"Terry Goodkind - Sword of Truth 4 - Temple of the Winds" - читать интересную книгу автора (Goodkind Terry)

"You heard her," Cara said. "Out."
"But-" an officer began.
"You doubt that a Mord-Sith is capable of handling this one scrawny man? Now,
go wait outside."
Kahlan was surprised that Cara hadn't raised her voice. Mord-Sith didn't have
to raise their voices to get people to follow their orders, but still it
surprised her, considering Cara's nervousness over the young man before them.
The men began withdrawing, turning sideways to eye the intruder on the floor
as they filed out the door. The knuckles of the officer's fist around his
sword hilt were white. As he backed out last, he gently closed the door with
his other hand.
The young man looked up from under his arm to the two women standing three
strides away. "Are you going to have me killed?"
Kahlan didn't answer the question directly. "We have come to talk with you. I
am Kahlan Amnell, the Mother Confessor-"
"Mother Confessor!" He straightened on his knees. A boyish grin swept onto his
face. "Why, you're beautiful! I never expected you to be so beautiful."
He put a hand to a knee and began to rise. Cara's Agiel was instantly at the
ready.
"Stay where you are."
He froze, staring at the red Agiel before his face, and then lowered the knee
back onto the fringe of the crimson carpet. Lamps on the fluted mahogany
pilasters supporting shallow pediments over bookcases to each side of the room
cast flickering light across his bony face. He was hardly more than a boy.
"Can I have my weapons back, please? I need my sword. If I can't have that,
then I'd like my knife, at least."
Cara heaved an irritated sigh, but Kahlan spoke first. "You are in a very
precarious position, young man. None of us is in the mood to be indulgent if
this is some kind of prank."
He nodded earnestly. "I understand. I'm not playing a game. I swear."
"Then tell me what you said to the soldiers."
His grin returned as he lifted a hand, gesturing casually toward the door.
"Well, like I was telling those men when I was-"
Fists at her side, Kahlan advanced a stride. "I told you, this is no game!
You're only alive by my grace! I want to know what you're doing here, and I
want to know right now! Tell me what you said!"
The young man blinked. "I'm an assassin, sent by Emperor Jagang. I'm here to
kill Richard Rahl. Can you direct me to him, please?"

CHAPTER 2

Now," Cara said in a dangerous voice, "can I kill him?"
The incongruous nature of this harmless-looking, skinny young man, kneeling,
seemingly helpless, in enemy territory, surrounded by hundreds, thousands of
brutish D'Haran soldiers, saying so openly and confidently that he intended to
assassinate Richard, had Kahlan's heart hammering against her ribs.
No one was this foolish.
She realized, only after the fact, that she had retreated a step. She ignored
Cara's question and kept her attention riveted on the young man.
"And just how do you think you could accomplish such a task?"