"John Morressy - The Questing Of Kedrigern" - читать интересную книгу автора (Morressy John)

able to attend," Kedrigern blurted. "In our suite. Everyone will be there."
His voice rose on the last syllable, as Princess's fingertips dug into his
biceps.
As they entered the suite, Princess said in a frosty voice, "For a man who's
lost all taste for parties, you've certainly turned into a jovial host."
"They seemed like such nice people," Kedrigern said guilelessly. "Not the
kind of riffraff that trails around after alchemists. Nice decent young
people. They had some sense. You could tell right away." He paused, and when
no response came, he said, "Do you know, my dear, it might be a gracious
gesture if we dropped in on their . . . party. ..."
Princess looked at him icily, and said nothing. He scratched his chin,
cleared his throat, and said, "I think I'll work on my opening remarks."
The panel went smoothly, all things considered. Only one panelist was
totally incoherent, and he mumbled so low that not one in the audience could
make out what he was saying. The others were well spoken, witty, and in good
rapport with the sizeable crowd.
The only sour note of the morning's proceedings was the behavior of a short,
pudgy, obstreperous man who kept interrupting the panelists with flatulent
monologues thinly disguised as questions. After the man's fourth turgid
display, Kedrigern ignored his wildly waving hand and peremptory cries for
recognition, and the rest of the session was quite decorous.
Afterwards, one of his fellow panelists, a lean, swarthy sorcerer from the
east named Abrazoul, complimented


Kedrigern on his handling of the noisy man, remarking that the fellow had the
manners of an alchemist.
"He did, didn't he?" Kedrigern replied. "I wonder if there are any
alchemsits here."
"A few, I'm sure. They want to see what they can steal from us," said
Abrazoul.
A third panelist, Jaquinta, doyenne of the southern sorceresses, brushed
back a lock of snowy hair and laughed contemptuously. "It would be like a
monkey stealing an astrolabe: he can take it, but he'll never learn to use it
properly."
"Well put, Jaquinta," said Abrazoul.
 "Yes, very well said. By the way, I hope you'll both be able to come to the
party in our suite this evening. It should get going just about moonrise, so
if youтАФ"
"I've received an invitation already," said Jaquinta.
"So have I. It was slipped under my door this morning," Abrazoul said.
"That explains what Princess has been doing all day," Kedrigern murmured.
Jaquinta smiled. "I do look forward to meeting her. From what I hear, she is
a living testimony to the efficacy of your counterspells."
"And very beautiful besides," said Abrazoul.
Beaming, Kedrigern added, "She also has a definite gift for magic. She's
learning at a great rate."
"I'm curious, Kedrigern: why didn't you have Princess speak at the panel
this morning? She would have been a sensation. One doesn't often meet a
princess who's been a toad."