Wizard's First Rule - Terry Goodkind [351]
When he had her lifted high enough, her contorted face in front of his, he pressed Denna’s Agiel to her chest. Her eyes widened. Her expression slackened. Richard remembered Denna holding her Agiel against Queen Milena in this manner. It had the same effect on Constance. She shook, easing the pressure against his back. Still, it was hurting him, as was the Agiel in his hand.
Richard gritted his teeth against the pain. “I’m not going to kill you with the sword. To do that, I would have to forgive you everything. I could never bring myself to forgive you for betraying a friend. I could forgive your deeds against me, but not those against your friend, Denna. That is the one thing I could never forgive.”
Constance gasped with the agony. “Please…”
“Promise made…” he sneered.
“No… please… don’t.”
Richard twisted the Agiel as he had seen Denna do to the Queen. Constance flinched, and went limp in his grip. Blood ran from her ears. He let her lifeless body slip to the ground.
“Promise kept.”
Richard stared a long time at the Agiel held tightly in his fist, before he realized it was causing pain, and released it at last to hang from its chain around his neck.
He looked down at the dead Mord-Sith as he caught his breath. Thank you, Denna, he thought, for teaching me to endure the pain. You have saved my life.
It took him the better part of an hour to find his way out of the labyrinth of halls, out into the frigid night, to the expanse of grounds. He kept a tight grip on the hilt of the sword as he went past two big guards at the open gate through the outer wall, but they only gave a polite nod of their heads, as if he were an invited guest departing after a royal dinner.
He stopped, gazing out at the starlit country before him. He had never been so happy to see stars. He turned about, looking at everything. The People’s Palace, surrounded by imposing sheer walls, sat atop an immense plateau that dropped off before him to a plain. The plateau stood hundreds of feet above the barren land, but there was a road cut into the cliffs, switching back and forth, descending to the flat land.
“Horse, sir?”
Richard spun around. One of the guards had spoken to him. “What?”
“I asked if you would like a horse brought up, sir. You look to be leaving. It’s a long walk.”
“What’s a long walk?”
The guard gave a nod at the drop. “The Azrith Plains. You’re looking to the west, across the Azrith Plains. It’s a long walk across. Would you like a horse?”
It unnerved him that Darken Rahl had so little concern for what he might do that he would let him have a horse. “Yes, I would like a horse.”
The guard blew a small whistle in a series of short and long bursts to another man on the wall. Richard heard the short tune repeated into the distance.
The guard resumed his post. “Won’t be long, sir.”
“How far to the Rang’Shada Mountains?”
The man frowned a little. “Where in the Rang’Shada? They run a long way.”
“Northwest of Tamarang. As close as they come to Tamarang.”
He rubbed his chin in thought. “Four, maybe five days.” He considered the other guard. “Wouldn’t you say?”
The other shrugged. “If he rides hard, day and night, and changes horses often, maybe five, but I doubt it could be done in four.”
Richard’s heart sank. Of course Rahl didn’t care if he had a horse. Where was he going to go? Michael and the Westland army were four or five days away, in the Rang’Shada. He couldn’t get to them, and back, before the week was out, before the first day of winter.
But Kahlan had to be closer. Rahl had sent that man with the black stripe in his hair, and two quads, to get her. What was she doing this close? He had told them not to come after him. His anger flashed at Chase for not following his instructions, for not keeping them all away. Then his anger wilted. If it were him, he wouldn’t have been able