up. Is only the fact that the court doctor poison me with one of his potions.
Why would you suddenly begin to deny the existence of a night visitor? For the first time in life, I felt offended of my father for the fact that he did not devote me to state’s secrets.
At the bottom I was heard the crash of the wheels of the departing crew. I threw the first raincoat on my shoulders, grabbed the sword and rushed down to the stables. Claude’s warning did not have values for me. If something is hidden from me, then it is no reason. Well, I have enough courage to learn everything myself.
I quickly saddled the horse and slipped along the lowered bridge. Thin grooves from wheels and traces of horse hoofs were noticeable on a wet dirt road. The chain of traces rushed to the forest. Who would have been this strange traveler, but he chose an unsuccessful route. The dark forest road led to the ruins of the old city. People were afraid to walk there even during the day. It is unlikely that there would be a brave one in the entire capital, which at night would go to the ruins. But I, without thinking, sent my horse after the mysterious crew.
I spurred a horse, hoping to catch up with a carriage before it deepened into the forest, but, to my surprise, I discovered that despite the rush, the distance between me and the black carriage is not reduced. Well, not even better, I can follow a person who caused my curiosity, and at the same time remain unnoticed. After all, if I just catch it up and ask him directly, what did he need from my father, will he give me an honest answer? There was no rear window in the carriage, there were no grooms on the footboard. And the coachman could not see the pursuer.
When I accepted the fact that I would have to comply with a respectful distance, the horses neighed wildly. The carriage lurched slightly, there was a crack. I looked closer and saw that one of the rear wheels landed in the ditch. It must be now the driver will jump from the box to inspect the damage, and I will try to provide all possible assistance and, of course, the conversation will begin. But a careless driver and didn’t leave his seat. There was a whistling whip exploded in the night air a few glittering sparks, so bright that I closed my eyes and when I opened them, I could not help but startled a cry. The road was empty, no horses, no coach, just next to the ditch left deep furrows – the latest evidence that there has recently been stuck wheel of carriage.
I was so surprised that I forgot about my own difficulty. When I looked around, I realized that I could move off very far from the edge of the forest. The darkness deepened over the road. In this forest, even during the day it lacked light, and after the midnight thick gloom became impenetrable. I had to make the return journey in the possible shortest time and closely monitored so that my horse did not hit a hoof into some pit. The trees surrounded the trail as the fabulous giants. The thorny branches clung to my clothes and a long mane of a horse. Maybe I too succumbed to the play of the imagination, but it seemed to me that the road is rapidly shrinking, and it will be impossible to go through it soon.
Somewhere flashed a light in a thicket. I dismounted, tied my horse to the trunk of a spruce and rushed to the light. I did not believe the stories of wandering flames and was not afraid that the devil will knock me off track. The farther I went, the brighter was the light. A few more steps and I could see that the flame is burning in a window. Is someone still lives in the hunters’ house. I thought it was already abandoned for a long time, and the royal manager would still not have time to send here a huntsman.
I approached the hollow and looked into the window. There was a candle on the table. A bright radiance was spread from the candle in the room of the hut. And next to the table two girls were sitting. Judging by their luxurious outfits, I would count them to the number of noble ladies. Although what could ladies do at night in the forest wilderness? They did not notice me, and I stood at the window and could not take a look from two red-haired beauties. One of them kept in the hands of the golden yarn, and the other cleverly wove the threads in the ball. They spoke about something, perhaps they joked. One girl laughed, swung in the tact of the movement of head fiery curls. Her silver laughter echoed from the walls of the hut.
«And the youngest prince is beautiful as an angel,» the girl said suddenly. She copied with accuracy to the compliment, which I so often heard from the court ladies. By the tone of her voice, it was impossible to understand whether she was saying this with admiration or simply messengers someone.
«Yes, he is very good,» the second lady agreed more reserved. «I’m sorry for him. Unhappy, handsome boy! He is not created for such fate.»
«This beautiful young man does not even know what is waiting for him. Even the king will not be able to protect him from the wrath of sorcerers,» the girl carefully chose the words as if she was afraid to pronounce the prohibited names. «He is too noble to agree to the terms of the prince.»
«From those who like to play in honor and valor in childhood, are obtained the most revealed villains,» her girlfriend objected completely calmly.
«Is it really that he must choose the way of evil?» said the first lady. «But if he wants to survive, he will have to renounce his nobility and his mortal family. Forget that he himself was once mortal.»
«Prince will take care of opening apart before the elect of the fate the gate of the Empire,» was an answer.
«Keep silence,» the first girl whispered. «Even in the forest it is impossible to disclose our secrets. In addition, the gates in the magic world can be anywhere and at the same time remain invisible for our eyes.»
Her friend nodded silently, postponed her tangle and began to sprawl lace frills on the dress.
«And this country flourishes,» she decided to translate the conversation to another direction. «Any king would like to have such fertile lands, and even gold mines in addition. Sometimes it seems to me that the gnomes themselves violate their own laws and help this mortal to produce emeralds and other treasures.»
«Dwarfs are trying in vain. At the expense of mines grow rich only the retinue of the king and residents of cities, and dissatisfaction is growing in the provinces.»
«But the king holds a strong army and does not give the ambitious neighbors to invade his territory. Now, if his advisers were less corrupt and more intelligent. They never even asked the younger prince about his opinion, and he is smarter than all of them. Whether he is a king, then he would lead a more skillful policy than his father rather than.»
I moved closer to the window. Under the sole of my boot, the dry branch cried. The girls were fixed. One of them looked into the window and noticed me. Anger broke out in her eyes.
I hurriedly moved away from the window and opened the door. I wanted to apologize to the ladies and ask if they did not know another road leading to the castle, but there were no longer them in the hut. Only moths circled over the candle flame. The light danced on the wick a few more moments, and then went out, as if someone blew it. I did not have anything, how to return to the place where I left the horse. Even the most desperate adventure seeker does not want to spend the night in the hut, where creatures like ghosts live.
To my surprise, the milled trees were broken, freeing the roadway. Now I could safely return to the castle. The light of the moon made my way through the lush crowns of firs and felt on an uneven path. Before the edge of the forest, I got safely, only sometimes in silence I was heard a slight fluttering of the wings of the moth.
Hunt on the wild boar
Until the very beginning of winter,
