"Mary Kirchoff. Kendermore ("Dragonlance Preludes I" #2) (angl)" - читать интересную книгу автора

Tanis stopped Woodrow again, this time with a hand on his arm.
The kender slid to his feet once more, twisting his vest back into
place with a disgruntled "humph!" Gisella pulled Tanis to the side,
batting two small, kohl black-lined eyes at him. "Look, friend, if
it's money you want, I'll give you half of my take for him. Fifteen
new steel pieces," she said, biting into each word as though she
enjoyed their taste.

"You've got to be kidding." Tanis sputtered, unable to
comprehend that someone was trying to buy Tasslehoff from him.

"That's more than fair!" She dropped her voice abruptly. "OK,
twenty, but that's my final offer."

"My good woman," Tanis growled, his eyes flashing black, "you
cannot buy and sell a kender like horseflesh!"

"You can't? Why not?" she asked, genuinely surprised.

"Because some things just aren't for sale!"

"Honey," she purred, letting her tightly clothed thigh rub
against his for a moment, "everything has a price." Tanis jerked his
leg away and took a deep breath, throwing a withering look at Flint,
who was jiggling with silent laughter. Groping for a new approach,
Tanis suggested, "Let's ask Tas what he wants to do."

Everyone turned toward the kender.

"Well, Tas?" Tanis asked. "What's this about getting married,
anyway? You never even told us you had a sweetheart."

Tasslehoff shuffled uncomfortably.

"I don't, exactly," he confessed. "See, a long time ago,
somebody suddenly noticed that there weren't many kender left in
Kendermore - people just never got around to getting married. So some
other somebody came up with the idea of randomly assigning mates at
birth. You know, a boy and a girl are born near each other timewise in
the city, and they have to get married sometime near their thirtyfifth
birthdays. It's one of the few rules that any kender can remember.
Except me. I just forgot it."

"So there's a girl waiting in Kendermore for you to marry her?"
Flint asked, struggling to keep the smile he felt growing inside him
from showing on his face.

"I guess," Tas said morosely. "I've never met her. I think her
name begins with a 'D,' or at least it sounds like 'D.' Dorcas...