"Mercedes Lackey & Larry Dixon - Mage Wars 03 - The Silver Gryphon" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lackey Mercedes)

mines; Shalaman himself would choose one person from among the handful born into the trade of mining
expert to determine (with the help of the priesthood) where and when the first shaft should be sunk. That
person, with the aid of his hereditary miners, would dig the first shaft while a member of the priesthood
watched to be certain it was all done as the gods deemed fit and appropriate. If he struck the vein, the
whole process might be gone through again, to see if the gods would allow a second mine in the forest. If
not, it would be taken as a sign that the gods did not approve despite the earlier indications, and the
whole concern would be packed up and moved home. Protocol.
And meanwhile, those citizens of White Gryphon willing to endure primitive conditions for the sake
of the possibility of a fortune, would be industriously panning gold out of the streams, with Shalaman's
blessing and his tax collectors monitoring. Panning involved nothing that would change the forest, the
stream, or the earth beneath both, and so did not require the approval of the gods.
"What else?" he asked, and got the figure it out for yourself, brat look from Aubri. "I meant, what
supplies would you suggest we take," he amended hastily. Blade took the hint and passed their list over
to Aubri, who spread it out on the floor in front of him. "Other than the usual kit, I mean, the one we
learned in training. This is what we'd thought of adding so far."
He was rather proud of the fact that he'd already put prospecting pans down; after all, if they didn't
find any gold, they could always bake pies in them.
Aubri perused the list slowly, rumbling a little to himself. Finally, he looked up.
"This is all very well thought out," he said, "but it doesn't go far enough. That's not your fault," he
added hastily, as both Tad and Blade's faces fell. "We train you fledges about regular outpost duty, but
Five is almost twice as far away as any of the others. That was why Judeth and I went out there. If we
couldn't handle it, we certainly didn't want to send any of you."
Aubri and Judeth shared the leadership of the Silvers as co-Commanders under Skandranon. Tad's
father had turned over the actual working position to Aubri not long after the affair of the Eclipse
Ceremony, more than twelve years ago. Skandranon had decided by then that he didn't want to be a
leader, not unless it was a leader in name only. He much preferred to be the Black Gryphon (or White
Gryphon, depending on whether he was at Khimbata and Shalaman's court or at home) with his talons
into everything. The day-to-day trivia of leadership bored him; doing things made him happy.
Aubri, on the other hand, found himself, much to his surprise, to be quite good at the day-to-day
trivia. Furthermore, it amused him. He said once to Skandranon that after all that he had been through
during the Wars, dealing with requisitions and stupid recruits was a positive pleasure. The real truth was
that he had long ago mastered the art of delegation and knew just who to saddle with the part of the job
that he didn't care for. And now, with the able tutelage of his partner and co-Commander Judeth, he very
much enjoyed being a leader. For the last three years or so, both of them had been claiming that they
were going to retire "soon," but not one creature in the Silvers believed them. Neither of them was ever
likely to enjoy retirement half so much as active duty.
It was Tad's opinion that what would probably happen was that a third co-Commander would be
appointed, one in charge of the more physical aspect of the daily activities of the Silvers, and the minor
decisions that didn't require an expert of the quality of either Aubri or Judeth. Judeth would remain in
place as the overall Commander in charge of major decisions, and Aubri in charge of training, with which
Judeth would assist him.
Now that, I can see happening. Judeth doesn't much like climbing all over the city all day, but
they're both so experienced that it would be stupid to turn over complete control of the Silvers to
someone youngerтАФat least, not until they are comfortable with his competence. And Aubri loves
bamboozling the trainees. Yes, that would make altogether too much sense, which is probably why
that's what they'll do. They're the two creatures in the whole world that I can trust to act sensibly.
Tad couldn't imagine the Silvers without Aubri and Judeth in charge. It would have to happen
someday, but he couldn't imagine what that day would be like when it came.
"Now look, you two," Aubri was saying. "You are going to be a long, long way from the city; it
might be hard to get things to you if something wears out or breaks. Just because something minor like