"Mercedes Lackey & Larry Dixon - Mage Wars 01 - The Black Gryphon" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lackey Mercedes)

within. The angrier she became, the chillier her voice. "We'll just see about that."
Skan quickly bent his head to keep from betraying his glee. Lady Cinnabar rarely used that rank of
hers—she was one of Urtho's most trusted advisors when she chose to give that advice—but when she
did, mountains moved, oceans parted, and strong men trembled until she was safely satisfied. If it had
only been a case of one-on-one combat, Urtho could have sent the Lady in against Ma'ar and been
secure in the knowledge that Cinnabar would return from the combat with not a single hair disarranged
and Ma'ar would be on all fours, following at her heels, begging for her mercy.
But she never, ever, forgot courtesy, even when most angry. She bade Aubri and Skan a polite
farewell, instructed Calla and Rio to stay with Tamsin to review the rest of the patients from Shaiknam's
command, and only then stalked off.
Tamsin chuckled; Skan joined him. Aubri stared at the two of them in wonder.
"What has gotten into you two?" he asked, finally, eaten up with curiosity.
Skan exchanged a knowing look with Tamsin, a look which sent him into further convulsions of
laughter. Skan answered for the both of them.
"Lady Cinnabar has Urtho's ear in a way that no one else does," he explained. "I think she's a
combination of younger sister and respected teacher. And when she's angry—aiee, she can melt glass!
She won't be satisfied with simply talking with Urtho and getting a change in those orders, she'll insist on
seeing Garber and Shaiknam and delivering a choice lecture in person. By the time she is done, you
won't be the only one nursing a scorched tail!"




Six
Since Gesten was obviously not going to be satisfied until after he had done something about the
situation with Shaiknam, Amberdrake put off his own breakfast until after he had a chance to schedule a
conference with Urtho. He had hoped to simply slip in and have a quiet chat with the Wizard, but that
was not in the stars; Urtho was chin-deep in advisors long before Amberdrake arrived at his Tower, and
it was evident that there were other matters far more pressing—or disastrous—than the assignment of a
handful of hertasi.
The situation would probably be taken care of, at least in the short-term, as soon as senior Healers
Lady Cinnabar and Tamsin got wind of it. It could easily be dealt with permanently later, when Urtho had
a moment of leisure to spare and Amberdrake could have that quiet word with him. Provided, of course,
that Lady Cinnabar herself did not save Amberdrake the effort and broach the subject to her kinsman.
That was only reasonable. But Gesten was not noted for taking a reasonable view when it came to things
he considered important, so Amberdrake avoided a confrontation by avoiding him. Instead of returning
to his tent for a solitary breakfast, he went to the mess tent shared by all the kestra'chern. The food
would be exactly the same there as he always had when he was alone; Gesten generally fetched it directly
from the mess cooks.
And even though he enjoyed the peace of a meal by himself, it was part of his duty as the
highest-ranking kestra'chern to spend as much time in casual company with the others as possible. While
the kestra'chern had nothing like a regular organization, it fell upon Amberdrake to see that no one was
overburdened, that those who needed help got it, and to keep this corps of "support troops" functioning
as smoothly as the rest of the army. They were all Healers, after all, and not just "of a sort." They had a
real impact on the combat troops.
A delicate undertaking, being "leader" of a group with no leaders—and not a position he would have
chosen if it had not been forced upon him.
Whatever was going on that had Urtho up to his eyebrows in work hadn't yet worked its way down
to the underlings, it seemed. The tent hadn't more than half a dozen kestra'chern seated at their makeshift
tables of scrap wood, sipping bitteralm and conversing over bread and porridge. That wasn't unusual;