"Christopher Stasheff - Wizard in Rhyme 02 - The Oath Bound Wizard" - читать интересную книгу автора (Stasheff Christopher)

the handle, a sentry leaped forward, albeit with trepidation. "Nay, my Lord

Wizard! Her Majesty hath not given leave!"

"Too right she hasn't!" Matt snarled. Alisande seemed to have developed an

aversion to Matt's company lately, probably because every time he saw her, he

pressed her to set a date for their wedding: But they had been engaged for three

years now, so it wasn't surprising that Matt was getting a little impatient. It

was time to have it out with her. He yanked the door open and stormed into the

corridor, trailing a howling wake of horrified sentries and servants.

The queen looked up from her writing, blue eyes wide in surprise, then in

outrage.

It almost stopped Matt--not her rage, but her beauty. The oval face was

framed in a cascade of blond hair, unbound here in her private apartments, and

set off perfectly by the mauve of her casual gown.

Almost.

"Why don't you just say you don't want me around anymore?" Matt slapped his

gloves down on the table. "That last trip was something any village magician

could have taken care of. No, strike that--he would have sent his apprentice!"

"I did not deem a plague of locusts a trivial matter, Lord Wizard!" Alisande
said in a voice that would have frozen penguins. "It may be of little moment to

you, but the poor peasant folk thereabout thought it disastrous!"

"Sure, because their village magician had dropped dead two years ago, and

their baron was too cheap to hire a replacement! And don't tell me you didn't

know that!"

"Assuredly, I did--and thought it your office to see to it! What, must I

undertake every smallest matter myself? Have I none to aid me?"

"Oh, come off it with the wounded violet routine! You could have told me why