Read Online City of Death by Laurence Yep - Free Book Online Page B

other game.
    â€œMy favorite,” Kles said in delight.
    â€œYes, I remembered,” the Keeper said, pleased with his reaction.
    Though Koko had an entire venison haunch, he couldn’t resist setting it down and snatching one of the cakes greedily. “Hey, this is pretty tasty. What’s it called?”
    â€œHoney cake with freshly ground mealworms,” Kles said. “We’re quite famous for them.” As crumbs sprayed from the badger’s lips, the griffin went on. “The minerals in the eyrie’s water give the worms a unique nutty flavor.”
    The Keeper eyed the coughing badger and then turned back to M ā ka. “And I trust that you and your friend”—she inclined her head to the lynx, whose head was half-buried in the side of a roast pheasant—“will not be providing any more entertainment in our lands.”
    M ā ka lowered the pheasant drumstick in her hand. “You know about the banquet?”
    â€œI wouldn’t be the Keeper if I didn’t know everything that went on,” the griffin said.
    â€œThere will be no more performing until I help Lady Scirye complete her quest,” M ā ka said. “I promise.”
    â€œGood.” The Keeper swung her gaze to Scirye and her large black eyes seemed to bore into the girl. “Yes, I see the resemblance to your father, but even at his wildest—did you know we were hatchlings together?—he never dressed up like an Arctic pirate.”
    Her father was always so serious that it was hard to believe he ever did anything crazy. “My father was wild?”
    The Keeper nibbled daintily on a date. “So he didn’t tell you how he saved my life once?”
    â€œHow did he do that?” Scirye asked.
    â€œHave you ever heard of skimming?” the Keeper asked.
    â€œThat’s when you fly over the rapids of a river as close to the surface as you can,” Kles explained. “But it’s forbidden.”
    â€œYes, and I’ll punish any fool I catch doing that. But back then I thought it was some silly rule that old hens had made up. So he and I went skimming when the river was in full spring flood,” the Keeper chuckled. “I got a little too low, and right away I found out that I wasn’t as good a swimmer as I thought. Fortunately, your father swam like a fish and pulled me out.” She fixed her eyes on Kles. “None of which should ever be repeated.”
    â€œConsider it forgotten, my lady,” Kles said.
    The Keeper purred her satisfaction briefly and then asked Scirye, “And you’re pleased with Kles’s services?”
    â€œThe eyrie trained him well,” Scirye said politely.
    â€œI think it’s more the princess’s doing than ours,” the Keeper laughed. Kles had originally served Princess Maimantstse before she had sent him to Scirye. “Kles was always a feisty little thing. But then he had to be. The others were always picking on him.”
    â€œYou knew, Keeper?” Kles asked.
    â€œAs I said, a good Keeper knows everything,” the Keeper said.
    â€œAnd you didn’t help him?” Scirye couldn’t help asking, indignant for her friend.
    Kles answered for her. “She couldn’t. At some point I was going to have to go where she couldn’t protect me. I had to learn how to do that for myself.” And he gave her a respectful bow. “And I thank you for that.”
    â€œThere was no griffin more stubborn or determined than Kles,” the Keeper said with an approving nod. “He made himself into a wise and able diplomat who served the princess well.”
    â€œAnd as he does me now,” Scirye said, growing more comfortable with the Keeper. It was as if she had shed the regal manners and attitude with the signs of her office, and she was simply an old friend of her father’s, happy to be reminiscing with Scirye.
    The Keeper studied her claws. “I am not