Blood of the Fold

She brushed her fingers through the delicate hollow at the base of her neck. "Lord Rahl, the things you say fill me with a rush of hope for the future. I pray to the good spirits that you succeed."

"Then will you join with us? Will you surrender Kelton?"

Her soft brown eyes came up in supplication. "There is a condition."

Richard swallowed. "I have sworn no conditions. Everyone will be treated the same, as I have told you. How could I vow equity if I didn't live by my word and rule?"

She wet her lips again as fear visited her eyes. "I understand," she said in a whisper almost lost in the quiet.”Forgive me for thinking to selfishly gain something for myself. A man of honor such as yourself could not understand how a mere woman such as I could sink to such a level."

Richard wanted to thrust his knife into his chest for allowing fear to haunt her.

"What is your condition?"

Her gaze settled in her lap along with her nested hands. "After your speech, my husband and I were almost home, and…" She grimaced as she swallowed. "We were almost safely home when we were attacked by that monster. I never even saw it coming. I was holding my husband's arm. There was a flash of steel." A moan escaped her throat. Richard had to force himself to stay in his seat. "My husband's insides spilled down the front of me." She gasped back a cry. "The knife that killed him put three slices in my sleeve as it passed."

"Duchess, I understand, there's no need to…"

She held up a trembling hand, imploring silence so she could finish. She pulled up the silken sleeve of her dress to reveal three slices across the flesh of her forearm. Richard recognized the three cuts of a mriswith blade. He had never wished that he knew how to use his gift to heal as much as at that moment. He would have done anything to take the angry red cuts from her arm.

She drew the sleeve down, seeming to read the concern on his face. "It's nothing. A few days and it will be healed." She tapped her chest, between her breasts. "It's what they did to me in here that will not heal. My husband was an expert swordsman, but he had no more chance than would I against those creatures. I will never forget the feel of his warm blood down the front of me. I'm embarrassed to admit that I screamed inconsolably until I could tear that dress off my body and wash the blood from my naked flesh. For fear I'll wake and think I'm still in that dress, I've since had to sleep without any bedclothes."

Richard wished she had used words that hadn't put such an explicit picture in his head. He watched the rise and fall of her silken dress. He forced himself to take a drink of tea, only to be confronted unexpectedly with her lip print, He wiped a bead of sweat from behind his ear.

"You were speaking of a condition?"

"Forgive me, Lord Rahl. I wanted you to understand my fear, so you might consider my condition. I was so frightened." She hugged her arms to herself, causing the dress to fold between her breasts as they pressed together.

Richard looked down at his tray of dinner as he rubbed his fingertips on his forehead. "I understand. The condition?"

She stiffened with courage. "I will surrender Kelton if you will offer me your personal protection."

Richard looked up. "What?"

"You killed those creatures out front. It's said that none but you can kill them. I'm terrified of those monsters. If I side with you, then the Order may send them after me. If you will allow me to stay here under your protection until the danger is over, then Kelton is yours."

Richard leaned forward. "You just want to feel safe?"

She nodded with a slight wince, as if she feared he would lop off her head for what she was to say next. “I must be given a room near yours, so that if I scream, you will be close enough to come to my aid."

"And…"

She finally gathered the courage to meet his eyes.

"And.. nothing. That's the condition."

Richard laughed. The anxiety released its constriction of his chest. "You just want to be protected, much as my guards protect me? Duchess, that's not a condition, that's merely a simple favor — a perfectly reasonable and proper desire for shelter from our merciless enemies. Granted." He pointed. "I'm staying in the guest rooms, off that way. They're all empty. As one who sides with us, you're an honored guest, and may have your choice. You can have one right beside mine, if you would feel safer."

She had not even smiled before, in comparison with the radiance that came to her face now. Her hands crossed over her breasts. She let out a huge sigh as if liberated from the greatest of dreads. "Oh, Lord Rahl, thank you."

Richard brushed his hair back from his forehead. "First thing tomorrow, a delegation, escorted by our troops, will leave for Kelton. Your forces must be brought under our command."