"Tamora Pierce - Protector Of The Small 3 - Squire" - читать интересную книгу автора (Pierce Tamora)

He was a head taller than Kel, with curly black hair cropped short, black eyes, and a broad, ruddy face.
"I'm not sure I could have nailed that target." Jump trotted over to offer the ring to the big knight. Raoul
took it, tested its weight, and whistled. "Willow? I don't think I could nail it - the ring I use is oak."
Kel ducked her head. "We practice a great deal, that's all, my lord. Jump wants you to throw it for
him."
With a flick of the wrist the knight tossed the ring, letting it sail down the road. Jump raced under it
until he could leap and catch the prize. Holding his tail and single ear proudly erect, he ran back to Raoul
and Kel.
"Practice is the difference between winning and being worm food," Raoul told Kel. "Do you have a
moment? I need to discuss something with you."
"I'm at my lord's service." Kel stood at ease, Peachblossom's reins in her hand.
"I owe you an apology," the knight confessed. "I'd meant to see you right after the big exams, but we
were called east - ogres sneaked over the border from Tusaine. We just got back. If you haven't
accepted an offer from some other knight, would you like to be my squire?"
Kel blinked at him, unable to believe her ears. Over the last four years, when she hadn't dreamed of
serving Lady Alanna, she had slipped in a daydream or two of being Lord Raoul's squire. It wasn't that
far-fetched - the man had shown he had a kindness for her in the past - but when he didn't visit after the
big examinations, her daydreams had turned to dust. It had never occurred to her that he might have been
called away. Palace gossip, usually accurate about who was in residence and who was not, had
crumpled under the flood of guests for the congress.
Finally she blurted out, "But you never take a squire!"
Jump barked: Lord Raoul still held the willow ring. He flipped it into the air, straight up. Jump gave him
a look, as if to say, Very funny, and waited until the ring was six feet from the ground before he leaped to
catch it.
"Oh, all right." Raoul sent the circle skimming across the training yard. Jump raced after it gleefully. To
Kel Raoul said, "I had a squire once, about twenty years ago. Why don't we sit" - he pointed to a nearby
bench - "and I'll explain."
Kel followed him over and sat when he did. He took the ring from a victorious Jump and sent it flying
again.
"See, I haven't needed a squire since I joined the King's Own." The big man leaned back, stretching
brawny legs out in front of him. He was dressed not in a courtier's shirt, tunic, hose, and soft leather
shoes, but in a country noble's brown jerkin and breeches, a crimson shirt, and calf-high riding boots. He
shifted so he could watch Kel's face as they talked. "We have servants with the Own, and a
standard-bearer, so my having a squire wasn't an issue. But you know the Yamani princess and her
ladies arrive next year."
Kel nodded. She felt very odd, as if she occupied another girl's body. Was he asking her out of pity?
That would be almost as bad as service to a desk knight - though she'd still take the offer.
"Once they get here, Chaos will swallow us" the man went on. "Their majesties plan to take the court
on a Grand Progress - do you know what that is?"
"Yes, sir," Kel replied. "Master Oakbridge, our etiquette teacher, talked about it all last year. It's to
show Princess Shinkokami to the realm, so people can see the heir's future wife."
Raoul nodded. "Which means a grand parade throughout the realm. Two mortal years of balls,
tournaments, banquets, and other nonsense. Oh, some useful things will get done - they mean to survey
the roads and hold a census, paper-shuffling, mostly. I have no problem with that, since I don't have to
do it. But fuss and feathers make my blood run cold."
Kel's lips quivered in the tiniest of smiles. The Knight Commander was infamous for dodging as many
ceremonies as he could.
"Servants and our standard-bearer won't be enough when I have to deal with every jumped-up,
self-important toady in the country." He thumped his knee with a fist the size of a small ham. "And I know
nothing about the Yamanis. You lived six years at their court and speak the language."