"Raymond E. Feist - Kingdom of the Isles 2 - The King's Buccaneer" - читать интересную книгу автора (Feist Raymond E)

the Prince's quarters. Harry had a small room near Nicholas's, as he was
officially Prince Nicholas's

Squire.

The Prince's palace in Krondor rested hard against the bay, having in ancient
times been the defensive bastion of the Kingdom on the Bitter Sea. The royal
docks were separated from the rest of the harbor by an area of open shoreline
that was contained within the walls of the palace, Nicholas and Harry cut
across the open expanse of beach and approached the palace from the water.

The palace rose majestically atop a hill, outlined against the afternoon sky,
a sprawling series of apartments and halls grafted around the original keep,
which still served as the heart of the complex. Dwarfed by several other
towers and spires added over the last few centuries, the old keep still
commanded the eye, a brooding reminder of days gone by, when the world was a
far more dangerous place.

Nicholas and Harry pushed open an old metal gate, which provided access to the
harbor for those who worked in the kitchen. The pungency of the harbor, with
its smells of fish, brine, and tar, gave way to more appetizing aromas as they
neared the kitchen. The boys hurried down past the washhouse and the
bakehouse, through a small vegetable garden, and down a low flight of stone
stairs, moving, among servants' huts.

They approached the servants' entrance to the royal family's private
apartments, not wishing a chance encounter with any of Prince Arutha's staff
or, more to the point, with the Prince himself.

THE KING'S BUCCANSZK.

13

Reaching the doors used by the serving staff closest to their own rooms,
Nicholas opened it just as a pair of the palace serving girls approached from
within carrying bundles of linens bound for the washhouse behind the palace.
He stood aside, though his rank gave him precedence, out of respect for their
heavy loads. Harry gave both the girls, only a few years older than himself,
his version of a rakish grin. One giggled and the other fixed him with a look
appropriate to finding a rodent in the larder.

As the young women hurried off, conscious of their impact on the rwo
adolescent boys, Harry grinned and said, "She wants me."

Nicholas gave him a hard push that sent him stumbling through the door,
saying, "Just about as much as I want the belly flux. Keep dreaming."

Hurrying up the stairs to the family's quarters, Harry said, "No, she does.
She hides it, but I can tell."