"Mercedes Lackey & Larry Dixon - Valdemar - Darians Tale 03 - Owlknight" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lackey Mercedes)

cultures living in the same area got taken care of and smoothed over. Sometimes
there were arguments, and twice there had been a point when Darian thought
things might come to blows, but somehow everything got sorted out under the eyes
of the Hawkbrothers. They?d even established a Council common treasury as the
means of paying for things that all factions needed, and to pay off aggrieved
parties if there was no other way to settle a dispute. The cash was anything but
petty, but they were all in agreement that when time and diplomacy could not
solve a problem, sufficient payoff would. As he had hoped, k?Valdemar was
proving to be a neutral ground where the territory?s difficulties could be dealt
with. The fact that it was the most pleasant and most relaxing place of all the
possible spots where meetings could be held helped tremendously to get things
settled peacefully. It was no accident that the Vale had turned out that way
either. Tayledras were past masters at the strategic use of pleasure and comfort.

There weren?t going to be any serious arguments today, that was clear enough.
Darian suspected that the imminent arrival of this Herald might have something
to do with that. Barda had been awfully quick to drop the Errold?s Grove protest,
and even voted against it herself - perhaps because she knew that if she
supported the protest, it would certainly come up again in front of the Herald.

No one wants to look bad in front of the important stranger, he thought, with a
mental smile. As if he won?t have had to deal with arguments just as petty, or
even more so, before this. Of all of them, Darian had the most experience with
Heralds; when k?Vala had helped the people of Valdemar clean out some nasty
pockets of trouble left over from the mage-storms, he?d been the one, as the
only Valdemar native, who spent the most time with their Heraldic liaisons.
Stories came out over the campfire, often very funny stories, and Darian had
about as good an idea of what it was like for a Herald on circuit as anyone who
wasn?t himself a Herald.

?Is that it, then?? Lord Breon asked, looking around the table. ?Everything
taken care of??

?As much as we can in one meeting,? Harrod replied, and Starfall nodded his
agreement to that.

?Well, then, I have a proposition to make. We can take it as read that we?re
going to have a bloody great celebration to welcome Heralds Anda and Shandi,
right??

Starfall laughed. ?And you can take it as read that k?Valdemar will host it. No
one else has the facilities - unless it was held outside, and it?s springtime,
and you know what that means. Mud.?

Breon made a face. ?Rain. Mud. Guaranteed. If it doesn?t rain on the welcome, it?ll
rain on Spring Faire. At least if it rains in the Vale, it?ll be a warm rain.?

?I think we can even spare the magical energy to keep rain out of the Vale for a
single day,? Starfall replied evenly. ?A little borrowing from some other
sources should make up the difference. Clearly, though, you have a request for