"Manly, Peter L - Dragon Three Two Niner" - читать интересную книгу автора (Manly Peter L)
by Peter L. Manly
Dark Castle Approach Control, this is Princess Iru-lana aboard dragon November Bravo three two niner requesting landing instructions." Georgine was laboring beneath me, sensing that the long flight was almost over. Her silver-dark wings stretched outward as she caught a slight updraft and made the most of the altitude gain. I mused that the castle tower operators must be asleep at the switch and was about to call again when they finally answered, "Ah, dragon three two niner, this is Dark Castle. Hold at the outer marker over the Enchanted Forest beacon. We have some traffic to clear."
"Dragon three two niner, holding," I acknowledged, slipping the empathy shell into my tunic and making sure it was secure. Its twin was kept at the castle, and whatever was said into one shell came out the other. It's a neat spell and it works well. The only problem was that I had to have a separate shell for each castle at which I might land. With the recent proliferation of landing fields, one accumulates a rather lumpy collection of shells. I hated holding over the forest. It was full of downdrafts, probably caused by the constant use of magical energy and arcane forces. Georgine responded to my slight nudges, banking off to the right in one of her perfect turns. She was a good old girl and she really liked to fly. I could see her glancing off to the left at the castle, however, and sensed that she would rather have taken a straight-in approach. I began searching for the beacon, an energized jewel placed on a golden pillar for all dragon flyers to navigate by. Off to my right was a large gray passenger dragon, circling high over the forest, and we flew to a point underneath them. The pillar was there but the jewel was gone, probably taken by the elves again. They'd give it back later, after some concessions and maybe the sacrifice of a virgin, but meanwhile, night flyers would have no beacon. Local politics, ugh!
The downdrafts weren't too bad over the forest, but Georgine had already flown the long distance from the Blue Mist Mountains and I wanted to get her bedded down. She kept looking longingly toward the castle, her large green eyes searching for a rookery which could provide shelter. The Lesser Sun had already set. Its sharp blue cast was now missing from the landscape below. In the slanting rays of the Greater Sun, the scenery took on a soft ruby glow, enhanced by the leaves of the trees preparing for winter. The first snows had fallen in the mountains and I wanted to finish my business at the castle quickly, lest my return trip become a winter ordeal. It shouldn't take too long. All I had to do was find a reasonably competent sorcerer, have him break the counter spell on my older sister's gown, and return home. Any little trinkets I could scare up-a magical amulet or a portable curse-would be pure profit. Maybe I could flirt with one of the King's knights too-but business came first.
The Oracles had predicted that if my older sister, the Greater Princess Katrashkip of Granite Keep, couldn't wear this gown at the Midwinter Ball, then she probably wouldn't wed the prince of the Dark Castle. Without a wedding to cement the uneasy truce among the castles of the Northlands, a terrible war would break out and we would be plunged into a dark age for millennia. The seers were very specific about the point. I, for one, was glad to be a Lesser Princess so I wouldn't have to marry for politics.
Above me, I noticed the passenger dragon turning toward the castle. Georgine watched the larger dragon head for the rookeries and grunted a bit as we kept wheeling over the empty golden pillar. I patted her neck and hugged her tighter with my knees. "Don't worry, old girl. We'll probably be next." She made the humming rumble which indicated she was pleased with me, and I let her drift a bit from the pillar, in order to catch a weak updraft. She played with it for several minutes. The empathy shell came to life. "Dragon three two niner, come to a heading west by northwest. Maintain altitude."
"Dark Castle, where are you vectoring me?"
"Dragon three two niner, we're sending you out over the ocean for a long approach to runway niner zero left at the castle. You can follow dragon one twelve heavy in."
"Ah, Dark Castle, we're a small flight. Request a straight-in approach to the timber rookery."
"Negative, dragon three two niner, your dragon hasn't been fire suppressed. New Air Transport Safety Regulations prohibit fire-breathing aircraft from utilizing timber facilities. You'll have to land on the old stone parapets."
"Three two niner out." God, but I hate bureaucrats! Georgine wouldn't belch any fire in a rookery. She's much too civilized. I searched for and found the large passenger dragon descending ahead of me. We turned to line up with it and Georgine strained to catch up. She likes to fly tight formation, but I held her back. We were going to have to allow the larger dragon time to land and clear the apron before we swooped in. I kept up my altitude over the Troll thickets. The last time I'd gone through their airspace they'd fired off a few arrows at me, and at least one of them had a dragon spell on it. Although they were supposed to be civilized, they were not above plundering booty from airliners which chanced to crash in their territory, and I'd always suspected that they pushed the concept of "chance" to its limits. As we approached the cliffs of the coast, I knew there would be updrafts. Georgine could sense it, too; I could see the fine tendrils on her snout feeling for the change in wind direction. I was going to ask Approach Control for permission to spiral in the wave of air which climbed the cliffs, but they called me first. "Dragon three two niner, traffic alert at your three o'clock position. Please acknowledge."
1 looked off to the right and saw six military dragons flying in formation in two flights of three. They were cruising down the coast, taking advantage of the updrafts from the cliffs. "Dark Castle, this is dragon three two niner, I have them on visual." Their wings were unmoving as they glided in precise, tight groups. It was a pretty sight as they soared over me and then peeled off to the left, one by one. As they came around in wide sweeping left banks, they separated into a line of dragons, following me as I flew out to sea. The passenger dragon ahead of me had started his crosswind turn, and 1 lengthened my downwind leg to give him more unloading time.
Swinging one leg over her thick neck, I urged her head downward so I could slide to the ground. Once down, I called to her, "Come on, girl, give Mamma a kiss." She dipped her large fanged head and I kissed her below the eye, while rubbing the huge tooth which protruded through her lips. She hummed and exhaled a mixture of gas and breath, but she didn't ignite it. As I said, Georgine's a cultured lady.
I still had the reins in my hand, so I led her off the landing ground before the first of the military dragons arrived. The ground crew was approaching and I said, "We'll be here several days. Need a rook for the dragon and a refuel." At their hesitation, I proffered my Wizard's Express credit card-I wouldn't leave the Keep without it. They were satisfied.
The red Greater Sun was on the horizon as I walked Georgine down the old stone ramps to the dragon rookeries. I could look out over the leaden water and see a storm approaching from the north. The parapet to the ramp supported stone gargoyles of hideous shapes which would effectively hold the ghosts and wraiths of the night at bay. The rookery was a well-sheltered cave, with bays for individual dragons. Several of the animals were permanently quartered, and one of the females was tending two cute babies. They were barely as tall as I and must have been newborns, although they were already spitting sparks. There were other dragons quartered in the visitor's spaces, it being late in the flying season. We were shown a large dry cove for Georgine, and before the ground attendant left, I said, "Georgine will sleep for an hour or so. Then she'll feed. Let her have two barrels of Dragon Chow and half a barrel of water. I'll come down later and give her a treat. Now, help me get her saddle and pack off. I'll need a bearer to take these to my rooms." Georgine hummed as I bedded her down, and I sat with her until slumber overtook her. The attendants took my saddle and packs up the ramp, while my guide ushered me to a small door in the cave wall, which I hadn't seen on my previous trips to the Castle. I was unsure of what he was doing until he disappeared upward in a whoosh of scintillating light. I'd heard of elevator spells before, but I'd never used one. Dark Castle was certainly acquiring all of the modern conveniences. I was lifted easily to the main courtyard of the castle. Getting my bearings, I walked toward the great door of the Royal Arms Hotel. As 1 approached the gate, I was met by a Grade Two Flunky, who made a medium bow and said, "My Lady, how may I serve you?" He had enough deference not to offend even the highest queen, but not so much that he'd be making a fool of himself if I turned out to be a swineherd. I stopped, straightened my back, held my head high, and placed one hand on the hilt of my dagger. "I am Irulana, Lesser Princess of Granite Keep, Dragon Rider First Class, and Acolyte to the High Priestess of Imbriana." He stood his ground. I flashed the credit card and he bubbled over with welcome. "My Lady, please follow me. Have you luggage?"
"It will be brought from the dragon rookery. Have it placed in my room. Gently. I should also like a bath drawn for me immediately and a pig, only half roasted- for my dragon- to be ready in one hour. For now, I shall enter the salon and quench my thirst while the room is being arranged."
He hurried off across the echoing lobby. I headed for the bar. The hotel seemed moderately busy, with travelers and locals. In the dim light of the bar, I could make out the usual bands of soldiers, salesmen, and scalawags. There was one knight present, but he was surrounded by several fat merchants. The jukebox was playing Country. (Isn't that a law in most bars?) The ladies present were not totally decadent, but I felt I shouldn't tarry too long if I hoped to maintain my reputation in the castle. While accepting a tankard from the proprietor, I mused over what my reputation should be. As the younger daughter of a minor nobleman, I was probably unknown in the bigger castle. My older sister Katrashkip carried all of the responsibility of marriage to noblemen for political purposes. Indeed, the object of my mission of Dark Castle was to rid a magic gown of a counterspell, so she could wear it and snag a husband. Imbriana knew she wouldn't catch one without a spell: Katrashkip had buck-teeth, a hook nose, and the personality of a wounded viper with cramps. I, on the other hand, was free to dabble in magic, a trade normally forbidden to women. I could also ride dragons-and ride them better than most anybody else. I wore green leather flying pantaloons and a jaunty cap, and I carried a weapon (only a small dagger and it had just the slightest blood spell)-all to the distress of my parents, who wished that somehow I would act more like a princess. As I gazed at the heavy oak beams of the salon, I remembered their attempts to civilize me. The music from the bar reminded me of my failed studies in the gentler arts. First the dance lessons, and then music. When I showed an interest in the veil dances and salty sailor's tunes, they hid my musical instruments, dispatched my instructors to the hinterlands, and started me on classical studies.
They had made me an Acolyte to a High Priestess. I fingered the talisman of my office as I waited in the dim lounge. Imbriana, the Goddess of Domesticity, is a minor deity, but she lent sufficient respectability to my status as a Lesser Princess. The Priestess was also a closet magician and a powerful one. From her I learned both the arcane ways and the practical knowledge of being a young woman. She encouraged my work with the dragons and fueled my interest in spells. She tolerated my dress, and usually my outrageous ideas. The doorkeeper, accompanied by a footman, interrupted my reverie, and announced that my room was ready. "My Lady, if you will walk this way ..." I'd be damned if I'd walk the foppish way he was sliding along, but I would follow his lead. We crossed the lobby and ascended a grand staircase. Someday I would have to make an entrance down such a staircase, just to see what it was like. Perhaps wearing the magic gown ... naw, not my style. The footman rushed ahead to open the room door and said, in a nearly breathless voice, "Princess, your luggage has been delivered to your room, and the chambermaids are drawing your bath." He held the door. "After you ..." The room was very adequate: comfortable, not too large, with a view of the ocean. The footman stood with his hand out, waiting for a tip. As an Acolyte of a Priestess, I can circumvent a tip by bestowing a magical blessing. I bade him bow down, and said the sacred words. A slight yellow corona passed over his face, and he felt the tingle of a truly unique spell. He thanked me profusely and backed out the door. Should he ever become married, the spell would make him more adept, and at peace with the role of being a subservient homemaker. Before sliding into a warm bath, I decided to call home and tell them I had arrived safely. I rummaged in my pack and located the empathy shell. As I whistled into the opening of the hand-size pink seashell, my mind envisioned the dark crags of Granite Keep, my home castle. A disgustingly cheerful voice on the other end said, "Hello, the Baron and his staff aren't available right now, but if you'll leave your name ..."
"Lizzie, is that you?" Lizzie was my rather scatterbrained maid-in-waiting. Being a lesser princess, I wasn't entitled to the best or the brightest of help.
"Irulana?"
"Yes. Can you take a message?"
"Not really, I can't see to write. The candles . . ." She couldn't read or write even in the broad light of both suns.
"Yes, I know. Now try to remember this. I've arrived at Dark Castle safely. I'll see the sorcerer tomorrow. If everything goes well, I should be on my way home in a couple of days. Got it?"
"Well, I'll try to remember."
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