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

"Send the wizard. You stay here and keep scratching."

She turned to Kedrigern and shrugged. He nodded and tiptoed from the shed.

On his way to the kitchen he met Eldry and Ashel. They looked at him accusingly,
and Ashel said, "You're late."

"Your father does not encourage early rising on the part of his guests. And I've
made progress. Cecil has asked for a basin of broth."

"Is that all?"

"He'd like a few chunks of meat in it."

The children exchanged a solemn glance. Eldry said, "That's a good sign."

"He let my wife scratch his head. And he's purring."

"Is your wife pretty? He likes to have his head scratched by pretty ladies."

Kedrigern smiled at the image of Princess, resplendent this morning in a deep
maroon gown trimmed at wrists and neckline with gold embroidery; no jewelry but
a golden circlet around her gleaming black hair and a long gold necklace that
hung to her waist. "She's very pretty indeed. Look here -- why don't you
supervise the making of the broth? You know how Cecil likes it. I'll go back and
keep an eye on him."

They were off at a run, and Kedrigern returned to the hut. He stood in the
doorway for a time, looking on in silence as Princess scratched Cecil's great
neck and his upper back between the shoulders. Her treatment was working
wonders; he had shown improvement from her very first touch and was now
reclining peacefully, snoring with a faint, not unpleasant, whistling sound.

It was strenuous work for Princess. She was forced to lean forward awkwardly.
From time to time she paused to ease her back and flex her fingers, but the
pauses were brief and she quickly resumed her work. She was a picture of
selfless dedication, and Kedrigern felt proud of her. Not many princesses would
be so considerate of a griffin.

But why was it working? Surely mere head-scratching, even by the hand of a
princess, could not be the cure. As Kedrigern watched` he noticed that as
Princess bent over Cecil, her gold necklace lay against the griffin's side.
Something in the scene tugged at his memory, but he could not quite grasp it.
Something about griffins . . . and gold. . . . Griffins and gold . . . Scythia .
. . thatching . . . and the making of nests.

And that was it.

He hurried to Princess' side and whispered, "You can stop scratching. I'm going