"04.Prince of the Blood" - читать интересную книгу автора (Feist Raymond E)

18 Prince of the Blood

Princes, and James said, "If Your Highnesses would be
so kind as to follow us."

Borric and Eriand both glanced at their life-long
tutors and "uncles" and then at each other. Both had an
inkling of what was to come. Their father had never laid
strap nor hand upon any of his children, to the profound
relief of his wife, but that still didn't prevent regular
bouts of "fighting practice," when the boys were un-
ruly, which was most of the time.

Waiting outside, Lieutenant William quietly fell into
step with the twins and the Barons as they moved down
the hall. He hurried to open the door, which led to
Prince Arutha's gymnasium, a large room where the
royal family could practice their skills with sword, dag-
ger, or hand-to-hand combat.

Baron James led the procession down the hall. At the
door to the gymnasium, William again moved to open
the door, for while he was second cousin to the twins, he
was still merely a soldier in the company of nobles.
Borric entered the room first, followed by Eriand and
James, with Locklear and William behind.

Inside the room, Borric nimbly turned and walked
backwards, his hands raised in a boxers pose, as he said,
"We're a lot older and bigger, now, Uncle Jimmy. And
you're not going to sucker punch me behind the ear like
you did last time."

Eriand leaned to the left, clutching his side in exag-
geration and suddenly developed a limp. "And faster,
too. Uncle Locky." Without warning, he threw an el-
bow at Locklear's head. The Baron, a seasoned soldier
of almost twenty years, dodged aside, allowing Eriand
to overbalance. He then turned him in a circle by haul-
ing on one arm, and pushed him into the center of the
gymnasium.

The two Barons stood away as both brothers stood
poised for a fight, fists upraised. With a wry grin, James
raised his hands palms out and said, "Oh, you're too
young and fast for us, all right." The tone of sarcasm was
not lost on the boys. "But as we have to be clear headed
over the next few days, we thought we'd forego the
pleasure of seeing how far you've come in the last two