"Jude Fisher - Fool's Gold 01 - Sorcery Rising" - читать интересную книгу автора (Fisher Jude)

the necessary physical strength or coordination to compete with his brother, or anyone
else, for that matter; his fear of water made him sink, stiff-muscled, to the lake floor;
spears left his hand on unpredictable trajectories which had the slaves running wildly out
of the way; the delicate southern swords—too light, surely, to be effective as a
weapon?—slipped awkwardly from his fingers; and as for fist-fighting . . . Maybe it was
just that he lacked the will to win. Probably it had more to do with the fact that with
Tanto around, there was hardly any point in competing. Why try and fail, only to be
beaten and chastised? It seemed easier to accept his limitations and live with his father's
inevitable disappointment. "Saro, you will never amount to anything," Favio Vingo said
constantly, and Saro had now come to accept that as an ineluctable truth.
Besides, Saro thought to himself, seeing how his brother's chest was swelling from his
inability to draw breath while talking so about himself, if you had to be like Tanto in order
to succeed, who wanted to be a champion?
". . . so it's the swordplay in which I should really excel, with that new damascened
blade of mine, even though Fortran's father gave him a gilded guard for his saber, and
Haro's been taking lessons all summer from that swordmaster from Gila," Tanto finished
in a rush.
"Clearly, brother, who could possibly match you?" Tanto grinned in agreement, then
uncoiled himself and strolled across the enclosure to supervise the slaves who were
completing the stockade. Tall and muscular, he walked with an easy grace Saro knew he'd
never possess, though, as children, kind aunts, the glint of their eyes bright through the
veils of their sabatkas, their hands all aflutter with affection, had often remarked upon
how alike the two boys looked: "Like fir cones from the same branch!" Which had not
pleased Tanto, and even though they shared a superficial similarity, Saro found himself
feeling a fraud, guilty at the aunts' obvious error of judgment.
Now, Tanto was firing off loud commands at the work crew without the slightest
hesitation or doubt as to his right to do so. At once, the slaves redoubled their efforts,
careful not to meet his eye. The colts, meanwhile, trotted to the other side of the pen,
blowing through their noses and looking expectantly at Saro. With a quick glance to make
sure that Tanto's attention was safely engaged elsewhere, Saro slipped his hand into the
bag inside his tunic and drew out some of the horse nuts he'd smuggled over with him.
Neither Tanto nor their father approved of "spoiling" the animals thus. They're here to
make us money," Favio had said. "A great deal of money. They're not pets." Fine-bred
horses were considerable assets in Istria, for status, for spectacle, for racing, and as a
sweetener to attract the best officers for the standing armies that each province prided
itself upon. The trading of stock such as these was one of the Vingo family's major income
sources. Only family members were allowed to tend the animals, for Favio, a superstitious
man when it came to money, was convinced that the touch of an outsider's hand upon his
bloodstock would somehow taint or subvert the purity of their Falla-dedicated breeding
lines. And so it was that both lads had traveled to the Moonfell Plain the long way, this
year, along with several of their compatriots: for the livestock barges were too slow and
cumbersome to deal with the fast waters of the Alta River, or the open sea, and instead
had to make their meandering way up the wide, placid Golden River. Tanto, of course,
had complained bitterly at not being allowed passage on the Vingo ship, the Maid of
Calastrina, with the rest of the clan, but in this alone his father had not indulged him. "My
boy," he had said, "your marriage payment and future success may rest on the price we
get for the bloodstock this year. Remember that. Care for the animals with all diligence,
and ride the river with a hopeful heart, for if all goes to plan, by Allfair next year you will
be lord of your own domain, owner of a noble wife and a fair castle."
Tanto had stopped complaining after that, but he'd avoided the horses as soon as they