《The Star Scroll》作者： - Melanie Rawn 【EPUB】

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Chapter One Graypearl Prince Lleyns elegant jewel box of a palace nestled atop its hill in a sculpted setting of lushspring grass and flowering trees. Built of stone that gleamed at dawn and sunset with the subtleiridescence from which it drew its name it was one of the few princely residences that had never been afortress. No defensive architecture had ever been needed on the island of Dorval at peace with itself andthe nearby continent for longer than anyones great-grandfather could remember. Graypearls towers hadbeen fashioned for beauty not war. Gardens spread in curved terraces overlooking a tiny harbor where boats sailed out in season to harvestthe pearl beds. A small army of groundskeepers kept the luxuriant spring growth of flowers herbs andtrees from running riot—but no one could impose similar order on the boy who ran an intricate patternbetween the rose trees kicking a deerhide ball before him. He was a slight youth rather small for hisfourteen winters. But there was the promise of height in his long bones and he moved with an agility thatolder squires had reason to bemoan in games of skill with blunted knives and wooden swords. Darkblond hair crowned a clever oval face whose most vivid feature was a pair of large fine eyes thatchanged from blue to green depending on his mood and the color of his clothes. It was a quick faceintelligent and sensitive with its share of inherent pride in bones which were becoming more visible as hisfeatures lost their childish roundness. But there was nothing about him to suggest that he was anythingmore than a squire fostered to Prince Lleyns court for training released from afternoon duties andplaying happily by himself in the gardens. Certainly there was no indication that he was the only son of theHigh Prince destined to inherit not only his fathers Desert lands but those of Princemarch as well. Princess Audrite wife of Lleyns heir Chadric watched the boy with an indulgent smile. Her own sonshad gone to other courts just as this youth had and returned as young knights skilled in all thegraces—not her little boys anymore. She spared a sigh for having missed their growing years but otheryoungsters had filled up her time and some of them portions of her heart. Maarken Lord Chaynal ofRadzyns eldest son and cousin to the boy playing in the gardens had been one of her favorites with hisswift mind and sunny smiles. But this golden princeling she watched now was special. Made of air and light he was with a temper like flashfire through summer- dry timber and a streak of mischief thathad more than once landed him in trouble. In fact he ought not to have been excused his duties like theother squires this afternoon for he still owed her the copying of a hundred lines of verses after amisdemeanor yesterday in the kitchens