"Mercedes Lackey - Dragon Jousters 3 - Sanctuary" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lackey Mercedes)

of the purest water, a quiet, steady stream, clear and cool, that widened here into
a channel as wide as Great Mother River, and deep enough that it took an effort
to touch the bottom, before narrowing again and flowing onward toward the
Altan delta. Kiron supposed it must come to the surface at some point, but no
one had yet been able to pinpoint that spot, not even the wise desert dwellers, the
Veiled Ones, who themselves had (until now) not even guessed that here was the
life-giver that fed a great many of their oases. Here was the reason for Sanctuary
existing at all, the reason it had been built in the far past. Here was the reason
why Sanctuary was able to prosper now. Even the Veiled Ones required water,
and in this part of the desert that they called the Furnace and the Anvil of the
Gods, they deemed it more valuable than the caches of gold that the new owners
of Sanctuary were still discovering when wind freed another building from the
grip of the sand.

Which might happen today, actually. Kaleth had hinted as much, calling the
storm the instrument of the gods, and saying that in the past, it had given what
was needed when it was needed. And, certainly, Sanctuary was still surrounded

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on all sides by dunes and hard-packed sand. There was no telling what might lie
beneath some of those mounds.

A voice behind him interrupted his thoughts. "What do you think the sandstorm
will show us when it passes?"

"Sometimes, I wonder if it isn't only the dragons' thoughts you can read, Aket-
ten," Kiron laughed, turning to wrinkle his nose at the only female JousterтАФto
his knowledgeтАФever to fly a dragon.

Aket-ten, sister to his good friend Orest, dimpled at him, as awake and alert as if
this was midday. Well, she always had been a lover of the morning, already up
and doing while he and Orest were still shaking the sleep from their eyes. It was
a small fault, that. She was in all other ways, to his mind anyway, anything that
anyone could ask for in a companion.

Not perfect, but who wanted perfection? It would be far too tiring to have to live
up to the perfection of another. A companion who had flaws, now, that meant
that you could have an affectionate rivalry without feeling as if there was no
chance that you could ever come up to the standards set by your friend.

She was not too tall, but Kiron himself was by no means overly tall. Besides, the
best Jousters were light and lean, for the less of a burden they were to their
mounts, the better. Light and lean, Aket-ten certainly was, reed-slim and shorter
than he, and he was no giant. Her lively black eyes met his with a look of
acceptance and candor, and her ready smile warmed them further with good
humor. If she did not have the finely-chiseled and perfectly regular features of
one of the images of the goddesses, she had a face that was full of personality.