"Barb & J. C. Hendee - Noble Dead 03 - Sister of the Dead" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hendee JC & Barb)

dark robe. Flickering shapes shimmered in the turning breeze. The light of the villagers' lanterns and
torches caught something taking shape in the air.

Faces with sunken cheeks and hollowed eye sockets, flesh shrunk across phantom bones, materialized
in the whirling air. Their translucent hands clutched at the dark robe on all sides, and the masked figure
faded from sight as the whirlpool breeze died.

The night's cold sank sharply into the woman's body as she stared at the empty space.

The father mounted his horse and turned down the path into the forest. The keep was some distance
beyond the trees to the top of a knoll. The son turned his horse to follow, and she heard a shout from
behind in the village. Smothered in despair, she didn't hear it clearly and looked back, grabbing hold of
the son's waist as the horse stepped into a trot.

Up the path came another woman, stout and black-haired, wearing a purple dress. She was running
after the horses with the fallen knife clutched in her hand.

Gripping the horse's sides with her knees, the woman shouted, "Bieja, no!"

Relief filled her. Her older sister had once again come home late from the market in the central village to
the north. The horse lurched forward into a gallop, and she tightened her hold on the son's waist, no
longer able to look back. She heard her sister call out again.

"Magelia!"

Chapter 1

Magiere sensed the instant of dawn, though the inn's small room was dark and shuttered. It called her
from sleep. This first night with Leesil in her arms lingered in her memory, his shoulder beneath her cheek
and her outstretched palm on his chest beneath the blankets. She still feared for him, but perhaps if she
kept him always this close, she could keep him safe even from herself.

A more troublesome thought wormed into her awareness. She fought it down, recalling the scent and
taste and touch of Leesil in the night, until they'd settled into warm slumber. But the thought wouldn't
leave, and perhaps in part it was Leesil's closeness that fed it strength.
 Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html




MageliaтАФand Nein'a.

Two mothers waited. One dead, but the second still lived, or so she hopedтАФfor Leesil's sake.

Magiere opened her eyes to see her fingertips peeking from beneath the blanket's edge across Leesil's
chest. When she lifted her gaze past his shoulder, still bandaged from their battles, she found his amber
eyes looking down at her.

"You're awake, " she said.