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

urgency, don't you?"
Merissa glanced at the men, as if surveying bugs beneath her boots. тАЬOf course,
Sister. We must return at once."
Ulicia turned to see that Captain Blake had just arrived and was standing behind
them, his mouth agape.
"Turn this ship around, Captain," Ulicia said. "At once."
His tongue darted out to wet his lips as his gaze skipped among the women's
eyes. "Now you're wanting to go back? Why?"
Ulicia lifted a finger in his direction. "You were paid well, Captain, to take
us where we want to go, when we want to go. I told you before that questions
were not part of the bargain, and I also promised you that I would separate you
from your hide if you violated any part of that bargain. If you test me you will
find that I am not nearly as indulgent as Merissa here; I don't grant a quick
death. Now, turn this ship around!"
Captain Blake leaped into action. He straightened his coat and glared at his
men. "Back to it, you sluggards!" He gestured to the helmsman. "Mister Dempsey,
bring 'er about." The man seemed to be still frozen in shock. "Right bloody now,
Mister Dempsey!"
Snatching his scruffy hat from his head, Captain Blake bowed to Ulicia, careful
not to let his gaze stray from her eyes. "As you wish, Sister. Back around the
great barrier, to the Old World."
"Set a direct course, Captain. Time is of the essence."
He squashed his hat in a fist. "Direct course! We can't be sailing through the
great barrier!" He immediately softened his tone. "It's not possible. We'll all
be killed."
Ulicia pressed a hand over the burning pang in her stomach. "The great barrier
is down, Captain. It is no longer a hindrance to us. Set a direct course."
He rung his hat. "The great barrier is down? That's impossible. What makes you
think ..."
She leaned toward him. "Again, you would question me?"
"No, Sister. No, course not. If you say the barrier is down, then it is. Though
I don't understand how what cannot happen has happened, I know it's not my place
to question. A direct course it is." He wiped his hat across his mouth.
"Merciful Creator protect us," he muttered, turning to the helmsman, anxious to
retreat from her glare. "Hard a-starboard, Mister Dempsey!"
The man glanced down at the men on the tiller. "We're already hard a-starboard,
Captain."
"Don't argue with me or I'll let you swim back!"
"Aye, Captain. Get to the lines!" he shouted at men already slipping some lines
and hauling in on others, "Prepare to come about!"
Ulicia surveyed the men glancing nervously over their shoulders. "Sisters of the
Light have eyes in the backs of their heads, gentlemen. See that yours look
nowhere else, or it will be the last thing you see in this life." Men nodded
before bending to their tasks.
Back in their crowded cabin, Tovi wrapped her shivering bulk in her coverlet.
"It's been quite a while since I had strapping young men leering at me." She
glanced to Nicci and Merissa. "Enjoy the admiration while you're still worthy of
it."
Merissa pulled her shift from the chest at the end of the cabin. "It wasn't you
they were leering at."