"Morressy, John - NestEgg" - читать интересную книгу автора (Morressy John)

"There's no need to be rude, Cecil. We're here to help you. We want to get you
back to normal."

"If I were feeling normal, I'd be a lot ruder. Now go away and leave me alone.
It's bad enough to feel rotten without having nosy intruders barging in on my
privacy."

Kedrigern was not to be put off. "Where does it hurt, Cecil?"

"None of your business."

"I'm just going to keep asking until I get an answer."

Princess frowned at Kedrigern. "Don't be so inconsiderate to the poor dear
creature." She turned to Cecil and said in her sweetest voice, "You're very
brave, Cecil. I'll bet your poor head is aching terribly, but you don't
complain."

Cecil glared at her for a moment, then muttered, "I can take it."

"Oh, you poor brave thing," she said.

"Stop pooring me, lady. I'm a griffin. We're tough."

"Of course you are. Tough, and brave, and decent. And loyal to King Tyasan. And
devoted to the royal children. And all this time your head is throbbing,
throbbing, throbbing." Princess wiped her eyes.

His voice somewhat less rasping, Cecil said, "Not really. The headache comes and
goes. It's the loss of appetite that bothers me the most. And the general
lassitude."

"Dear good Cecil," said Princess. She reached out cautiously to stroke the
griffin's forehead. He did not shrink from her touch. She dug her fingers into
the feathers and scratched the broad expanse. Cecil closed his eyes and made a
sound like a kind of creaky purring. "Don't you want anything at all to eat?"
she asked.

Dreamily, Cecil said, "Not a thing, lady. Just keep scratching. Get the back of
my neck."

With a quick wink to Kedrigern, Princess leaned closer and applied both hands to
her work. Cecil sank down, his eyes closed contentedly, and his purring grew to
a reverberating drone that filled the shed. Princess knelt at his side and
scratched. After a time, Cecil said sleepily, "You know, lady, I could go for a
nice basin of horse meat broth. Maybe they could put a few chunks of meat in
it."

"We'll have it brought up right away."