"Joanna Wylde - Dancing With Dionysus" - читать интересную книгу автора (Wylde Joanna)

that only the god could induce. It sickened her.

At last she was on the outskirts of the clearing, scrambling through the
brush. She paused to catch her breath when a new sound filled her ears. It was
the high, keening shriek of the Maenads. They were near, and if they found her
she would die at their hands. She had to keep moving.

She pulled herself to her feet, desperately clutching the folds of her shawl
around her head.

Time to go.



*****



There was something different in the air, Sabiniano thought, setting down the
scroll he was reading. It was the eve of the mid-winter festival, and all
around him his people were starting their revels. He could sense their every
movement, smell their lust. Already they were drunk. The Maenads roved through
the forests, looking for their victims and dancing in praise of the god. All
of that was as it should be. But there was something else.

Slowly he walked through the temple of Dionysus, passing through the broad
pillars and out onto the porch. The temple stood on the highest point on the
island, and from his vantage point he could see across the wooded hills all
the way to the ocean. The moon was full, casting silvery light across his
domain. He sniffed the air, closing his eyes to focus on the scents around
him. There was a group of satyrs and nymphs, fucking wildly. Nothing of
interest. He could smell the Maenads, too. They had found a deer, and were
cornering it. Soon they would rip it apart with their bare hands, drinking the
blood. Once again, nothing of interest to him. There were many ways to worship
the god. Sabiniano knew all too well how the smell of blood pleased Dionysus.

He turned, extending his senses further. He could feel the fear radiating
from the humans who lived at the small port. They, too, existed to serve the
god, providing his people with what little they desired from the outside
world. The humans were locked in their small stone houses, calling on Dionysus
to keep them safe. Sabiniano snorted in amusement. He knew how little Dionysus
cared for these souls under his protection. The humans would live tonight, but
only because they served a purpose. He had long forbidden his people to enter
their village during the festival. When the god touched them with his madness,
the temptation to rape and kill was too strong. Dionysus was many things, but
never gentle.

There was more fear. Here and there across the island were small groups of
humans. He tested each of themтАФsome were women who had come to join the
Maenads. Their fate was out of his hands; either the god would accept them or