Blood of the Fold

Richard already hated this. He had never had to commit men to a battle in which people could easily be hurt, or killed. He remembered what the Prelate had once told him: wizards had to use people to do what must be done.

General Reibisch eyed the silent Ulic and Egan, the gar, and the three women. He spoke to them past Richard. "A thousand men will be wide awake and a shout away, if you need them."

Cara's expression sobered after the general had gone. "You must sleep, Lord Rahl. As Mord-Sith, I know when a man is exhausted and about to fall over. You can make your plans to conquer the world tomorrow, after you have rested."

Richard shook his head. "Not yet. I have to write her a letter, first."

Berdine leaned against the desk beside Cara and folded her arms. "A love letter to your bride?"

Richard pulled open a drawer. "Something like that."

Berdine put on a coy smile. "Maybe we can help. We will tell you the proper things to say to keep her heart pounding and forget you need a bath."

Raina joined her sisters of the Agiel against the desk, adding an impish laugh that sparkled in her dark eyes. "We will give you lessons in being a proper mate. You and your queen will be happy to have us around for advice."

"And you had better listen to us," Berdine cautioned, "or we will teach her how to make you dance to her tune."

Richard tapped Berdine's leg, urging her to move aside so he could get at the drawers behind her. He found paper in the bottom one. "Why don't you go get some sleep," he said absently as he searched for a pen and ink. "You were riding hard, too, trying to catch me, and couldn't have gotten much more sleep than I did."

Cara turned her nose up in mock indignation. "We will stand watch while you sleep. Women are stronger than men."

Richard remembered Denna telling him that very thing, only she hadn't been playful when she said it. These three never let their guard down when anyone was around; he was the only one they trusted when they wanted to practice their social graces. He thought they needed a lot of practice. Maybe that was why they wouldn't give up their Agiel; they had never been anything but Mord-Sith, and were afraid they wouldn't be able to do it.

Cara leaned over, looking in the empty drawer before he pushed it shut She flicked her blond braid back over her shoulder. "She must care greatly for you, Lord Rahl, if she is willing to surrender her land to you. I don't know if I would do such a thing for a man, even if he was one such as you. He would have to be the one to surrender to me."

Richard made her scoot aside, and at last found pens and ink in a drawer he would have opened first had she not been in the way. "You're right, she cares greatly for me. But as to surrendering her land, well, I haven't told her that part, yet."

Cara's arms unfolded. "You mean to say that you have yet to demand her surrender, as you have done tonig'ht widi the others?"

Richard wiggled the stopper from the ink bottle. "That's one reason I must write this letter at once, to explain my plan to her. Why don't you three be quiet, and let me write?"

Raina, a look of true concern in her dark eyes, squatted beside his chair. “What if she calls off the wedding? Queens are proud; she may not wish to do such a thing."

A ripple of worry surged through his gut. It was worse than that. These women didn't really understand what he was asking Kahlan to do. He was not asking a queen to surrender her land; he was asking the Mother Confessor to surrender all of the Midlands.

"She is as committed to defeating the Imperial Order as am I. She has fought with determination that would make a Mord-Sith blanch. She wishes the killing to stop as much as do I. She loves me, and will understand the benevolence of what I'm asking."

Raina sighed. "Well, if she doesn't, we will protect you."

Richard fixed her with such a deadly glare that she rocked back on her heels as if he had struck her. "Don't you ever, ever, even think of harming Kahlan. You will protect her the same as you would me, or you can leave right now and join the ranks of my enemies. You are to hold her life as dear as mine. Swear it on your bond to me. Swear it!"

Raina swallowed. "I swear it, Lord Rahl."

He glared at the other two women. "Swear it."

"I swear it. Lord Rahl," they said together.

He looked to Ulic and Egan.

"I swear it, Lord Rahl," they said as one.

He let slip his belligerent tone. "All right, men."

Richard placed the paper on the desk before himself and tried to think. Everyone thought she was dead; this was the only way. They couldn't let people know she was alive, or someone might try to finish what the council had thought they had accomplished. She would understand if he could just explain it properly.

Richard could feel the figure of Magda Seams, overhead, glaring down at him. He feared to look up, lest her wizard, Merritt, send down a bolt of lightning to punish him for what he was doing.