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

voice quite tart. "A little is amusing, but he makes a habit of sharpening his tongue on Skandranon, and I
am weary of hearing it! Skandranon does not deserve it; and if Aubri continues in this way, there may be
trouble with younger gryphons believing in his so-called teasing. They will think that anything Skan says
he has done is only wind and empty boast!"
Skan turned to her in surprise; she didn't often spring to his defense this way. "Aubri doesn't mean
anything by it," he said on his old friend's behalf. "He's getting old and cranky, and he just likes to tease.
And I don't think I'm going to lose any respect from the youngsters just because he tries to raise my ire
now and again."
Zhaneel sniffed and twitched her tail with annoyance. "That might be, and I will not be rude by
chiding him in public, but I have had enough of it, and he can expect to get as good as he has given from
now on."
"I agree," Winterhart put in firmly, crossing her arms over her chest. "Skan deserves a great deal of
respect, after all. Maybe not as much as you'd like, you vain creature, but more than Aubri gives you."
Skan cast a look at Amberdrake, who only shrugged. "Don't get me involved in this," he said. "I
don't think Aubri means anything of what he says, and I don't think anyone else takes him seriously
eitherтАФbut I think I'm outnumbered here."
Winterhart made a little face, and put her arm over Zhaneel's gray-feathered shoulders. "Come
along, my dear," she said to the female gryphon. "I think we should discuss this at length, just the two of
us, since the men don't seem to take this situation with the gravity we think it merits."
"I concur," Zhaneel said agreeably, and the two of them sauntered off toward the cliff rim and
several pleasant lookouts that had been constructed there.
 Skandranon turned a face full of astonishment on AmberdrakeтАФwho was gazing after the two
females with equal puzzlement.
"What prompted all that?" he asked, trying very hard to get his thoughts back on track. Amberdrake
shook his head.
"I haven't any more idea than you do," he confessed. "Maybe with their chicks gone from the nest,
they both feel they have to defend something. I might be considered something of an authority on human
emotions, but I have to admit to you that sometimes my lady Winterhart baffles me." He nodded with his
chin toward the head of the trail. "Care to walk down with me so we can both worry about the
youngsters together?"
Skan let out a deep breath; so Drake was just as troubled about Tad and Blade as he was! "Yes, I
would," he admitted mournfully. "Zhaneel made me promise not to go with them, not to follow them, and
not to talk about them with her unless she brings the subject up. I wish I had her confidence that
everything is going to be all right, but I keep thinking of all the things that can go wrong."
Amberdrake followed his mate's example by draping an arm over Skan's shoulders. It felt very good
there; the support of an old and trusted friend, even if the friend was just as much in need of support
himself. Tradition spoke of an elegant half-arch being only a fallen pile of stones without its counterpart to
make it whole.
"So much can go wrong, even in the most peaceful of times. I fear the worst, too," Amberdrake told
him. "But as Blade very rightfully reminded me, their job is not to confront danger directly. They're only
scouts, of a sort. If something dangerous appears, they are supposed to send a warning by way of the
teleson, then keep themselves intact so that they can get home and brief us in detail."
Skandranon took care not to step on Amberdrake's feet, and snorted in reply to his statement. "And
just how likely do you think that is to happen?" he demanded. "They're our children! Do you think there's
even half a chance that they wouldn't see themselves as the front line of the White Gryphon defenses and
go confront something dangerous if it appeared?"
He maneuvered Amberdrake into the inside position, between himself and the cliff, as they started
back down toward the city. Drake needed to walk on the protected inside, since if one of them was to
slip on the trail, it had better be Skan; he could fly and Drake obviously couldn't.
"I honestly don't know," Amberdrake admitted. "My daughter baffles me more often than my mate