"Elliott,.Kate.-.Crown.Of.Stars.3.-.Burning.Stone" - читать интересную книгу автора (Elliott Kate)

Lavastine smiled slightly. "You are not swayed by their levity,
as you should not be. You have made a name for yourself in
war. Others have noticed that you also apply yourself to the
study of scientia. It's such practical knowledge that will allow
you to administer Lavas lands as well as I have done in my
time. Your serious manner proves in the eyes of the worthy
that you are cast of noble metal."

The praise embarrassed Alain. He did not feel worthy. Below,
the fishermen had hauled their nets out into the shallows and
now shouted and whooped with the good cheer of young men
who haven't a care in the world as they tossed fish into
baskets that rested on the rocky shore. A few fish slipped
from their hands in twisting leaps that spun them back into the
river and freedom. But the baskets were by now almost full;
their contents churned and slithered, scales flashing in the
light like liquid silver.

The horn rang out again, closer. A large animal erupted from
cover and scrambled into the orchard. The king's huntsmen
began shouting all at once, bringing their hunting spears to
bear. Lavas-tine's hounds sprang up and tore away, only to
stop short when Lavastine whistled piercingly. They barked
furiously as a huge boar appeared in the distance beneath the
shelter of a cluster of apple trees.

At that moment, two parties of about equal numbers galloped
free of the woods, one from the southern edge of the spur of
woodland and the other from its center. Princess Sapientia led
the first party. Her banner rippled blue and white from a lance
carried by a servant, and her companions thundered along
beside her so colorfully outfitted that they obliterated the
serenity of cultivated land. Some few even jumped
hedgerows and trampled fields in their haste to reach the boar
before the other party did.

That other party had come clear of the woodland closer to the
hunted beast, but their leader made such a clear point of
avoiding any stands of oat and bypassing one stoutly growing
field of beans that they closed on the boar from the north just
as Princess Sapientia and her entourage circled in from the
south. For an instant the two parties faced each other, as do
enemy forces in a skirmish: the princess small and fierce on a
skittish gelding rather too large for her; her half brother so at
his ease with a hunting spear in one hand and the other light
on the reins of a magnificent gray that he seemed to shine
under the glare of the sun.

The king raised a hand, and his own companions paused,
holding back. Everyone watched. The boar bolted away