"Bill Fawcett & Brian Thomsen - Masters of Fantasy" - читать интересную книгу автора (Fawcett Bill)

Vedalia was silent so long that Alain thought the conversation was over.
:Look around you,: Vedalia said. :Listen to the birdsong in the trees. Feel that free wind in your hair.
Take a deep breath of air that no human has been breathing but you. Think about all you're learning
from the wild things. Are you really so unhappy that your Gift brought you here?:
Well, put that way. . . .
:Hmm. I suppose not.:
:And admit it; it's a relief to be away from Alara for the first time in your life.:
Alain laughed aloud; Herald Stedrel looked back over his shoulder and smiled at him, then turned his
attention back to the trail ahead.
It was a relief to be away from Alara, who thought she had to have the last word in everything they did,
who bossed him as if she was five years, not half a candlemark, older than he. It was a relief to be away
from all of his siblings, and from the Court, and all the burdens of royal birth. And so far, although no
one could call circuit-riding in the hinterlands a pleasure-jaunt, he'd been enjoying it. He would probably
change his mind as soon as winter set in and they were riding with snow up to Vedalia's hocks, but right
now, he was enjoying it.
Out here, no one knew he was a Prince. He could flirt with pretty village girls, he could swim naked by
moonlight, he could dance at fairs and sing rude songs and no one would make a face or take him aside
to remind him that he must act with more decorum. Stedrel actually encouraged him to kick up his heels
within reason. He might even try the experiment some time of getting really and truly drunk, though he'd
have to wait until he was pretty sure he wouldn't be needed.
:You'll regret it,: Vedalia laughed.
:Probably. But at least I'll have tried it. And maybe I'll try a few more things, tooтАФ:
:Tch. Sixteen, and delusions of immortality,: Vedalia teased.
:Doesn't that go with being sixteen?: he retorted.
No, on second consideration, he wouldn't trade being out here for any of the Internships his sibs had. He
wished Alara joy of the Lord Martial, who thought that women in general were useless and good only as
decoration, and female Heralds in particular were a nuisance. She wouldn't get around him by speaking
in a slightly higher, more breathy voice and acting hurt, or by turning bossy either.
Maybe that was the point. Internships were supposed to teach you about really being a Herald.
He wondered just what he was supposed to learn out here.

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 - Chapter 2

:A good question. Now find the answer to it.: Vedalia tossed his head and Alain smiled.
Then he asked Vedalia to move up alongside of Stedrel's Lovell. "Is there anything I should know about
the next village, sir?" he asked respectfully, drawing a smile from the taciturn Herald.
"This'll be our first fishing village, Alain," Stedrel told him. "Do you remember your classes about the
Lake Evendim fisher-folk?"
Alain nodded, but not because he recalled his classes as such; one of his yearmates had been from Lake
Evendim, and had regaled them all with stories about "home." "Not exactly Holderkin, are they, sir," he
responded tentatively.
Sted just snorted. "Not exactly, no. But at least if one of the girls sneaks you off into the water-caves you
won't find yourself facing a father, a priest, and a wedding next day." He grinned when Alain blushed.
"And unless you have the stamina of a he-goat," the older Herald continued wickedly, as Alain's flushes
deepened, "You won't flirt the way you have been with more than one girl at a time."
"TheyтАФwouldn't!" Alain choked.
"They would, both together," Sted replied. "Or even threeтАФif you're monumentally stupid enough to put
that to the test. With the men out on the boats so much, and fishing being the hazardous occupation that
it is, the girls getтАФ"