"Tanya Huff - Brock" - читать интересную книгу автора (Huff Tanya)

He'd already groomed the chirras and Isabel's Companion, Calida—the sleeping mare all but
glowed in the dim stable light.
:Gervis?:

:His name is Brock.: The stallion's mental voice sounded sleepy and sated. :Can we take him with
us?:

:No. And how do you know what his name is?:

:He talks to us and he knows exactly—oh, yes—where to rub.:

Companions were not in the habit of allowing themselves to be groomed by other than Heralds' hands.
Jors found it hard to believe that they'd not only allowed Brock's ministrations but were actually reveling
in them. He stepped forward and, at the sound of his footfall, Brock turned.

His face broke into a broad smile radiating welcome. Arms spread, he rushed at the Herald and wrapped
him in a tight hug. Staring up at Jors, their faces barely inches apart, he joyfully repeated "Brother
Herald!" over and over while a large gray dog leaped around them barking.

:Gervis?:

:The dog's name is Rock. He's harmless.:

:Glad to hear that.:

"Brock...I can't breathe ..."

"Sorry! Sorry." Releasing him so quickly Jors stumbled and had to grab the edge of a hay rack, Brock
shuffled back, still smiling. "Sorry. I brushed." One short-fingered hand gestured back at the
Companions. "Good as new. Soft and clean."

"You did a very good job." Jors stepped around the dog, now lying panting on the floor and ran his
fingers down Gervis' side. There wasn't a bit of straw, a speck of dust, a hair out of place on either
Companion.

:Better than very good,: Gervis sighed.

Jors smiled and repeated the compliment. :Did you say thank you, you fuzzy hedonist?:

In answer, the Companion stretched out his neck and gently nuzzled Brock's cheek, receiving a loud,
smacking kiss in return.

"Okay. We go now." Brock bent and picked a ragged, gray sweater out of the straw and wrestled it
over his head. "We go now," he repeated, placing both hands in the small of Jors' back and pushing him
toward the stable door. "Or we come late and Mister Mayor is mad and yells."

"Late for...?"

:The petitions.: Gervis' mental voice sounded more than a little amused and Jors remembered he'd
intended to merely look in on the Companions on his way to the town hall.