Blood of the Fold

The impressed i

Pressing her lips tight, A

The room was small, but clean, with two narrow pallets, a whitewashed stand holding a tin washbasin and chipped ewer, and a square table atop which Nathan set an oil lamp he had carried in from the bracket beside the door. The i

"Well," Nathan said, "aren't you going to give me a lecture?"

"No, Nathan, I'm tired."

He flourished a hand. "I thought it only fair, in view of the deaf-mute business." His expression turned dark. "I've been held in this collar all but the first four years of my life. How would you feel, being a captive your whole life?"

A

After a long silence, he withdrew the glare. His hands clasped behind his back, Nathan strolled the room, giving it a critical appraisal. His boots thumped across the plank floor. "Not what I'm accustomed to, ' he a

You must first tell me the reason you chose me the last time. I remember every word. One mistake, and this journey book feeds the fire.

"My, my, my," she murmured. "She's being very cautious. Good." Nathan peered over A

A

"She must really hate me," A

Nathan straightened. "So what? I hate you, and it never seems to bother you."

"Do you, Nathan? Do you really hate me?"

His only answer was a dismissive grunt. "Have I told you that this plan of yours is madness?"

"Not since breakfast."

"Well it is, you know."

A

"What good will it do everyone if you get yourself killed with this foolhardy plan? And me with you! I'd like to live to see a thousand, you know. You're going to get us both killed."

A

He shared a gaze with her for a long moment. The fire left his eyes as he put a big hand over hers. "The same as you, A

"I know, Nathan. Are they there? Are they in Aydindril?"

"One is," he said quietly as he squeezed her hand, "and the other will be there around the time we arrive; I have seen it in the prophecy.

"A

A

A

Nathan spoke around his mouthful of bread. "I hope she is smart enough to justify your faith."

"We trained her as best we could, Nathan; we sent her away from the palace for twenty years so she might learn to use her wits. We have done all we can. Now we must have faith in her." A

Nathan blew on a spoonful of hot stew. "I want a sword," he a

Her brow wrinkled. "You're a wizard with full command of his gift. Why in the name of Creation would you want a sword?"

He regarded her as if she were witless. "Because I would look dashing with a sword at my hip."

CHAPTER 29

Please?" Cathryn whispered.

Richard stared into her soft brown eyes as he gently touched the side of her radiant face, brushing a black ringlet back from her cheek. When they looked into each other's eyes, it was near to impossible for him to look away unless she did so first. He was having that difficulty now. Her hand on his waist sent warm sensations of longing coursing through him. He struggled desperately to put an image of Kahlan in his mind in order to resist the compulsion to take Cathryn in his arms and say yes. His body burned to do so.

"I'm tired," he lied. Sleep was the last thing he wanted. "It's been a long day. Tomorrow we'll be together again."

"But I want — "

He touched her lips to silence her. He knew that if he heard those words from her again, it would be one time too many. The implied offer of her lips as they sucked the end of his finger with a wet kiss was nearly as impossible to resist as the overt invitation of her words. In the fog of his mind, he could hardly form coherent thoughts.

He managed to form one: Dear spirits, help me. Give me strength. My heart belongs to Kahlan.

"Tomorrow," he managed.

"You said that yesterday, and it took me hours to find you," she whispered as she kissed his ear.

Richard had been using the mriswith cape to make himself invisible. It was just a little easier to resist when she couldn't appeal to him directly, but it only delayed the inevitable. When he saw her frantic to find him, he couldn't bear to see her in distress as she searched for him, and would end up going to her.

As her hand came up to his neck, he took it and administered it a quick kiss. "Sleep well, Cathryn. I'll see you in the morning."

Richard glanced to Egan standing ten feet away, with his back to the wall and his arms folded as he stared ahead, as if he saw nothing. Beyond, in the shadows at the end of the gloomy hall, Berdine stood guard, too. She make no pretense at not seeing him standing at the door with Cathryn pressed up against him. She observed without expression. His other guards, Ulic, Cara, and Raina were getting some sleep.