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

When it's done, they can wind each other."
Kedrigern paused for a moment's reflection, then nodded. "I see," he said,
"Ingenious."
"The main problem is rust," the girl said. "After a day of rain, the Iron
Man is bright orange. It still works, but it's bright orange."
"In Rottingen, we've given it a nickname," the second young man began. "We
call it The ClockworkтАФ"
"Oh, dear," Kedrigern broke in at the sight of a new arrival and her
entourage. "I'm terribly sorry, but I must see someone right away," he said,
working his way through the crowd.
The wood-witch stood just inside the doorway, looking around the room with a
muzzy grin and slightly glazed eyes. Two of the inn staff were at her side,
straining under their burden of a huge stone jar which they bore between them
on a litter.
"Keddie, me love!" the newcomer shrieked at the sight of Kedrigern, and gave
a wild cackle of glee that silenced the other party-goers in an instant.
"You're throwing a party! Bloody miracle, that's what I calls it!"
"Hello, Bess. It's good toтАФ" Kedrigern started to say, but was silenced by
her strenuous bear hug and the wet kiss she loudly planted on his cheek.
"Now, where's Princess, so's old Bess can thank her proper for the
invitation? I knows all this is her doing."
Princess glided to their side, aglow with the success of her party. "You
must be Bess, the Wood-witch!" she exclaimed, giving the newcomer's ruddy
cheek a quick peck. "Kedrigern's told me so much about you."
"Has he, now? Well, the worse it sounds, the truer it is, love," said Bess.
She brushed back a loose, lank strand of hair and gave another unearthly
laugh.
"We're so glad you could make it," Princess said gamely.
"It was good of you to invite old Bess, after all the trouble


you had with that bloody crystal I sold to Keddie. I feels terrible about
that, love."
"Now, don't you give it another thought. You're here to enjoy yourself,"
Princess said.
"Just to help things along, I brought a jar of me best. 'Old Fenny Snake,' I
calls it." With surprising deftness, Bess plucked an empty mug from the hand
of a conjurer and with a quick backhanded swipe, dipped a sample from the
stone jar. "Here, now, you lads get that over to the table so's people can get
their mugs into it," she ordered the two bearers. Turning to Princess, she
extended the mug and said, "Have a sip, love. It'll do you good. Give you
curly teeth and nice white hair, it will," and laughed once more.
Princess unsuspectingly raised the mug while Kedrigern, torn between
politeness toward a guest and solicitude for his wife's well-being, looked on
anxiously. At the first whiff of bouquet, Princess's head snapped back; her
eyes crossed and began to water; she took two unsteady steps backward, gasping
for air. Kedrigern snatched the mug from her shaking hands, lest it spill on
her dress and eat through to the skin.
"Princess never drinks anything stronger than wine," he explained, putting a
supporting arm around her waist.