Blood of the Fold (Sword of Truth 3)

When his whole body suddenly flushed with the sweet agony of desire, he knew, even though he couldn’t see her, that she had entered the room. His nostrils filled with her unmistakable scent, and alread

y he ached to surrender. Like a furtive movement in the mist, he couldn’t discern the essence of the threat, but somehow in the dim recesses of his awareness he knew without doubt that there was one, and the exquisite peril, too, excited him.

With the desperation of a man being stormed by an overpowering foe, he clawed for the hilt of his sword, hoping to rally his resolve and stay the hand of submission. It wasn’t bared steel he sought, though, but the bared teeth of anger, a rage that would sustain him and give him the will to resist. He could do it. He had to; everything turned on this.

His hand anchored on the hilt at his belt, and he felt the flood of perfect fury coursing through his body and mind.

When Richard glanced up, he could see the approach of Ulic and Egan’s heads above the knot of people before him. Even if he hadn’t seen them, to see the space between them where she would be, he knew she was there. Soldiers and dignitaries began parting to make way for the two big men and their charge. Heads tilted in waves, reminding him of the rings of ripples in a pond, as they passed whispers to others. Richard recalled that the prophecies had also named him “the pebble in the pond”—the generator of ripples in the world of life.

And then he saw her.

His chest constricted with longing. She was wearing the same rose-colored silk dress that she had worn the night before, having no change of clothes with her. Richard recalled vividly how she had said she slept naked. He could feel his heart hammering.

With great effort, he struggled to put his mind to the task at hand. She looked with wide eyes at the soldiers she knew; they were her Keltish palace guard. Now, they wore D’Haran uniforms.

Richard had been up early, preparing everything. He hadn’t been able to get much sleep anyway, and the sleep he had gotten had been wracked with dreams of longing.

Kahlan, my love, can you ever forgive me my dreams?

With this many D’Haran troops in Aydindril, he had known there would be supplies of all sorts available, so he had ordered spare uniforms brought out. The Keltans, being disarmed as they were, were in no position to argue, but after they had put on the dark leather and mail, and had had a chance to see how fierce they looked in the new outfits, they began to grin with approval. They were told that Kelton was now a part of D’Hara, and were given back their weapons. They stood in rank, now, proud and straight as they kept an eye on the representatives of the other lands who had yet to surrender.

As it had turned out, the bad luck of the storm that had allowed Brogan to escape had also carried good fortune as a balance; the dignitaries had wanted to wait out the foul weather before departing, so Richard had taken what the fates had offered him and had brought them back to the palace before they were to leave later that morning. Only the highest, the most important, of those officials were present. He wanted them to witness the surrender of Kelton: one of the most powerful lands of the Midlands. He wanted them to have one final lesson.

Richard stood as Cathryn started up the steps at the side of the dais, her gaze sweeping the faces watching her. Berdine stepped back to give her room. Richard had positioned the three Mord-Sith at the far ends of the platform, where they wouldn’t be too close to him. He wasn’t interested in anything they might have to say.

When Cathryn’s brown-eyed gaze finally settled on him, he had to lock his knees to keep his legs from buckling. His left hand, gripping the hilt of his sword, was beginning to throb. He reminded himself that he didn’t need to be holding the sword to command its magic and chanced removing his hand to wiggle some feeling back into his fingers while he contemplated the tasks before him.

When the Sisters of the Light had tried to teach him to touch his Han, they had had him use a mental picture to concentrate his inner will. Richard had selected an image of the Sword of Truth to be his focus, and he had it firmly fixed in his mind, now.

But for the battle with the people gathered before him today, his sword would be of no use. Today he would need the deft maneuvers devised with the aid of General Reibisch, his officers, and knowledgeable members of the palace staff, who had also helped with the arrangements. He hoped he had it all right.

“Richard, what—”

“Welcome, Duchess. Everything has been prepared.” Richard scooped up her hand and kissed it in a manner he judged befitting a queen being greeted before an audience, but touching her only fired his heat. “I knew you would want these representatives to witness your bravery at being the first to join with us against the Imperial Order, the first to break the path for the Midlands.”

“But I… well, yes… of course.”

He turned to the watching faces. They were a considerably more quiet and compliant group than they had been the last time, as they waited in tense anticipation.

“Duchess Lumholtz—whom you all know is soon to be named queen of Kelton—has committed her people to the cause of freedom, and wished you to be here to witness as she signs the documents of surrender.”

“Richard,” she whispered as she leaned a little closer, “I must… have them looked over by our barristers first… just to be sure everything is clear, and there will be no misunderstandings.”

Richard smiled reassuringly. “Though I’m sure you will find them quite clear, I’ve already anticipated your concern and took the liberty of inviting them to the signing.” Richard held a hand out to the other end of the dais. Raina seized a man’s arm and urged him up the steps. “Master Sifold, would you give your future queen your professional opinion?”

He bowed. “As Lord Rahl says, Duchess, the papers are quite clear. There is no room for misinterpretation.”

Richard lifted the ornately decorated document from the desk. “With your permission, Duchess, I would like to read it to the gathered representatives, so they may see that Kelton wishes this joining of our forces to be unequivocal. So they may see your bravery.”

Her head rose with pride before the eyes of the representatives of the other lands. “Yes. Please do, Lord Rahl.”

Richard glanced to the waiting faces. “Please bear with me; this isn’t long.” He held the paper up before himself and read it aloud. “Know all peoples, that Kelton hereby surrenders unconditionally to D’Hara. Signed, in my hand, as the duly appointed leader of the Keltish people, the Duchess Lumholtz.”

Richard set the document back on the desk and dunked the quill pen in a bottle of ink before offering it to Cathryn. She stood stiff and unmoving. Her face had gone ashen.

Fearing she would balk, he had no choice. Summoning strength he knew he was stealing from what he would need later, he put his lips close to her ear, enduring silently the torturous wave of longing at the warm fragrance of her flesh.

“Cathryn, after we finish here, would you go for a walk with me, just the two of us, alone? I dreamed of nothing but you.”

Radiant color bloomed in her cheeks. He thought she might put an arm around his neck and thanked the spirits when she didn’t.

“Of course, Richard,” she whispered back. “I, too, dreamed of nothing but you. Let’s get this formality over with.”

“Make me proud of you, of your strength.”

Richard thought that, surely, her smile would make others in the room blush. He could feel his ears burn at the meaning her smile conveyed.

She took the quill pen, brushing his hand as she did so, and held it up. “I sign this surrender with a quill from a dove, to signify that what I do is done willingly, in peace, and not as one defeated. I do it out of love for my people, and a hope for the future. That hope is this man here—Lord Rahl. I swear the undying vengeance of my people on any of you who would think to harm him.”

She bent and scrawled her sweeping signature across the bottom of the surrender document.

Before she could straighten, Richard produced more papers and slid them under her.

“What…”

“The letters you spoke of, Duchess. I didn’t want to weigh you down with the tedium of having to do the work yourself when we could put the time

to a better purpose. Your aides helped me draw them up. Please check them, just to be sure all is as you intended when you made the offer last night.

“Lieutenant Harrington, of your palace guard, helped with the names of General Baldwin, commander of all Keltish forces, Division Generals Cutter, Leiden, Nesbit, Bradford, and Emerson, and a few of the guard commanders. There’s a letter to each for you to sign, ordering them to turn over all command to my D’Haran officers. Some of your palace guard officers will accompany a detachment of my men along with the new officers.

“Your adjutant aide, Master Montleon, has been of invaluable assistance with the instructions to Finance Minister Pelletier; Master Carlisle, the deputy administrator of strategic planning; the governors in charge of the trade commission, Cameron, Tuck, Spooner, Ashmore; as well as Levardson, Doudiet, and Faulkingham of the office of commerce.

“Coadjutant Schaffer, of course, drew up the list of your mayors. We didn’t want to offend anyone by leaving them out, of course, so he had several aides help him work up a complete list. There are letters here for them all, but of course the letters of instruction are the same, with just the proper name to each, so you only have to check over one, and then just sign the rest. We’ll handle it from there. I have men ready to ride with the official document pouches. A man from your guard will accompany each, just to make sure there’s no confusion. We have all the men from your guard here to witness your signature.”

Richard drew a breath and straightened as Cathryn, still holding the pen in midair, blinked at all the papers Richard had pushed before her. Her aides had all come up to surround her, proud of the job they had accomplished in such short order.

Richard leaned close to her again. “I hope I got it all as you wished, Cathryn. You said you’d take care of it, but I didn’t want to be away from you while you toiled at the work, so I rose early and took care of it for you. I hope you’re pleased.”

She glanced over letters, pushing them aside to look at others underneath. “Yes… of course.”

Richard slid a chair closer. “Why don’t you have a seat?”