"Dave Duncan - Tales of King's Blades 2 - Lord of The Firelands" - читать интересную книгу автора (Duncan Dave)

did deliver the message. By the time Raider
heard of the King's approach, the royal
procession was at the gates and escape had
become impossible.



Even before the King's arrival, that day had been
a memorable one in Ironhall. Two swords
had been Returned and three names written in the
Litany of Heroes. It was the Litany that was
special. Returns were common enough, for the school
had been turning out Blades for several
centuries and they were mortal like other men. Unless
a Blade was lost at sea or died in a far
country, his sword came back at last
to Ironhall to hang in the famous sky of
swords.
Every newcomer began as the Brat. The ideal
recruit was around fourteen with good eyes and fast
reflexes, either orphaned or rejected by his
family, and at least rebellious--preferably
a holy terror. As old Sir Silver had said
on numerous occasions: "The wilder the better.
You can't put an edge on soft metal." Some
of them were driven out by the hazing, a few gave up
later, and very rarely a boy was expelled. Those
who lasted the full five years emerged as the
finest swordsmen in the world, companions in the
Loyal and Ancient Order of the King's
Blades, every one as sharp and polished and deadly as
the cat's-eye sword he was then privileged
to wear. The King accepted about half of them into the
Royal Guard and assigned the rest to ministers,
relatives, courtiers, or anyone else he
chose. To serve was an honor, and Grand Master
turned away many more boys than he accepted.
It was only four years since Lord
Bannerville, the Chivian
ambassador to Fitain, had bound Sir Spender
as his third Blade. When Fitain had erupted
in civil war, Spender and his two brother
Blades, Sir Burl and Sir Dragon, had
managed to smuggle their ward out of the chaos, but the
latter two had died in the process. That morning
Spender had Returned their swords.
Standing in the hall under that baleful canopy of
five thousand swords, the survivor told the
story to the assembled candidates, masters, and
knights. He said very little about his own part; but his