"Stephen Lawhead - Pendragon Cycle 05 - Grail" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lawhead Stephen)

half drawn.
'Have you never heard singing?' I said, climbing to my feet.
'Never like that,' Peredur murmured, regarding me strangely. Tallaght, too,
appeared unnerved by the sound.
'Put up your blades,' I said, 'and let us find the creature making this
delightful sound.'
The two obeyed reluctantly, and I wondered at their odd behaviour. Likely
they had fallen asleep and the singing had wakened them out of a dream.
However it was, I put the matter behind me and proceeded into the wood.
The singing seemed to drift to us in fits and starts, which made locating
the source more difficult than it might have been; just when we thought
we had found the singer, the sound would stop, only to begin again
slightly farther away.
'She is leading us into the forest,' I whispered to Tallaght after we had
chased a while. 'You and Peredur go around' - I made a circling motion
with my finger - 'I will drive her towards you, and we will catch her
between us.'
'She?' wondered Peredur.
'A maid, most certainly,' I asserted. 'I have never heard a man who could
sing like that. Now, then, let us see if we can catch this elusive songbird.
Ready?'
The two nodded, and I started ahead once more; they waited until I had
taken a few paces and then darted off the trail on the run. I proceeded at a
slow but steady pace, taking care to make more noise than necessary in
order to maintain the illusion that there were still three hunters in the
chase. Walking along, listening to the lilting song drifting back to me, and
watching the flickering patterns of sunlight on the path, I fell into a
reverie. It seemed as if I walked not in dappled forest light in the heat of
another dry day, but in the cool dawn of a fine misty morning. I fancied
that I could even smell the sweet fragrance of spring flowers as I passed,
though these were long since gone.
And then, all at once - so swiftly that it startled me - I stepped into a glade.
There, on the grass before me, sat a beautiful young woman, flaxen-haired
with tawny skin. She seemed to have fallen on the path, for she lay on one
elbow and the mushrooms she had been gathering were scattered about
her. Her mantle had risen, revealing a shapely leg. She was bare of foot
and head; her golden hair was uncombed, but long and tightly curled,
giving her the look of a wild thing.
My sudden appearance seemed to have surprised her, for she glanced up,
catching her breath as her eyes met mine. Jesu save me, those eyes! - deep
green and ever so slightly slanted, giving her a most beguiling aspect. She
was dressed poorly; her mantle was smirched, the hem ragged; there were
holes where it had been torn. Clearly, she had been digging with her
hands, for the fingers of both were filthy.
She sat in surprise for a moment, her lips half parted, as if uncertain
whether to scream. Seeing her agitation, I raised my hands to show I held
no weapons and said, 'Peace, sister. I mean you no harm.'
She looked at me curiously, but made no move to stand or speak. I moved
a step closer, and we looked at one another for a long moment. I had never
seen eyes so clear and so green.