Cara grasped Richard's arm above the elbow. "It isn't safe here — yet. Come with us, Lord Rahl."

Not waiting for his answer, or cooperation, she pulled him into the shadows at the back of the passageway. Richard gestured silently to reassure Gratch. Lifting the bottom of a loose shutter, Cara stuffed him ahead of her through the opening. The window they entered was the only one in a room appointed with a dusty table holding three candles, several benches, and one chair. To the side sat a pile of their gear.

Gratch managed to fold his wings and squeeze through, too. He stood close to Richard, quietly watching the others. They, in turn, having been told that he was Richard's friend, didn't seem concerned at having a hulking gar eyeing them from a few feet away.

"Cara, what are you doing here?"

She frowned as if he were thick. "I told you, we came to protect you." A mischievous smile crooked the corners of her mouth. "Seems we arrived just in time. Master Rahl must devote himself to being the magic against magic, a task you are more suited to, and let us be the steel against steel." She held her hand out to the other three women. “We didn't have time for introductions at the palace. These are my sisters of the Agiel: Hally, Berdine, and Raina."

In the flickering candlelight, Richard studied the three faces. He had been in a terrible rush at the time and recalled only Cara; she was the one who had spoken for them, and he had held a knife to her throat until she convinced him she was telling the truth. Like Cara, Hally was blond, blue-eyed, and tall. Berdine and Raina were a bit shorter, blue-eyed Berdine with a loose braid of wavy brown hair, and Raina with dark hair, and eyes that seemed to be examining his soul for every nuance of strength, weakness, and character — an idiosyncratic, piercing scrutiny unique to Mord-Sith. Somehow, Raina's dark eyes made the penetrating judgment seem more incisive.

Richard didn't shy from their gazes. "You were among those who saw me safely through the palace?" They nodded. "Then you have my eternal gratitude. What of the others?"

"The others remained at the palace in case you returned before we found you," Cara said. "Commander General Trimack insisted Ulic and Egan would come, too, since they are among the personal bodyguards to the Master Rahl. We left within an hour after you did, trying to catch you." She shook her head in wonder. "We wasted no time, and you gained almost a day on us."

Richard tugged straight the baldric holding his sword. "I was in a hurry."

Cara shrugged. "You are the Master Rahl. Nothing you do could surprise us."

Richard thought she had looked very surprised indeed when she saw him become invisible, but he didn't say it, in view of his newfound restraint on his flip tongue.

He glanced around at the dimly lit, dusty room. "What are you doing in this place?"

Cara pulled off her gloves and tossed them on the table. "We intended to use it as a base while we looked for you. We've only been here a short time. We chose this spot because it's close to the D'Haran headquarters."

"I was told they're in a large building beyond the market."

"They are," Hally said. "We checked."

Richard searched her piercing blue eyes. "I was on my way there when you found me. I guess it wouldn't hurt to have you along." He loosened the mriswith cape at his throat and scratched the back of his neck. "How did you manage to find me in a city of this size?"

The two men stood without showing emotion, but eyebrows went up on the women.

"You are the Master Rahl, ' Cara said, seeming to think that would be explanation enough.

Richard planted his fists on his hips. “So?

"The bond," Berdine said. She looked perplexed at the blank expression on his face. "We are bonded to the Master Rahl."

"I don't understand what that means. What does it have to do with finding me?"

Looks passed among the women. Cara cocked her head to the side. "You are Lord Rahl, the Master of D'Hara. We are D'Harans. How can you not understand?"

Richard wiped his hair back off his forehead as he let out an exasperated breath. "I was raised in Westland, two boundaries away from D'Hara. I never knew anything about D'Hara, much less Darken Rahl, until the boundaries came down. I didn't even know Darken Rahl was my father until just a few months ago." He glanced away from their bewildered expressions. "He raped my mother, and she fled to Westland before I was born, before the boundaries went up. Darken Rahl never knew I existed, or that I was his son, until he died. I don't know anything about being Master Rahl."

The two men stood as they had, showing no emotion. The four Mord-Sith stared at him a long moment, the candle flame adding a point of light to the comer of their eyes as they seemed to study his soul again. He wondered if they were regretting their oath of loyalty to him.

Richard felt awkward laying out his ancestry to the scrutiny of people he didn't really know. "You still haven't explained how you managed to find me."

As Berdine took off her cape and tossed it atop their gear, Cara laid a hand on his shoulder, urging him to sit in the chair. By the way its loose joints swayed under his weight, he wasn't sure it would hold him, but it did. She glanced up at the two men. "Maybe you could better explain the bond to him, since you feel it most strongly. Ulic?"

Ulic shifted his weight. "Where should I begin?"

Cara started to say something, but Richard cut her off. "I have important things to do, and I don't have a great deal of time. Just tell me the important parts. Tell me about this bond."

Ulic nodded. "I will tell you as we are taught."

Richard gestured toward a bench, indicating he wanted Ulic to sit. It made him uncomfortable having the man tower over him like some mountain with arms. Checking over his shoulder, Richard saw that Gratch was contentedly licking his fur, but keeping his glowing green eyes on the people. Richard smiled reassuringly. Gratch hadn't been around that many people, and Richard wanted him to be comfortable, in view of what he planned. The gar's face wrinkled into a smile, but his ears were perked as he listened. Richard wished he knew for sure how much Gratch could understand.

Ulic pulled up a bench and sat. "Long ago — "

"How long," Richard interrupted.

Ulic rubbed a thumb along the bone handle of the knife at his belt as he contemplated the question. His deep voice seemed as if it might smother the candle flames. "Long ago… in the beginning times of D'Hara. I believe several thousand years ago."

"So what took place in these beginning times?"

"Well, that was where the bond originated. In the beginning times, the first Master Rahl cast his power, his magic, over the D'Haran people, in order to protect us."

Richard lifted an eyebrow. "You mean in order to rule you."

Ulic shook his head. "It was a covenant. The House of Rahl"—he tapped the ornate letter R incised in the leather over his chest — "would be the magic, and the D'Haran people would be the steel. We protect him and he, in turn, protects us. We were bonded."

"Why would a wizard need the protection of steel? Wizards have magic."

Ulic's leather uniform creaked as he put an elbow to his knee and leaned in with a sobering expression. "You have magic. Has it always protected you? You cannot always remain awake, or always see who is behind you, or conjure magic fast enough if the numbers are great. Even those with magic will die if someone slits their throat. You need us."

Richard conceded the point. "So, what does this bond have to do with me?"

"Well, the covenant, the magic, links the people of D'Hara to the Master Rahl. When the Master Rahl dies, the bond can be passed on to his gifted heir," Ulic shrugged. “The bond is the magic of that link. All D'Harans feel it. We understand it from birth. We recognize the Master Rahl by the bond. When the Master Rahl is near we can feel his presence. That's how we found you. When we're close enough we can sense you."