Wizard's First Rule

Kahlan held her tight. Rachel shook. Fingers stroked her hair. Kahlan rocked her while Rachel eyed a dark gap in the boughs on the other side of the wayward pine. Kahlan's chest was making funny little movements, and Rachel realized with wonder that she was crying, too. Kahlan put her cheek against the top of her head.

She almost started to believe… but then she remembered what Princess Violet said sometimes; that it hurt more to punish than to be punished. Her eyes went wide at what Kahlan must be planning that would make her cry. Even Princess Violet never cried when she dealt out a punishment. Rachel cried harder, and shook.

Kahlan took her hands away and wiped the tears from her cheeks. Rachel's legs were too wobbly to run.

"Are you cold?" Kahlan whispered. Her voice sounded like there were still tears in it.,

Rachel was afraid that no matter what she said she would get a slap. She gave a nod, ready for what might happen. Instead, Kahlan took a blanket out of her pack and wrapped it around the both of them, she guessed so it would be harder to get away.

"Come, lie close and I will tell you a story. We will keep each other warm. All right?"

Rachel lay on her side, her back against Kahlan, who curled all around her and put her arm over her. It felt nice, but she knew it was a trick. Kahlan's face was close to her ear, and as she lay there, Kahlan told her a story about a fisherman who turned into a fish. The words made pictures in her head, and for a while she forgot about her troubles. Once, she and Kahlan even laughed together. When she was finished with the story, Kahlan kissed the top of her head and then stroked the side of her forehead.

She pretended Kahlan wasn't really mean. It couldn't hurt to pretend. Nothing had ever felt as good as those fingers on her, and the little song Kahlan sang in her ear. Rachel thought this must be what it felt like to have a mother.

Against her will, she fell asleep, and had wonderful dreams.

She came awake in the middle of the night when Richard woke Kahlan, but she pretended she was still asleep.

"You want to keep sleeping with her?" he whispered real soft.

Rachel held her breath.

"No," Kahlan whispered back, "I'll take my watch."

Rachel could hear her putting on her cloak and going outside. She listened to which way Kahlan's feet went. After he put some more wood in the fire, Richard lay down, close. She could see the inside of the wayward pine brighten. She knew Richard was watching her; she could feel his eyes on her back. She wanted so much to tell him how mean Kahlan really was, and ask him to run away with her. He was such a nice man, and his hugs were the bestest things in the whole world. He reached over and pulled the blanket up around her tighter, tucking it under her chin. Tears ran down her cheeks.

She could hear him lie on his back and pull his blanket up. Rachel waited until she heard his even breathing and she knew he was asleep before she slipped out from under the blanket

CHAPTER 36

KA14LAN TURNED EXPECTANTLY WHEN he batted a limb out of the way as he pushed into the wayward pine and flopped down in front of the fire. He pulled his pack across the ground and started jamming things in it.

"Well?".

Richard shot her an angry glare. "I found her tracks, going west, back the way we came. They join the trail a few hundred yards out. They're hours old." He pointed to the ground at the back of the wayward pine. "That's where she went out. She circled around you through the woods, well clear of us. I've tracked men who didn't want to be found, and their trails were easier to follow. She walks on top of things, roots, rocks, and she's too little to make a print where another would. Did you see her arms?"

"I saw long bruises. They are from a switch."

"No, I mean scratches."

"I saw no scratches."

"Exactly. Her dress had burrs on it; she's been through the bramble, yet she had no scratches on her arms. She's tender, so she avoids brushing up against anything. An adult would just push past, leave a trail of disturbed or broken branches. She almost never touches anything. You should see the trail I left, going through the bushes trying to track her; a blind man could follow it. She moves through the underbrush like air. Even when she was back on the trail, I couldn't tell for a while. Her feet are bare; she doesn't like stepping in water or mud-it makes her feet colder-so she steps where it's dry, where you can't see her passing."

"I should have seen her leaving."

He realized Kahlan thought he was blaming her. He let out an exasperated breath. "It's not your fault, Kahlan. If I had been standing watch, I wouldn't have seen her go either. She didn't want to be seen. She's one smart little girl."

It didn't seem to make her feel any better. "But you can track her, right?"