Читаем Confessor: Chainfire Trilogy Part 3 полностью

Her voice trailed off. Nathan didn't look in the mood to entertain such nonsense.

"There is no such thing, Cara. We can't get him back from the underworld after this amount of time. Richard is lost to us."

Cara blinked away tears, unable to abide such a proclamation.

"The emperor is going to get in here," Nathan said. "It's only going to be a matter of time. The great void will shortly be upon us. All we can do now is hope to spare as many people in the palace as possible."

Nicci held up her chin. "I understand."

"The only way to do that is to surrender the palace as soon as the new moon arrives-and to do it in the way that Jagang has demanded."

Nicci swallowed. "I can't say that I know any other way, Nathan."

"I'm sorry, Nicci." His voice revealed just how sincere his words were. "But I need to prepare a number of things, so I'm going to have to put you under arrest and have you securely locked up until Jagang comes on the new moon to collect you."

Nicci felt a tear roll down her cheek, not for herself, but for the loss of Richard to all the people who had been depending on him to turn the tide, to fight the final battle, to at last do what only Richard could do.

"You don't need all the guards with those arrows." She managed to keep her voice from breaking. "I will go peacefully."

Nathan nodded. "Thank you for not making this any more difficult than it already is."

<p>CHAPTER 56</p>

Kahlan woke in a flash of icy fright.

She was lying slightly on her right side, her head turned all the way to the right, her jaw lying against the pillow of a saddlebag. She took a careful peek through the narrow slits of her eyelids. The overcast was just blushing with a hint of the approaching dawn.

While she hadn't known why she'd awakened so abruptly, she soon realized the reason.

Out of the corner of her eye she could see that Samuel was right above her-hovering over her. He was still and silent, mere inches away, like a mountain lion poised over prey.

He was completely naked.

Kahlan was so startled that for an instant she lay frozen in confusion, wondering if she really was awake or if she was having some kind of bizarre nightmare. Her disorientation evaporated in urgent alarm as her instincts took charge.

Without letting on that she was awake, she inched her hand downward toward her belt to get at her knife. Since she was turned to the right the sheath for her knife was somewhat under her. She had to squirm her fingers under her to get at the knife, trying not to betray the fact that she was awake. She counted on her blanket to help hide the movement of her hand.

The knife wasn't there.

She glanced down a little, hoping it had fallen out somehow and that it would be on the ground nearby. It wasn't. As she was feeling around under the blanket, trying to find her knife, she saw the pile of Samuel's clothes not far away. Then she saw the knife. It had been tossed beyond his clothes, well out of reach.

She was sickened by the mental image of him stealthily removing his clothes as he stared at her while she slept. She was appalled by the thought that he had been so close to her, watching her, taking her knife, preparing for the obscene things he wanted to do to her, and that she hadn't even been aware of it. Besides being appalled, she was angry at herself for letting him get this far.

While Samuel had always seemed timid and shy, and sometimes eager to curry favor, this didn't entirely surprise her. She remembered all too well the times she'd caught him staring at her. Those looks had always seemed to contain a sneaky craving that he never otherwise betrayed. She controlled her outrage, focusing instead on survival.

Being hesitant and indecisive, Samuel was moving ever so slowly, inching into position, skulking in close rather than boldly pouncing. He apparently wanted to get completely over her, and then when he felt he was close enough to be sure that she couldn't get away, he would muscle her under control and then live out the dark thoughts that had always been hidden behind his golden-yellow eyes.

Samuel wasn't a big man, but he was muscular. He was certainly stronger than she was. There was no way she could escape without a fight, and she was in a poor position to grapple with him. From this close she couldn't even punch effectively. In this close, without a knife, without anyone to help her, she had little hope of fending him off.

Even though he was considerably stronger and she had been asleep, he had been wary. His mistake had been in not acting swiftly to incapacitate her. It hadn't been a question of lack of ability or advantage, but a lack of courage. Her only edge at that moment was that he hadn't acted swiftly and he didn't know she was awake. She didn't want to squander that advantage. When she acted, that surprise would help even the equation and give her an opportunity she would not get again.

Her mind raced through a list of options. She Would have only one chance to strike first. She would have to make it count.

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