"Sara Douglass - Redemption 3 - Crusader" - читать интересную книгу автора (Douglass Sara)

were the same — and yet radically different. Both face and eyes were transfused with such depth of
understanding (Faraday did not think she could call it "power"), and such heights of compassion that she
thought she might choke on her emotion.
DragonStar half-smiled, acknowledging her reaction, straightened, hesitated, then
brushed past her and opened the door to his chamber. "You wanted to speak to me?"
Faraday's temper flashed.
"Is that all you have to say?" She turned and followed him into the room. "What happened to
you? And Caelum? And Qeteb? And Tencendor? None of us have heard —"
DragonStar laid a hand on her mouth. "Hush, Faraday. First, there are other things that must be said
between us."
She didn't want to. She wanted to hide in the safety of hearing what had happened above. She
wanted to tell him about her encounter with Isfrael. She wanted him to know that the Earth Tree had
gone, but that was all right, because in her belt she had —
He slid an arm about her waist and pulled her gently against him. "I missed you."
"Who are you?" she whispered, somehow terrified of this being that Drago had transformed into.
"The same man," he said, his eyes travelling slowly over her face, "but deeper."
 "Harder?"
He shook his head. "Softer." His arm tightened fractionally.
"Qeteb —"
"Qeteb can wait. Faraday, talk to me."
She took a huge breath and closed her eyes momentarily. What had the Mother said? Until you
learn to dare, you will never live. Take that risk, Faraday ... take that risk.
"I will not betray you, Faraday," DragonStar whispered, and she realised he was now very,, very
close. So close that his warmth burnt through the layers of linen between them. "Trust me, trust me ..."
His voice drifted off and she opened her eyes.
I will never betray you, she heard him whisper in her mind, not for another woman, not for
riches or glory, and not for this land.
"I do not require your blood," he said aloud now, although still in a whisper, "Tencendor does not
require your blood."
And still she had not spoken.
Faraday...
How hateful, she thought, that I have found it so difficult to accept his love.
Faraday.
How hateful that I have found it so hard to accept the Sanctuary of his heart.
Faraday.
How hard that I have found it so seductive to allow myself to remain the perpetual victim rather than
allowing myself to live.
Faraday.
She shifted slightly in his arms, exploring the feel of his body against hers.
DragonStar, she whispered back into his mind. And then she smiled, and laughed a little, and
relaxed against him, and then laughed a little more at the smile on his face.
"I have loved you forever," she said, and those were the easiest words she had ever said in
her many existences.

Chapter 8
ThePloughedField

DragonStar's witches sat in a circle on their straight-backed wooden chairs, their hands folded in their
laps, eyes downcast.
Faraday was dressed again in her white linen gown, the Mother's rainbow sash about her