"Katherine Kerr - Deverry 02 - Darkspell" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kerr Katherine)

demanding entry, the wall would keep him out until heтАЩd come to his senses. At the gates, Gweniver
screamed and yelled and kept it up until at last she heard a frightened voice call back that its owner was
on the way. A priestess draped in a shawl yanked the gates open a bare crack, then shoved them wider
when she saw Dolyan.

тАШOh my lady, has the worst come upon your clan?тАЩ

тАШIt has. Will you shelter us?тАЩ

тАШGladly, but I donтАЩt know what to do about this lad with you.тАЩ

тАШItтАЩs only Gwen in her brotherтАЩs clothes,тАЩ Gweniver broke in. тАШI thought weтАЩd best pretend to have a
man with us.тАЩ

тАШWell and good, then,тАЩ the priestess said with a nervous laugh. тАШNow ride in quickly, all of you.тАЩ

Dark and shadowed in the moonlight, the vast temple compound was crowded with buildings, some
of stone, others hastily thrown together out of wood. Priestesses with cloaks thrown over their
nightdresses clustered around the refugees and helped the older women dismount in a chatter of soothing
whispers. Some took the horses to the stables; others led Gweniver and her party to the long wooden
guest house. Once an elegant place for visiting noblewomen, it was now crowded with cots and chests,
because women of all ranks were sheltering there. The blood feud that had reduced the Wolf clan to
three women was only one thread in a hideous tapestry of civil war.

By the light of a candle lantern the priestesses found the newest arrivals empty cots in a corner. In the
midst of the whispers and confusion, Gweniver lay down on the nearest one and fell asleep, boots, sword
belt, and all.

She woke to find a silent, empty dormitory flooded with light from the narrow windows near the roof.
SheтАЩd come to this temple so often that for a moment she was confused: was she here to pray about her
vocation or to represent her clan at the harvest rite? Then the memory came back, sharp as a sword
thrust.

тАШAvoic,тАЩ she whispered. тАШOh, Avoic!тАЩ

Yet no tears came, and she realized that she was hungry. Sore and stretching, she got up and
wandered through a doorway at the end of the dormitory into the refectory, a narrow room crammed
with tables for desperate guests. A neophyte in a white dress kirtled with green screamed aloud.

тАШMy apologies, Gwen,тАЩ she said, laughing. тАШI thought you were a lad for a moment. Sit down, and IтАЩll
fetch you porridge.тАЩ

Gweniver unbuckled the sword belt and slung it on the table next to her as she sat down. She ran one
finger down AvoicтАЩs second-best scabbard, which was chaped in tarnished silver and inlaid with spirals
and interlaced wolves. By all rights under the law, she was the head of the Wolf clan now, but she
doubted if she could ever claim her position. For her to inherit in the female line she would have to
overcome more obstacles than Tieryn Burcan of the Boar.

In a few minutes Ardda, high priestess of the temple, came in to sit beside her. Although she was
close to sixty, with gray hair and web of lines around her eyes, ArddaтАЩs step and carriage were as lithe as