MORGAN RICE: 4 BEGINNINGS by Morgan Rice

Author:Morgan Rice [Rice, Morgan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2015-08-10T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHT

Thor did his best to keep up with Erec’s squire, hurrying to catch up as he weaved his way through the masses. It had been such a whirlwind since the arena, he could hardly process what was happening all around him. He was still trembling inside, could still hardly believe he had been accepted into the Legion, and he had been named second squire to Erec.

“I told you boy, keep up!” Feithgold snapped.

Thor resented him calling him “boy,” especially as he was hardly a few years older. He nearly lost sight of him as he darted in out of the crowd, almost as if he were trying to lose Thor.

“Is it always this crowded here?” Thor called out, trying to catch up.

“Of course not!” Feithgold yelled back. “Today is not only the summer solstice, the biggest day of the year, but also the day the king chose for his daughter’s wedding—and the only day in history we’ve opened our gates to the McClouds. There has never been such a crowd here as now. It is unprecedented. I hadn’t expected this! I fear we will be late!” he said, all in a rush, as he sped through the crowd.

“Where are we going?” Thor asked.

“We’re going to do what every good squire does: to help our knight prepare!”

“Prepare for what?” Thor pressed, nearly out of breath. It was getting hotter by the minute, and he wiped the sweat from his brow.

“Why, the royal joust!”

They finally reached the edge of the crowd. They stopped before a king’s guard, who recognized Feithgold and gestured to the others to let them pass.

They slipped under a rope and stepped into a clearing, free from the masses. Thor could hardly believe it: there, up close, were the jousting lanes. Behind the ropes stood mobs of spectators, and up and down the dirt lanes stood huge warhorses—the largest Thor had ever seen—mounted by knights in all manner of armor. Mixed among the Silver were knights from all over the two kingdoms, from every province, some in black armor, others in white, wearing helmets and donning weapons of every shape and size. It looked as if the entire world had descended on these jousting lanes.

There were already some competitions were in progress, knights from places Thor did not recognize charging each other, clanging lances and shields, followed always by a short cheer from the crowd. Up close, Thor could not believe the strength and speed of the horses, the sound the weapons made. It seemed like a deadly business.

“It hardly seems like a sport!” Thor said to Feithgold as he followed him along the perimeter of the lanes.

“That’s because it is not,” Feithgold yelled back, over the sound of a clang. “It is a serious business, masked as a game. People die here, every day. It is battle. Lucky are the ones who walk away unscathed. They are far and few between.”

Thor looked up as two knights charged each other and moments later, collided at full speed. There

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