Chainfire: Chainfire Trilogy Part 1

"And I remember thinking, too, when we lay down close to him to keep warm, how good you looked close to him like that. Like a woman would be close to a man she cared about. I remember, for some reason, half expecting him to kiss you. It would have seemed natural."

Nicci couldn't make her heart slow down. "Cara, I.» Words failed her.

Cara picked at a strip of pealing paint on the corner board of the building. "Besides, you're about the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. Lord Rahl should have a wife who is his match and I can't think of a better match than you."

"Wife —?"

"Don't you see how much sense it makes? It would fill the emptiness I felt inside him. It would bring him joy and happiness to replace his misery. He would have someone to share his gift and his connection to magic. He wouldn't be lonely. Just think about it."

"But, Cara, Richard doesn't love me."

Cara appraised her for a long, uncomfortable moment. Nicci recalled then Richard once telling her how paralyzing it felt to be under the scrutiny of a Mord-Sith when she looked into your eyes, really looked into them. Nicci now understood what he meant.

"Maybe he doesn't feel that way now, but maybe when you come back to join us you could do a little more to let him know you were open to such a notion about the two of you-I mean, if you wanted to, if you were open to the idea. Sometimes people just have to be made aware of something so that they will consider it seriously. That's why I felt I needed to say something to you. Maybe if he thought you might be open to such a thing then he'd get interested and start looking at you in that light.

"You know, people who are in love had to fall in love at some point. They weren't born in love with their mate. Maybe you just have to help him get to that point where he will start to think about you in that light. It could even be he thinks that a beautiful, intelligent woman like you could never care for him seriously. Sometimes men are shy that way about a woman they think is extraordinarily beautiful."

"Cara, I just don't think he.»

Cara leaned in confidentially. "It could even be that he thinks you would never be interested in him and so he dreamed up this other woman to fill the void."

Nicci wet her lips. "I think we had better get over to the stable or he may leave without you. He seems pretty set on leaving."

Cara offered a smile. "You're right. Look, Nicci, if you'd rather, you could just forget I said anything. I can see that I'm making you uncomfortable. I don't exactly feel right about saying anything, anyway."

"Then why did you?"

Cara gazed off wistfully. "I guess because as I was holding him, and I felt the depth of his loneliness, it just broke my heart." Her gaze drifted back to Nicci's. "And Mord-Sith don't get broken hearts all that often."

Nicci almost said that neither did sorceresses.

CHAPTER 22

Lanterns hanging from stout posts lent a cozy glow to the stable. The dusty smell of fresh straw hung thick in the wide passageway running in front of the stalls and pens. Men and women, some with their children along, had filled the walkway and in a few places spilled over into the empty pens, but now, after Richard had talked to the relatives of the men who had been killed, many had bid him a safe journey and started for their homes.

Dawn was still a couple of hours off. Despite the hour, there had been a number of people other than grieving relatives who had come to ask questions about the impending battle for their city. More people, sitting on hay bales, had watched from the loft but now many had started down the ladders. Richard supposed that they would be going back to bed to catch a little more sleep. He knew that their sleep would be troubled by worries about the soldiers marching toward their city.

Victor, standing nearby, looked grim after speaking about the bravery of his men and how much he would miss each of them.

Many people wept openly as they'd listened. Richard had known that nothing he could have said would have lifted their grief. He had done his best to make them understand what good men he thought they had been, and how much he cared for them. In the end, all he could really do was sympathize with their loss. He had felt helpless and useless, even though they had seemed to appreciate the things he'd said.

From the corner of his eye, Richard caught sight of Nicci and Cara as they came in the big doorway at the end of the stable. They had to ease their way among people who were leaving. He had been wondering where the two of them had gone to, but, surrounded by people all wanting to speak with him, he hadn't had a chance to go check. He'd figured that either they had wanted to let him have the time to talk to people, or else Cara had wanted to look around outside to make sure that all was well. Either way, he was glad to see their faces.