Severed Souls(145)
When Richard, flanked by a number of heavily armed men carrying battle-axes in addition to knives and swords, some wearing dark, molded leather chest plates and some wearing chain mail over leather tunics, all came to a halt, the man at the center of the square, fist to his heart, bent deeply from his waist.
“I’m General Wolsey,” he said when he straightened. “Welcome to the citadel … Lord Rahl, I presume?”
“That’s right,” Richard said with a nod.
“The advance party of your men informed us of your arrival. I can’t tell you how honored we are to have you come to our humble city. We are at your disposal. Anything you want—anything at all—you have but to ask, and if it is within our power to provide it, we will.”
“Thank you, General, I will keep that in mind,” Richard said.
The man glanced around. “You all look, well, like you could use a bit of rest. There are rooms, if you would like, and—”
“Thank you,” Richard said, cutting the man off before he was finished trying to ingratiate himself. “As you noted, we have been traveling hard, coming over the pass from up north.”
“The pass!” The general blinked. “No one comes over the pass. It’s not … safe.”
“The people there are part of D’Hara, as are you. They were polite and gracious and showed us the way through.”
His mouth opened a little as he stared. “That’s … remarkable.”
Richard thought the man seemed a little too tense to be a general, but then again, this was a pretty small place, so a general here wasn’t necessarily what Richard would expect elsewhere. This man was probably adequate for the responsibility in the remote city of Saavedra. Besides, people were sometimes more than they appeared to be.
Before General Wolsey could begin talking again, Richard started giving instructions.
“While we are sure that you are prepared to protect the citadel, there are threats that I’m afraid none of you here are prepared to deal with.” He held his hand out to the side. “Therefore, Commander Fister, here, will be in charge. You will be taking orders from him.”
The man frowned. “But I’m a general. He is just a commander.”
“No,” Richard said, “you are the general of the citadel guard in Saavedra. He is a commander of the First File from the People’s Palace.”
“The First File!” The man quickly looked around again at the men with Richard, all dressed in dark armor. “I had no idea, Lord Rahl. I’ve never met any of the First File before. Of course, we will cooperate in every way.”
“Good. That means that any of these men, who are my personal guards, in order to do what they must to protect me, have authority over everyone here should it be necessary. You will all follow their instructions. We have no intention on usurping your authority in your protecting the citadel or the city, and will return command to you once we are rested and can be on our way. It shouldn’t be more than a day or two.”
“Of course, Lord Rahl.”
Richard deliberately looked over at the knot of officers standing to the side. They got the message and clapped fists to hearts. He then looked at the soldiers standing in ranks, watching, and they did the same. There didn’t appear to be any dissent or grumbling.
“Thank you all for understanding the importance of our safety,” Richard said. “There are threats about that we need to be ready for.”
The general lifted a hand. “What sort of threats?” He cleared his throat. “I mean, if I may be so bold as to ask.”
Richard met the man’s gaze. “Have you ever seen the dead rise up out of graves and attack the living, ripping them limb from limb?”
The man’s eyes widened. “The dead…?”
“That’s right. Being already dead, they can’t be killed in the ordinary sense. My men know how to deal with the threat, so I suggest that you stay out of their way and let them handle any trouble.”
The man nodded furiously. “Of course, Lord Rahl.”
“Now, we’ve been traveling for a long time through some very hostile land. We need to get in out of this wet weather for a bit and get some needed rest.”
The young General Wolsey held an arm out in invitation. “Then please, Lord Rahl, allow me to show you the way.”
Without further word, Richard and all those with him followed the man up the curving cobblestone road toward the citadel at the top. He looked back over his shoulder from time to time to make sure they weren’t getting lost along the way.
Richard deliberately hadn’t introduced Kahlan, or anyone else. He didn’t want them to know exactly who they were. He supposed it was possible he was being overly cautious, but if an assassin had been told to hide and then put an arrow in the Mother Confessor, or Nicci, or Irena, Richard didn’t want them identified as targets. Since they all knew his reasoning, they stayed quiet and let him do the talking.