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

evening meal: a small portion of burned
meat and soggy bread.
He retreated with the food to the chimney corner, where
he wolfed down the bread and meat in spite of the
taste. As usual, the food vanished long before his
hunger was satisfied. He thought wistfully of the
meals he'd eaten at the Schola. Like most other
apprentices, he had complained about the school's
plain and somewhat monotonous fare. But there had always
been more than enough to fill even the emptiest stomach.
"If I'd known then what I know now ..." Randal
muttered. The cook shot him a murderous look, and
he fell silent again.
After his meal, he made his way across the yard to his
sleeping place in the stable. Although the afternoon had been
hot, the night breeze blowing through the dark inn yard
made Randal shiver. His stomach growled a protest
against the scanty meal, but since he couldn't do
anything about the emptiness in his midsection, he
ignored it.
He couldn't help remembering what Madoc the
Wayfarer had said when Randal was still a squire at his
uncle's castle, and becoming a wizard had seemed
like a bright and wonderful dream: "You'll be hungry
more often than fed," the master wizard had told him,
and you'll spend more time in danger on the road
than safe under a roof."
Madoc was certainly right about that one,
thought Randal. So intent was he on his own thoughts that
he
didn't watch the path ahead of him. A moment
later, he ran straight into a warm, cloth-covered
wall.
"Churl!" said a familiar and slightly drunken
voice. It was the young knight he'd encountered in the
inn yard earlier. "Do you realize you've stepped on
the toe of a nobleman?"
Wonderful,
Randal thought.
Just the way I wanted to end the day.
He tried to sidestep the young knight and continue on
toward the stable. But the nobleman was not pleased.
"Don't you have a tongue, you insolent oaf? I'll
teach you to touch a knight."
"I'm ... I'm sorry, my lord," Randal
mumbled. "You certainly are," growled the knight.
"And you'd be even sorrier if I had the schooling of
you."
Randal started to mutter something properly
apologetic, but a second voice cut in from behind