you.”
“If you were there the whole time, why did you allow him to nearly kill me?”
“He did not nearly kill you.” Cara smiled without humor. “But I wanted to let him believe it. It’s more of a shock, more of a horror, if you let them think they’ve won. It crushes a man’s spirit to take him then, when you’ve caught him dead to rights.”
Kahlan’s head was swimming in confusion and so she decided not to press the issue. “What’s going on? What’s happened? How long have I been asleep?”
“We have been traveling for two days. You have been in and out of sleep, but you didn’t know anything the times you were awake. Lord Rahl was fretful about hurting you to get you into the carriage, and about having told you…what you forgot.”
Kahlan knew what Cara meant: her dead baby. “And the men?”
“They came after us. This time, though, Lord Rahl didn’t discuss it with them.” She seemed especially pleased about that. “He knew in enough time that they were coming, so we weren’t taken by surprise. When they came charging in, some with arrows nocked and some with their swords or axes out, he shouted at them—once—giving them a chance to change their minds.”
“He tried to reason with them? Even then?”
“Well, not exactly. He told them to go home in peace, or they would all die.”
“And then what?”
“And then they all laughed. It only seemed to embolden them. They charged, arrows flying, swords and axes raised. So Lord Rahl ran off into the woods.”
“He did what?”
“Before they came, he had told me that he was going to make them all chase after him. As Lord Rahl ran, the one who thought he would cut your throat yelled at the others to ‘get Richard, and finish him this time.’ Lord Rahl had hoped he would draw them all away from you, but when that one went after you instead, Lord Rahl gave me a look and I knew what he wanted me to do.”
Cara clasped her hands behind her back as she scrutinized the gathering darkness, keeping watch, should anyone try to surprise them. Kahlan’s thoughts turned to Richard, and what it must have been like, all alone as they chased him.
“How many men?”
“I didn’t count them.” Cara shrugged. “Maybe two dozen.”
“And you left Richard alone with two dozen men chasing after him? Two dozen men intent on killing him?”
Cara shot Kahlan an incredulous look. “And leave you unprotected? When I knew that toothless brute was going after you? Lord Rahl would have skinned me alive if I had left you.”
Tall and lean, shoulders squared and chin raised, Cara looked as pleased as a cat licking mouse off its whiskers. Kahlan suddenly understood: Richard had entrusted Cara with Kahlan’s life; the Mord-Sith had proven that faith justified.
Kahlan felt a smile stretch the partly healed cuts on her lips. “I just wish I’d known you were standing there the whole time. Now, thanks to you, I won’t need the wooden bowl.”
Cara didn’t laugh. “Mother Confessor, you should know that I would never let anything happen to either of you.”
Richard appeared out of the shadows as suddenly as he had vanished. He stroked the horses reassuringly. As he moved down beside them, he quickly checked the neck collars, the trace chains, and the breaching to make sure it was all secure.
“Anything?” he asked Cara.
“No, Lord Rahl. Quiet and clear.”
He leaned in the carriage and smiled. “Well, as long as you’re awake, how about I take you for a romantic moonlight ride?”
She rested her hand on his forearm. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine. Not a scratch.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
His smile vanished. “They tried to kill us. Westland has just suffered its first casualties because of the influence of the Imperial Order.”
“But you knew them.”
“That doesn’t entitle them to misplaced sympathy. How many thousands have I seen killed since I left here? I couldn’t even convince men I grew up with of the
“If you were there the whole time, why did you allow him to nearly kill me?”
“He did not nearly kill you.” Cara smiled without humor. “But I wanted to let him believe it. It’s more of a shock, more of a horror, if you let them think they’ve won. It crushes a man’s spirit to take him then, when you’ve caught him dead to rights.”
Kahlan’s head was swimming in confusion and so she decided not to press the issue. “What’s going on? What’s happened? How long have I been asleep?”
“We have been traveling for two days. You have been in and out of sleep, but you didn’t know anything the times you were awake. Lord Rahl was fretful about hurting you to get you into the carriage, and about having told you…what you forgot.”
Kahlan knew what Cara meant: her dead baby. “And the men?”
“They came after us. This time, though, Lord Rahl didn’t discuss it with them.” She seemed especially pleased about that. “He knew in enough time that they were coming, so we weren’t taken by surprise. When they came charging in, some with arrows nocked and some with their swords or axes out, he shouted at them—once—giving them a chance to change their minds.”
“He tried to reason with them? Even then?”
“Well, not exactly. He told them to go home in peace, or they would all die.”
“And then what?”
“And then they all laughed. It only seemed to embolden them. They charged, arrows flying, swords and axes raised. So Lord Rahl ran off into the woods.”
“He did what?”
“Before they came, he had told me that he was going to make them all chase after him. As Lord Rahl ran, the one who thought he would cut your throat yelled at the others to ‘get Richard, and finish him this time.’ Lord Rahl had hoped he would draw them all away from you, but when that one went after you instead, Lord Rahl gave me a look and I knew what he wanted me to do.”
Cara clasped her hands behind her back as she scrutinized the gathering darkness, keeping watch, should anyone try to surprise them. Kahlan’s thoughts turned to Richard, and what it must have been like, all alone as they chased him.
“How many men?”
“I didn’t count them.” Cara shrugged. “Maybe two dozen.”
“And you left Richard alone with two dozen men chasing after him? Two dozen men intent on killing him?”
Cara shot Kahlan an incredulous look. “And leave you unprotected? When I knew that toothless brute was going after you? Lord Rahl would have skinned me alive if I had left you.”
Tall and lean, shoulders squared and chin raised, Cara looked as pleased as a cat licking mouse off its whiskers. Kahlan suddenly understood: Richard had entrusted Cara with Kahlan’s life; the Mord-Sith had proven that faith justified.
Kahlan felt a smile stretch the partly healed cuts on her lips. “I just wish I’d known you were standing there the whole time. Now, thanks to you, I won’t need the wooden bowl.”
Cara didn’t laugh. “Mother Confessor, you should know that I would never let anything happen to either of you.”
Richard appeared out of the shadows as suddenly as he had vanished. He stroked the horses reassuringly. As he moved down beside them, he quickly checked the neck collars, the trace chains, and the breaching to make sure it was all secure.
“Anything?” he asked Cara.
“No, Lord Rahl. Quiet and clear.”
He leaned in the carriage and smiled. “Well, as long as you’re awake, how about I take you for a romantic moonlight ride?”
She rested her hand on his forearm. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine. Not a scratch.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
His smile vanished. “They tried to kill us. Westland has just suffered its first casualties because of the influence of the Imperial Order.”
“But you knew them.”
“That doesn’t entitle them to misplaced sympathy. How many thousands have I seen killed since I left here? I couldn’t even convince men I grew up with of the
Similar Books
