When he left, Richard and Kahlan sat close on the small bench and ate their meal. Their room was at the back of the building, and the men downstairs were at the front, so it was quieter than Richard thought it would be. All they could hear from the crowd was a muffled hum. The food was better than Richard expected, or maybe it was just that he was famished. The bed looked wonderful to him, too, as he was dead tired. Kahlan noticed.

“You only had an hour or two of sleep last night. I will stand first watch. If the men downstairs decide to come up here, it will not be until later that they work up the courage. If they come, it would be better if you were rested.”

“Easier to kill people when you’re well rested?” He was immediately sorry it came out the way it did—he hadn’t meant it to sound harsh. He realized he was gripping his fork as if it were a sword.

“I’m sorry, Richard. I didn’t mean it that way. I only meant I don’t want you to get hurt. If you are too tired you will not be able to protect yourself as well. I’m afraid for you.”

She pushed a potato around the plate with her fork. Her voice was hardly more than a whisper. “I’m so sorry you had to be pulled into this mess. I don’t want you to have to kill people. I didn’t want you to have to kill those men downstairs. That’s the other reason I did what I did, so you would not have to kill them.”

He looked over at her as she stared down at her plate. It hurt his heart to see the look of pain on her face. He gave her a playful shove with his shoulder.

“I wouldn’t have missed this journey for anything. Gives me time to be with my friend.” She looked at him out of the corner of her eye as he smiled.

She smiled back and put her head against the side of his shoulder for a second before eating the potato. Her smile warmed him.

“Why did you want me to ask the boy to take care of the horses?”

“Results. That’s what you said was most important. The poor kid is hopelessly in love with you. Since you were the one who asked, he will guard the horses better than we could ourselves.” She looked at him as if she didn’t believe him. “You have that effect on men,” he assured her.

Her smiled faded a little, taking on a haunted look. Richard knew he was getting too close to her secrets, so he said nothing else. When they finished eating, she walked to the basin, dipped the end of a towel in the water, and went to Zedd. She wiped his face tenderly, then looked over to Richard.

“He is the same, no worse. Please, Richard, let me have first watch, get some sleep?”

He nodded, rolled himself into the bed, and was asleep in seconds. Sometime in the early morning she woke him for his watch. As she went to sleep he washed his face with the cold water, trying to wake up, then sat on the bench, leaning against the wall, waiting for any sign of trouble. He sucked on a piece of dried fruit, trying to get the bad taste out of his mouth.

An hour before sunrise, there was an urgent knock at the door.

“Richard?” a muffled voice called. “It’s Bill. Unbolt the door. There’s trouble.”

Chapter 16

Kahlan sprang out of bed, rubbing the sleep from her eyes as Richard unbolted the door. She pulled her knife. Bill, breathing hard, squeezed in and pushed the door shut with his back. Beads of sweat dotted his forehead.

“What is it? What’s happened?” Richard asked.

“Everything was pretty quiet.” Bill swallowed, catching his breath. “Then a little while ago these two fellows showed up. Right out of nowhere. Big men, thick necks, blond hair. Good looking. Armed to the teeth. The kind of men you try not to look in the eye.” He took a few deep breaths.

Richard stole a quick glance at Kahlan’s eyes. There was no doubt in them as to who the men were. Apparently the wizard trouble the quad had run into wasn’t trouble enough.

“Two?” Richard asked. “You’re sure there weren’t more?”

“Only saw two come in, but that was enough.” Bill’s wide eyes looked out from under his curly eyebrows. “One was tore up pretty good, arm in a sling, big claw cuts down his other arm. Didn’t seem to bother him any, though. Anyway, they started asking about a woman that sounded a lot like your lady here. Except she isn’t wearing a white dress like they described. They started for the stairs, and a quarrel broke out about who was going to do what with her. Your red-haired friend jumped the one with the sling and slit his throat from ear to ear. The other fellow cut down a bunch of my customers in a heartbeat. I’ve never seen anything like it. Then all of a sudden he just wasn’t there anymore. Vanished into nothing. There’s blood everywhere.

“The rest of the lot are down there right now arguing about who’s going to be first to…” He glanced at Kahlan, leaving the rest unsaid. He wiped his forehead with the back of his arm. “Randy’s bringing the horses to the back—you have to get out now. Head for Adie’s. The sun’s an hour away, the hounds two, so you’ll be all right. But not if you delay.”

Richard grabbed Chase’s legs, Bill his shoulders. He told Kahlan to bolt the door and get their things together. With Chase in their arms they trudged down the back stairs and out into the darkness and rain. Lamplight coming from the windows reflected in the puddles, giving the wet, black forms of the horses yellow highlights. Randy was waiting, looking worried as he held the horses. They dropped Chase in a litter and ran as quietly as possible up the stairs. Bill scooped Zedd into his arms, while Richard and Kahlan threw on their cloaks and grabbed the packs. The three of them, Bill, Richard, then Kahlan, raced down the stairs and for the door.

As they burst out the door they almost tripped over Randy, sprawled on the ground. Richard looked up just in time to see the red-haired man lunging. He leapt back, narrowly missing the sweep of the long knife. The man went face-first into the mud. With surprising quickness he came to his knees, enraged, and then went rigid, the sword point an inch from his nose. The air rang with the sound of steel. The man looked up with vicious, black eyes. Water and mud ran from the strings of his hair. Richard flicked the sword a quarter turn in his hand and whacked him hard over the head with the flat of the blade. He went down in a limp heap.

Bill laid Zedd in the litter while Kahlan turned Randy over. One eye was swollen shut. Rain splattered on his face. He groaned. When he saw Kahlan with his one good eye he broke into a grin. Relieved that he wasn’t hurt worse, she gave him a quick hug and helped him up.

“He jumped me,” Randy said apologetically. “I’m sorry.”

“You are a brave young man. You have nothing to be sorry for. Thank you for helping us.” She turned to Bill. “You, too.”

Bill smiled and gave a nod. Zedd and Chase were quickly covered with blankets and oilcloth and the packs loaded. Bill told them that Adie’s supplies were already on Chase’s horse. Richard and Kahlan mounted their horses. She flipped the silver coin to Randy.

“Payment on delivery, as promised,” she told him. He caught the coin and grinned.

Richard bent down and clasped hands with Randy and thanked him earnestly, then pointed angrily at Bill.

“You! I want you to add everything to your tally book. Include all the damage, all your time and trouble, even the grave markers. I want you to add a fair fee for saving our lives. If the council doesn’t want to approve payment, you tell them that you saved the life of the brother of the First Councilor, and Richard Cypher said if they don’t pay, I’ll personally have the head of the man responsible and I will put it on a pike on the front lawn of my brother’s house!”

Bill nodded and laughed over the sound of the rain. Richard pulled back on the reins to keep his horse in place as it danced about, eager to go. He pointed down at the unconscious man in the mud. He was furious.