should have twenty-nine.'

'Nose hair?' Alea clapped her hands in glee. 'Oh, that's right! And then we contrast Wuntie's nasal curls with the nose hair of Guxx Unfufadoo? What pathos! A master's touch!'

'What can I say?' Hubert blew gently on his foreclaws. 'I was born to write for the stage.'

'Hello, Wuntvor,' said a woman's voice so cold that I felt ice run up my spine. I knew, even before I turned to look, that it was Norei.

'I don't know why I keep giving you another chance,' she said in a voice barely above a whisper. 'I thought, after walking out on you at the theater, that perhaps I had been hasty, that I should have listened to what you had to say. There might have been a reasonable explanation for why I found you wrapped up in a canvas with that woman.' Her lower lip began to tremble. 'Still, I came here thinking for some reason I'd give you one more opportunity to make a choice between us. Well, I see that the choice has already been made!'

What was my beloved talking about? Was she upset because I hadn't noticed her arrival? 'Twas true that I had become quite engrossed in the discussion of what should or shouldn't be in that song named after me, but that was understandable, wasn't it? Well, then there was the way Alea was holding onto my arm. That, perhaps, was a bit more difficult to explain, but I was sure if my beloved would but take a minute to hear me out -

54

'Norei -' I began.