Blood of the Fold

If he did go, and Kahlan slipped past him where he searched, it might take longer for him to join with her than if he simply waited in Aydindril. And then there was the Keep. Something had happened at the Keep, and it was his duty to guard the magic there.

Richard's passion told him to go — he desperately wanted to go search for Kah-lan — but in his mind's eye, he saw Mrs. Rencliff diving into the dark, rushing water, refusing to wait for the boat. These men were his boat.

The troops could find Kahlan and protect her. He could do nothing to add to that protection. Reason told him to wait here, as much anxiety as that would cause him. Like it or not, he was a leader now. A leader had to act with reason, or everyone would pay the price of his passion.

"No, General. I'll remain in Aydindril. Get the troops together. Take the best trackers." He looked to the man's eyes. "I know I don't have to tell you how important this is to me."

"No, Lord Rahl," the general said in a compassionate tone. "Don't worry, we'll find her. I'll go with the men to make certain that everything is done with the same care as you would do it if you were there." He put his fist to his heart. "Every one of our lives before harm touches your queen."

Richard laid a hand to the man's shoulder. "Thank you, General Reibisch. I know I could do no more than you will. May the good spirits be with you."

CHAPTER 44

“Please, Wizard Zorander."

The skinny wizard didn't glance up from spooning beans and bacon into his mouth. She didn't know how the man could eat as much as he did.

"Are you listening?"

It wasn't like her to yell, but she was near the end of her patience. This was proving to be even more trouble than she had envisioned. She knew she had to do this, to cultivate his hostility, but this was too much.

With a pleased sigh, Wizard Zorander tossed his tin bowl down with their packs. "Good night, Nathan."

Nathan lifted an eyebrow as Wizard Zorander crawled into his bedroll. "Good night, Zedd."

Nathan, too, was becoming dangerously difficult to deal with since she had captured the old wizard. He had never had such a talented cohort before. Ann sprang to her feet and stood with her fists on her hips as she glared down at the white hair sticking from the blanket.

"Wizard Zorander, I'm begging you."

It infuriated her to implore his aid in such a humble fashion, but she had learned the hard way what the results could be when she used the power of his collar to bring him to task through unpleasant means. How the man could manage to get those tricks through the block she had locked on his collar mystified her, but get them through he did, to the great amusement of Nathan. She was not amused.

Ann was near tears. "Please, Wizard Zorander."

His head turned up, the firelight casting the lines of his bony face in harsh shadows. His hazel eyes fixed on her.

"If you open that book again, you will die."

With ghostlike stealth, he slipped spells around her shields when she least expected it. She was at a loss to understand how he had put a light spell on the journey book. She had opened it that night and had seen the message from Verna that she had been captured and put in a collar, and then everything had gone terribly wrong.

Opening the book had triggered the light spell. She had seen it swell and flare. A bright, burning cinder had shot up into (he air, and the old wizard had calmly told her that if she didn't close the book by the time the glowing spark of light hit the ground, she would be incinerated.

With one eye on the hissing spark as it descended, she had managed only to scrawl a hurried message to Verna that she must escape and get the Sisters away. She had closed the book just in time. She knew he was not jesting about the deadly nature of the spell around the book.

She could see the softly glowing spell around it now. She had never seen o quite like it, and how he had managed to set it when she thought she had his power blocked, she couldn't fathom. Nathan didn't understand it either, but he seemed quite interested. She knew of no way to open the book without being killed.

Ann squatted down beside the bedroll. "Wizard Zorander, I know you have good reason to rail against me, but this is a matter of life and death. I must get a message through. The lives of Sisters are at stake. Wizard Zorander, please. Sisters could die. I know you are a good man, and wouldn't want that."

He brought a finger out from under the blanket and pointed it at her. "You bonded me into slavery. You have brought this upon yourself and your Sisters. I told you, you broke the truce, and have sentenced your Sisters to death. You are endangering the lives of ones I love. They could die because you wouldn't let me help them. You took me from protecting the things of magic in the Keep. You are endangering the lives of my people in the Midlands. They could all die because of what you have done to me."