"Janrae Frank - Journey of Sacred King 3 - My Father's House" - читать интересную книгу автора (Frank Janrae)

adventure had turned into a nightmare and she had no one to talk to.

"And it is my own fault." Arruth covered her mouth with her hands, realizing she
had spoken aloud. She froze like a deer, listening, ready to run. She resisted the tears
pressing for release at the edges of her eyes.

Talons had given Arruth and her sister, Jysy, two rules when she brought them to
Creeya as her protégés: no stealing and no kissing. They kept the no stealing rule.
That one went without saying. The kissing rule did not immediately make sense to
Arruth. In Shaurone, less than one in four children was born male and the attitude
toward sex was "have a good time." Innocent prepubescent sexual exploration was
regarded with affectionate indulgence and the females were the sexual predators.

Coming to Creeya, Arruth had never seen so many males in one place before in her
life, so she had romped through like a sprite in a candy shop at first, which drove
Talons to distraction, finally making her very angry. "Creeya is not Shaurone! It is
dangerous to just go around kissing strange men. Promise me you will not break the
rules anymore." Arruth had promised, but she had not kept the rules. By the time she
understood what Talons meant, it was far too late to mend it and she was too
ashamed to tell anyone: in Creeya the sexual predators were male. Which was why
she was hiding in the bushes.

The densely forested Stalking Grounds, much of it left half wild to increase the
difficulty of traversing it, was for those Assassins' Guildsmyn who were taking the
roles of hunter and prey in the training exercises. Arruth had hoped that she could
lose Lord Wrathscar and his myn here, but even now she heard them coming closer.
Lord Wrathscar was Bryndel's father, soon to be Talons' father-in-law. Weeks ago,
in a playful mood, Arruth had kissed him and learned why Talons made the "no
kissing rule" – Lord Wrathscar raped her.

That afternoon, Wrathscar sent two myn to bring her to him, and instead she ran
into the depths of the Stalking Grounds, going farther and farther until she was
completely lost. Queiggy, the little chief clerk at the Guild Wing of the palace, had
once told her there was a secret gate that would let out onto the mountain itself. So,
thinking that if she could find it, maybe she could get away, Arruth had plunged
deeper and deeper into the undergrowth, heedlessly traveling places she had never
been before. Arruth listened. It sounded like there were four of them. That meant
more were coming. Why wouldn't he leave her alone? Why? She turned, pivoting
slightly on the balls of her feet, ready to spring up and run.

"Hello, Arruth," said a deep masculine voice.

"No," her voice cracked, a hoarse breaking sound, and they had her. Wrathscar had
anticipated her and been waiting in the Stalking Grounds all along.

****

"They ... they raped me," Arruth sobbed to the little pinch-faced healer as he
finished Reading her. Solance wore black robes, which made a soft swishing sound
as they brushed the tops of his tall boots. He sashed the robe with a length of