Wizard's First Rule - Terry Goodkind [214]
People believe things because they want to, he had told Kahlan, and so had he, and now the witch woman had her. The very thing she had been so afraid of, and because he had been so stupid, had let his guard down. It seemed that every time he let his guard down, she was the one who paid the price. If the witch woman harmed Kahlan, she would find out what the wrath of a Seeker was all about, he vowed to himself.
Once again he reprimanded himself. He was letting his imagination get away from him. If Shota wanted to kill her, she would have done so on the spot. She wouldn’t be taking her back to Agaden Reach. But why take her back to the Reach?
Unless, as Samuel put it, she wanted to play with her. Richard tried to put that thought out of his mind. It had to be him she wanted, not Kahlan. That was probably why the Calthrop left so quickly; the witch woman had scared it off.
When they reached the fork they had passed before, Samuel took them immediately down the left path. It was getting dark, but the companion didn’t slow. The trail started climbing up steep switchbacks, and soon they were out of the trees, onto an open trail across the rock, climbing steadily toward the jagged, snow-covered peaks.
In the moonlit snow, Richard could see two sets of footprints, one of them Kahlan’s. A good sign, he thought; she was still alive. It didn’t look like Shota intended to kill her. At least not right away.
Skirting the bottom of the snowcaps, the path led over the bottom fringes of the snow, which was wet, heavy, and hard to walk through. Without Samuel leading the way, knowing where this pass was, Richard realized it would take days to make it over these peaks. The cold wind whipped through the gaps in the rock, pulling away long thin clouds of their breath in the frigid air. Samuel was shivering. Richard put on his cloak, then pulled Kahlan’s out of the pack Samuel was carrying.
“This belongs to the pretty lady. You may wear it, for now, to keep warm.”
Samuel snatched the cloak out of his hands. “Mine! Gimme!”
“If you’re going to be like that, then I won’t let you wear it.” Richard pulled the rope taut and yanked the cloak back.
“Please! Samuel cold,” he whined. “Please? Wear the pretty lady’s cloak?”
Richard handed it back. This time the companion took it slowly, and put it around his shoulders. The little creature made Richard’s skin crawl. He took out a piece of tava bread and ate it as they walked along. Samuel kept looking over his shoulder, watching Richard eat. When he could stand it no longer, Richard offered Samuel a piece.
The big hands reached out. “Mine! Gimme!” Richard pulled the bread back, out of reach. Pleading yellow eyes looked up at him in the moonlight. “Please?” Richard carefully put the bread into his eager hands.
Samuel made small talk as he they trudged through the snow. He had eaten the bread in one bite. Richard knew if given the chance, Samuel would slit his throat without a second thought. He seemed to be a creature devoid of any redeeming qualities.
“Samuel, why does Shota keep you around?”
He looked back over his shoulder, his yellow eyes set in a puzzled frown. “Samuel companion.”
“And won’t your mistress be angry with you for leading me to her?”
Samuel made a gurgling sound that Richard took for laughter. “Mistress not afraid of Seeker.”
Near dawn, at the edge of a descent into a dark wood, Samuel’s long arm pointed downward. “Agaden Reach,” he gurgled. He looked back over his shoulder with a taunting grin. “Mistress.”
The heat was oppressive in the wood. Richard took off his cloak and put it in his pack, then stuffed Kahlan’s back in hers. Samuel watched without protest. He seemed happy, confident,