"Terry Goodkind - Sword of Truth 3 - Blood of the Fold" - читать интересную книгу автора (Goodkind Terry)

of the others cautiously did the same. Each of them had bloody scratches on
their eyelids, eyebrows, and cheeks from trying desperately, but futilely, to
claw their eyes open, to wake themselves from the snare of sleep, in a vain
attempt to escape the dream that was not a dream.
Ulicia struggled to clear the fog from her mind. It must have been a simple
nightmare.
She forced herself to look away from the flame, at the other women. Sister Tovi
hunched in a lower bunk opposite, the thick rolls of flesh at her sides seeming
to sag in sympathy with the morose expression on her wrinkled face as she
watched
the lamp. Sister Cecilia's habitually tidy, curly gray hair stood out in
disarray, her incessant smile replaced by an ashen mask of fear as she stared up
from the lower bunk next to Tovi. Leaning forward a bit, Ulicia glanced at the
bunk above. Sister Armina, not nearly as old as Tovi or Cecilia, but closer to
Ulicia's age and still attractive, appeared haggard. With shaking fingers, the
usually staid Armina wiped the blood from her eyelids.
Across the confining walkway, in the bunks above Tovi and Cecilia, sat the two
youngest and most self-possessed Sisters. Ragged scratches marred the flawless
skin of Sister Nicci's cheeks. Strands of her blond hair stuck to the tears,
sweat, and blood on her face. Sister Merissa, equally beautiful, clutched a
blanket to her naked breast, not in modesty, but in shuddering dread. Her long,
dark hair was a tangled mat.
The others were older, and adeptly wielded power tempered in the forge of
experience, but both Nicci and Merissa were possessed of rare, innate, dark
talentsтАФ a deft touch that no amount of experience could invoke. Astute beyond
their years, neither was beguiled by Cecilia or Tovi's kindly smiles or gentle
affectations. Though young and self-assured, they both knew that Cecilia, Tovi,
Armina, and especially Ulicia herself were capable of taking them both apart,
piece by piece, if they so chose. Still, that did not diminish their mastery; in
their own right, they were two of the most formidable women ever to have drawn
breath. But it was for their singular resolve to prevail that the Keeper had
selected them.
Seeing these women she knew so well in such a state was unnerving, but it was
the sight of Merissa's unbridled terror that really shook Ulicia. She had never
known a Sister as composed, as unemotional, as implacable, as merciless, as
Merissa. Sister Merissa had a heart of black ice.
Ulicia had known Merissa for close to 170 years, and in all that time she could
not recall having ever seen her cry. She was sobbing now.
Sister Ulicia drew strength from seeing the others in a condition of such abject
weakness, and in fact it pleased her; she was their leader, and stronger than
they.
The man was still banging at the door, wanting to know what the trouble was,
what the screaming was all about. She unleashed her anger toward the door.
тАЬLeave us! If you are needed you will be summoned!"
The sailor's muffled curses faded away as he retreated down the passageway. The
only sound, other than the creak of timbers as the ship yawed when struck abeam
by a heavy sea, was the sobbing.
"Stop your sniveling, Merissa," Ulicia snapped.
Merissa's dark eyes, stilt glazed with fear, focused on her. "It's never been
like that before." Tovi and Cecilia nodded their agreement. "I've done his