"doyle, deborah - mcdonald, james d - circle of magic 02 - The Secret of The Tower" - читать интересную книгу автора (Doyle Debra)

be fat. Sir Reginald, who'd started the
ugly sport, was the tallest and strongest. In a
fair fight, Randal thought, he might come close
to being a match for Walter.
None of the knights paid any attention to Randal's
cut cheek or to the bruises along his jawbone.
Instead, they greeted Walter and ignored Randal a
squire, like any servant, was just a part of the
landscape.
All five members of the little party soon mounted and
rode into the early morning. The sun shone out of a
clear summer sky, drying the dew from the grass and from
the damp brown dirt of the narrow road. In the
foothills of the eastern mountains, however, the air
never grew too warm for comfort. A cool breeze
blew down from the high ground, ruffling the hair of the
riders and making a stirring sound among the trees.
Randal hadn't ridden on horseback for over three
years. He'd left Castle Doun on foot, and
had traveled on foot ever since. He knew that
he couldn't have handled the big, heavily muscled
warhorse that his cousin Walter rode.
Fortunately, Walter's other horse was a
palfrey-a smaller, gentler-tempered animal,
trained for endurance and smoothness of gait, not for going
into battle. Randal found that what his mind had
forgotten about good horsemanship learned in
boyhood, his body remembered. He soon
accustomed himself to the palfrey's ambling pace, and
settled back to enjoy a pleasant morning's
ride.
He told himself that the sun was bright, that his cousin's
company was a welcome surprise, that by traveling
on horseback he was certain to reach Balpesh-and his
own magic-that much sooner.
After a while Walter dropped back from the company
of the other three knights and rode beside him.
"You're awfully quiet this morning," Walter said
after a few minutes. "Is something wrong? It's a
beautiful day."
"I know," said Randal. "It's just-I can't
explain."
Walter gave him a curious look. "You've been
saying that a lot recently."
Randal shrugged. "Life's more complicated than I
used to think it was."
"Something else you learned in Tarnsberg?" The
half-teasing question hit harder than Walter had
probably intended. Randal thought of Laerg, who
had looked like every apprentice's ideal of a master