"Janrae Frank - Dark Brothers of the Light 02 - Bloood Heresy" - читать интересную книгу автора (Frank Janrae)

appeared with buckets of steaming water and he stood observing them, waiting for the right moment.

One of them turned toward him. Bodramet grabbed his side, swayed, and crumpled to the floor. A
nibari's eyes saucered and she dropped to her knees beside him. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"Dizzy," Bodramet gasped. "I hurt." He indicated the place along his ribs where he had placed the false
marks.

The nibari opened his robe and checked. "You're withering. It looks advanced."

"No. Nooooooo!" Bodramet screamed, doubling over and clutching at his ribs and stomach. "I'm not
ready.... I'm too strong. This can't be happening now."

"Anksha can quicken the withering if she wishes. No one is too strong," said the second one as he joined
the first.

Yoris, awakened by Bodramet's scream, stood blinking in the doorway. He stepped aside as the second
nibari helped Bodramet to rise, and with Bodramet staggering hunched over, got him into his bedroom
and laid him down. Yoris followed, his eyes narrow and considering. Bodramet lay with his robe open
and the covers folded away from the marks on his body. It looked worse and more progressed than
Yoris' own.

The first nibari went for help. Pippa, the elderly nibari who had diagnosed the withering in Yoris, arrived
and did the same for Bodramet. "I am surprised it came on this fast and sudden, unless Anksha did it
deliberately. But I have seen several go this way. I will ask Timon to give you a few days rest before
putting you to work again."

"I am sick," Bodramet protested. "I cannot work."

"Timon will work you till you die," Pippa said. "I'll buy you a few days to get used to it, but only because
of the severity and speed with which it came on you."

Pippa poured him a cup of tea and left him a small steaming pot of it on the nightstand, then departed the
rooms.

"Bodramet.... "Yoris started to speak.

"Go away," Bodramet growled, his voice strained like rage drained through a sieve of anguish. "I want to
sleep."

Once Yoris had gone, Bodramet folded his hands behind his head and smiled. Yoris believed it every bit
as much as the nibari; hence he would spread it around, probably starting with Gareth, maybe a message
to Hoon, and possibly one of Isranon's people. Yoris would play all the angles to see what he could gain
from this, and he would gain far less than he expected when Bodramet made his next moves.

If the foolish Lemyari here thought they were all half-dead from the withering, they would let their guards
down further. He would talk to the others.

****